MA to AZ and beyond

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Sunday, we spent the whole day inside Yax Ha. We had the place mostly to ourselves for the morning, so we hopped in the pool after we got up. Loki wasn't a huge fan of this, so it didn't last long. It was literally line of sight to the van, maybe 150 feet away, but that's too far, so he barked at us. You'd think he could just go there on his own, since that's where he wants to be so bad. But no. If we left him there, he'd bark too. He's such a homebody.



Instead, we just did general chilling with our friends Terry and TJ. We all kind of tried to come up with a plan for our days ahead. Unfortunately for them, Terry and TJ only got 30 days on their personal visas. They'd asked for 45, but the agent said in order to be granted 45 days, they would need to list every stop they were making along the way, including addresses and duration of stay. Of course, they didn't have that information available because none of us do, so they only got the month. Luckily for us, that happened to them and they told us before we got to the border. We approached the transaction a bit differently. When asked, we said we were driving to the USA and we'd be there in 90 days. We sounded certain and didn't hem and haw. We also had a different agent, which was probably the main reason we got 90 days. Who knows.

Anyway, we had internet access, so I spent a good chunk of the afternoon writing here to get you guys caught up with our travels. That usually takes a few hours at least. More if I've been slacking (like usual) and have to catch up a week or more. After that, we heated up some leftovers for dinner. We spent the evening hanging out with Terry and TJ.



Through their planning process, they determined their best course of action was to leave Yax Ha on Monday morning. For us, we determined we'd stay another day. So, this would be our last night with them. We'd spent a total of a few weeks off and on traveling with them. We didn't stay with them each night along the way, but here and there we met up with them. Sometimes by chance, sometimes not. But it was really neat to have some friends nearby that were somewhat consistent. That's something that's definitely missing in a more general sense as we travel about - long term friends. It's certainly easy enough to meet people and be friendly with them at each stop along the way, but usually after we leave a place we never see them again. Occasionally, some people stay in touch through Instagram or other social media, but of course it's not the same.



It was a bit sad to know it was the end of our travels with them. They'll be moving on to other things, which we're excited for, though. They'll be catching a plane to Spain with just their backpacks to travel their way all the way to southeast Asia. In order to make the best of it, we invited ourselves over to their van for a last round of the bird game (I honestly forget what it's called, but it's a strategic board game involving birds). It was mostly something to do while we spent the last night with them. Loki chilled inside their van on the floor and was totally content the whole time. With a breeze blowing through off the ocean, it was really nice inside. We got absolutely smoked in the game, but that's alright. We had fun anyways. Afterwards, we were all pretty tired, so we headed off to bed. The hardest part was getting Loki to move.

 

[rob cote]

Monday morning, we said goodbye to our travel buddies. They were off to hustle through the Yucatan peninsula to get back in the states in time. We've been having a debate, Mandy and I, lately. It's not really a debate, but rather a general awareness of our potential ignorance. People often ask where we're from, and we usually answer "the states". While we knew that Mexico is a union of states, I guess it wasn't until recently that we'd seen it written as Estados Unidos de Mexico. So that got us wondering; when we were travelling around Guatemala and we answered with "estados unidos", was that clear enough? I guess the main unknown is - do people commonly refer to Mexico as "the states"? I don't know how to know, other than to keep exploring.



Anyway, Monday is pretty much dead at Yax Ha. Weekends are busy, but after Terry and TJ left, there was only one other camper with one or two people in it on the whole property, and a couple of staff. The other camper(s) didn't really come outside much at all, and we never saw them wander away from their vehicle, so we didn't interact much with them. We were effectively the only ones there. It was pretty neat. But lonely, of course. We had the rest of the week to make about a 5-hour drive to Cancun, so we were in no rush at all, which was weird for us. We were ahead of schedule for once. We're always either wandering aimlessly or trying to hurry to get to where we need to be.



So, if you recall recently our bed lift had a ball stud for one of the gas springs pull out of the bracket. I emailed the manufacturer just to notify them of the issue. TJ and I had resolved it by borrowing one from our hood lift, at least as a temporary solution that day. I'm still on the hunt for a single replacement, or a set of 4, but I'm not looking very hard at the moment. I mainly just wanted to let them know what had happened, to feed that back into their quality system so perhaps they can improve the design. Anyway, they wanted dimensions of the hole that the ball stud had pulled out of, but I'd already drilled it to a larger size to accept the replacement threaded piece. I spent some time taking dimensions of the riveted ball stud anyways, and a few detailed photos. Perhaps they can discern something from that, but mechanical forensics like that is really tough with only photos. In fairness to the bed lift, though, we haven't used the lock pins in well over a year, and we've been driving on some really rough roads. I suspect it's probably just from so much vibration over so long that caused the part to ultimately loosen up and wiggle free. That that's the most significant failure we've had, I feel like is fantastic. Honestly, it wasn't even catastrophic. Mandy just said it drooped down in that corner a bit.

After that, we were too low on cash to pay for our last night. I hopped on the bike and rode into town to an ATM. It was hot, but it was a really nice ride. There's a road that runs along the coast with a wide and flat biking and walking lane. Along the trail, there are some playgrounds, a bunch of docks jutting out into the sea, benches all along it, and plenty of shade. It's really well-maintained, and though I didn't notice it at first, I eventually realized it's kind of atypical. A lot of cities and towns around don't have a lot of parks like that, but it's a really nice thing to have. I returned directly after getting cash. Well, I tried to. I made a few wrong turns, but whatever. Then, we just did some more relaxing. We swam some, until Loki got bored. We took midday showers to cool off. We did some stretching. We did some tanning. It was a very chill day.



Late afternoon, we decided to put Loki inside the van and walk towards a cluster of restaurants I'd seen earlier on my ride. We weren't feeling like cooking, so we went out instead. We weren't surprised, but kind of a little bit surprised to find that most of the restaurants were closed. I mean, it was Monday night which in the states is the worst night of the week for restaurants. But then, everywhere we've been in Mexico, restaurants are almost always open. We found El Acuario to be open, and we got in in time to order some food. Mandy got a plate of empanadas which were way bigger than expected, so I helped her out with those. I also got a plate of shrimps. It was all really good. As we were finishing up, they were putting chairs on tables, so we didn't linger, though the view was quite nice. The restaurant is right on the teal Carribbean waters. We walked home afterwards and let Loki out. We sat outside until it was dark and 1-2 degrees cooler. Then, we moved inside to try and sleep. It's tough in the humidity; we miss air conditioning.

 

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Tuesday we woke up and did our morning chores. Namely, eating breakfast, making the bed, getting dressed. Things like that. We dumped our greywater at the dumping station and then we hit the road. We stopped in Chetumal to get some groceries at Chedraui. The more I visit Chedraui, the more I feel like it's best described as a Mexican Walmart. But honestly, Chedraui is better I think. By that I mean, Walmart doesn't sell motorcycles and appliances as far as I know. I think they might sell tires, but I'm not positive. Anyway, sometimes we get produce there, but only when we need the convenience. The fruits and vegetables are better elsewhere, but sometimes we're just not trying to make a half dozen stops, you know?



Anyway. After stocking up, we continued up the highway to Bacalar. This is an adorable little lakeside town. We weren't really sure what to expect, or what we'd find, so we just parked near the center and walked around. Mandy has lost considerable weight since we've moved into our van, and as such most of her clothes don't fit anymore. So, she wanted to find some new ropa. The thing about clothes shopping is that it's mostly just walking from store to store. Loki and I hang out outside, unless we're invited in, and she walks through the store quickly. Most times, nothing catches her eyes, and we continued minutes later. Occasionally, she'll debate a piece for a few extra minutes and then walk out empty-handed.



After an hour or so, we were all getting hot. We happened to pass by La Trattoria del '46. There were empty, shaded sidewalk tables. In fact, they were all empty. No one nearby is ideal for Loki. But there were people in the restaurant, so we knew it must be at least decent. We grabbed a table and some menus. Ultimately, we ordered a pizza; half sausage, half pepperoni. It arrived pretty quickly, and it was really good. The crust was nice and thin, so we were satisfied, but not overfull. I had enough room left over for a tiramisu. It arrives in a martini glass. My first bite was all cream, so I was a little disappointed. As I kept going, though, I got to the ladyfingers and the whole thing was much better than that first bite. It was actually quite good!



We checked out a few more stores for clothes as we zig-zagged our way back to the van, but ultimately found nothing other than some mangoes and eggs. We drove a bit further north along the lake to a tiny village called Buenavista. There's a little restaurant on the shore there with some cabins and parking for a few campers. We paid and parked there for the night in a nice shady spot. The lake is absolutely gorgeous with soft white sand and turquoise waters. Of course, the water is only a few degrees cooler than the air, so it's not very refreshing, but it still helps a bit. We took turns swimming and hanging out with Loki, so he wouldn't get mad at us.

We met a couple guys from Russia who had escaped right at the start of the war in Ukraine. Alex had a fascinating story, and he was super talkative. We haven't met many Russians in our travels, so it was really cool to get their perspective on things. Alex has been living in Mexico since leaving, but it poses some challenges for him. We expressed interest in someday visiting Russia, but not yet. He basically agreed that while there are beautiful places in the country, now is a terrible time to try and go there. Maybe someday. They were headed into Bacalar for the afternoon to check it out, so we gave some recommendations as they were on their way out.



Then, we spent the afternoon just hanging out by the lake. We worked on editing some videos. We're really trying to make an effort to get ahead of our schedule. I know it's ultimately harmless to miss our posting dates because they're self-imposed, but we still feel bad when it happens. We've also been looking ahead to after travel life, or at least travel-intermission. What will that be like for us? To Mandy, that means looking at job openings. For me, it's like trying to figure out what the heck I want to do. I feel like I am pretty versatile, but not particularly committed to any one thing. Well, I do have a project I really want to do, but that's for money spending. I need to focus on money making first. She has a clear idea of a job she likes and feels good about, which is awesome. I really don't. Everything I've worked is ultimately fine, but at the end of the day, I don't really care about it. What I really want to work on is an EV conversion, but performance oriented. I think car culture is ultimately headed towards EVs being the norm, and that's where hot-rodding will end up, too. If I want to continue to be a car guy in any relevant sort of way, I need to start learning EVs now. So, I've been spending a lot of time researching everything that takes; which is a lot.

So, yeah. That was about our day. We had a lovely breeze blowing off the lake, into the sliding door and out through the rear doors. So, I cooked us some dinner since it wouldn't heat up the van very much. The breeze took all the heat of the oven right out the back doors, which was great. After cleanup, we hung out outside a while until it was dark at which point we headed in to bed. We slept with all the doors open, but as night wore on, the breeze stagnated and we had no air movement at all. Did I mention we miss air conditioning?

 

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Wednesday morning, Mandy was hustling us, which was weird. She really wanted to catch the sunrise over the lake. We were a couple minutes late, but that didn't matter. It was still beautiful. We sat on the dock for a while just taking it in. Loki even cooperated for the most part. Afterwards, we went home and cooked some breakfast. We weren't in any hurry at that point, just taking our time. We saw Alex and Max again. They stopped in to say goodbye before they headed out which was nice. After breakfast, we headed out, too. Although first, we talked to Javier to let him know we'd be back.



There was a shop in Bacalar we'd passed by the previous day that Mandy really wanted to check out, but it was closed. Their hours online were a little confusing, but we figured the best way to figure out if they were actually open was to go there, so we did. It turns out they have two locations, about a block or two apart from one another. Unfortunately, when we got there, both were still closed. We aren't really sure what was going on with that, but we weren't shocked either. Mexico is just like that sometimes. The hours on the door say they're open, but they're not actually. Posted hours can be thought of as more like a guideline than a hard rule. It's fine. They obviously don't want our money. That's being dramatic for comedic effect. There was nothing to be done about it, so we weren't going to be upset about it. We just moved on. We walked around a bit just for the sake of it, and then hopped back in the van before it got too hot.

We went back to Javier's place in Buenavista. Along the way, we stopped in Buenavista at Tortilleria "Karen" for...you guessed it! - tacos. How did you know?! They were fine, but we're kind of thinking as a general guideline the tacos are a bit better in Guatemala than Mexico. Not all of them everywhere, mind you, just on the average. They're still really good in Mexico, just Guatemala might have a slight edge. Anyway, we returned to our parking spot and opened up everything to get the breeze blowing through again.



We've been watching our refrigerator's performance a lot since Moses' work recharging the refrigerant. I have a theory. It seems to be maintaining cold interior temperatures - typically below 20F when I check it. But the compressor still runs non-stop and I think it's because of the humidity. Most days it's around 95% here. And a lot of the time the refrigerator is in an ambient environment around 85-95F. Either of those conditions alone may be okay for the fridge, but I think it's a deadly combination. If we left the door closed all day every day, it may get to the setpoint, but any time we open the door to get a cold drink or something, it's letting in all that humidity. That holds so much thermal energy it's just impossible to extract it all. Additionally, the freezer builds up ice on its interior in a matter of days, not weeks or months like when we were elsewhere. So, I'm leaning towards it's "fixed", but we still have a problem. If that makes sense. The solution is easy - just leave - but we can't implement it just yet.

We made some leftovers and hung out outside. Our usual jam. Oh man, remember peanut butter and jam sandwiches? I haven't had one in ages but that just reminded me. We worked on videos which included recording some more video to talk about our decision to head north. A decision we made weeks ago, as you guys know. But that's how far behind our videos are. It's tough to keep up. It's also much easier to talk about it now, so we did.

Anyway, after that there wasn't much excitement, really. We just chilled and you guys must get bored of hearing the same thing over and over. Afterwards, we went to bed. This time we closed all the doors and only opened the little windows so that we might have the barest hint of a breeze.

 

[rob cote]

Thursday morning, Mandy did some morning swimming while Loki and I chilled. We took showers at Balneario Buenavista and packed up our shizz. Then, we thanked Javier for our stay and hit the road. We headed towards Tulum, but along the way I realized we were pretty low on diesel. I stopped at a fuel station and pulled up to the pump only to realize they only sold gasoline. Which is uncommon. I think that's the first time that's happened to us since leaving the states. We continued on and stopped at a Pemex for fuel. Afterwards, we pulled away from the pump and parked to cook breakfast. Mandy cooked. I just sat there.

Then, we continued the rest of the way into Tulum. Holy moly, what chaos! We haven't been in such a busy city for a while. I was immediately aware of a significant tourist presence because the driving was just bad. I've grown so accustomed to Mexican style driving that I can just go with the flow. I mean, we're tourists too, but it's a bit different than a week-long trip, you know? Those people simply haven't had enough time to adapt, and so they don't integrate well with the rest of traffic. We found a spot to park on a side street under a shade tree and set out on foot.

We searched for more clothing stores for Mandy. There were a lot more opportunities here than in Bacalar. But there were a lot more tourist shops, too, selling the same clothes she wasn't interested in. Honestly, clothes shopping is a good motivator for walking around. Kind of like bird-watching in some ways. We could just wander around aimlessly - sometimes we do - but searching for a particular garment gives a goal, and that makes it more interesting. And this time it wasn't a total failure. She found a shirt she liked and got it, so that was a win.



After walking several blocks, it was getting pretty toasty. We headed back towards the van so Loki didn't overheat, and then we drove out of town. About fifteen minutes away, we found a spot to park for the night at Rancho los Jaguares. We arrived and Mandy rang the bell several times, but no one came to answer. I slid open the door a bit and peered in and saw someone leaf-blowing. I'm sure that's why they couldn't hear the bell. I asked if we could park overnight, and they said sure and indicated a couple different parking spots we could use. I opened up the door and Mandy pulled the van in and parked it.

The road is a little rough getting in, but it's a really lovely spot once you're there. There's a large pool with a cascading river, a huge palapa with a grill, showers, and toilets. I think the main building has hotel rooms in it, but we didn't go inside since we didn't need to. We ultimately parked just down the road a bit in a little clearing. We setup the Starlink and set a couple more videos to posting. It's pretty satisfying to complete tasks ahead of schedule like that. That got us to about two weeks ahead!



There were a couple dogs on the property. One followed us everywhere starting the minute we parked. She was constantly drooling, and she looked like she may have had suffered a head trauma when she was younger, but she was super sweet. Mandy felt bad, but we just let her hang and Loki had no issues with her being around which was great. The other dog was under the palapa by the pool and showed his teeth as soon as Loki went anywhere near, so we just avoided that area. We don't like to upset the dogs! Plus, it'd only be one night, and we had work to do.

After the videos were setup to post, and after we'd eaten some dinner, I tried to write here but my brain just wasn't in it. It had been a lot of work and I was spent. After a while of trying and not liking the words that came out, I gave up and we laid down instead. I can't wait to someday have a dry, thorough night's sleep. Maybe even with air conditioning!

 

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Friday morning we had to be out by 10:00am since there was a large party arriving to the Ranch of Jaguars. After we got up, we took a walk along the road all the way to the back of the property just to see where it went. Then, we turned around and went back to the van. One of our videos had been uploading overnight and it was still going in the morning. I'm not sure why this is. It might be that our laptop goes to sleep, but I turned that function off this night specifically to avoid this issue. Perhaps it needs a restart after changing the setting, I'm not sure. It seemed like it was asleep when I woke up, so who knows. But even with the Starlink unobstructed and an upload speed around 25mbps, it took more than all night. Anyone?

After that was finished, we took showers and then we packed up and headed out to the road. Mandy walked Loki while I drove because the road was rough. We headed back into Tulum to wander around a bit before it got too hot outside. Once it was too hot, we headed over to the beach. The beach was full of seaweed, so it was kind of stinky. Combined with the waves, Loki wasn't interested. We weren't really, either. Since we'd just showered. But there was a strong breeze blowing off the ocean into our doors, so the weather was much more tolerable parked there. I wrote a bunch of posts here.



Around 3:30 or so, we walked Loki around a bit. It wasn't ideal for dog-walking on the road though, and the sign said no mascotas. So, we headed back to the van after a bit. From there, we drove to Playa del Carmen. We had arranged to meet with Veronica sometime after 5:00pm at a park in town. She showed up just a few minutes after we did. We started talking and she got to meet Loki. A ton of dogs showed up by 5:30; apparently it's THE spot for dogs. We got Veronica all set up with all his quirks and food and left him in her house and said our goodbyes. He'll be hanging out with her for a few days while we fly to Panama.



We walked to Chedraui to get some plastic bags, so we'll be able to transport liquids on the plane. We also got some Mexican snacks for family we'll be meeting on the other end. Shh! It's a secret, don't tell. When we got back, we set to work on emptying out the refrigerator of everything so it can be shut down while we're gone. Otherwise, our batteries are apparently going to die, which isn't ideal. Then, we packed our bags for a few nights in Panama! I can't wait because my sister is bringing me new flops to replace these which are only 1 week old:



When all of your stuff is in one room, packing doesn't take much time at all, honestly. The longest part was opening up the rear doors to get our bags out of the trunk. After we threw everything into the bags, it was pretty hot inside the van and we were inclined to cool off some, rather than go to bed sweaty. We had a bag of fridge things to be thrown away which we felt pretty bad about, but it's either throw it away now or let it fester inside the fridge then throw it out. We chose the former. We found a dumpster right down the street, which is rare. After we tossed everything that would go bad, we continued to wander around. We ended up stumbling upon all the action. As we turned a corner, we saw a road closed to cars and it was happening. There were all kinds of stores, restaurants, and spas, there was live music and people everywhere.

We wandered through and it felt weird to be able to go into stores together and not have to wrangle the dog or wait outside with him. It was really nice to have the night to ourselves, we loved it. As we made our way through all the festivities, Mandy found a pair of shorts and I found some swimming trunks that we both liked, so we bought them. Eventually, we found our way back to the van and were feeling much cooler although still somewhat wet. Personally, I just feel greasy when I'm in such humid air non-stop. But anyways, it was time to go to bed. Our last sleep without air conditioning for a few days.

 

[rob cote]

Saturday morning, we hit the road fairly early after breaking our fast on the remainder of our food items. We headed to iPark, which is a gated public lot near-ish to Cancun airport, and offers shuttle service to and from the airport. They also offer car washing while you're away! Mandy had arranged it all ahead of time, so we just showed up to drop off the van. When we arrived, they seemed a little hesitant to let us in. We showed our reservation number and they opened the gate and showed us to a parking spot. Unfortunately, the parking is all covered, which we knew and calculated we'd be fine. We had to push up the fabric roof about an inch to clear the front edge of our awning, but then we fit under no problem. However, there was another issue of us being too long. We offered to store the bike inside and move to a middle-of-the-row space from the corner we were in, but they just said no, it won't work. Sorry, but you won't be charged anything.

So we scrambled. We originally had time to spare, but that was an unexpected curveball. Mandy found an alternative at Parkinn, so we hurried there. There were some low-hanging branches at the entrance which were a little tight, but after that there was no height restriction. We found a spot to park, arranged to have the van washed before we returned, and hopped in a shuttle to terminal 2. Only a minor setback, and we still had time.

We'd need that time because we had another open question. What would we need to do about our immigration papers? It's kind of a weird space, because we entered by land from Belize, which doesn't necessarily require an FMM, but we got one because we'd eventually be leaving the "free zone". Then we were flying out of Cancun and back into Cancun, which is free zone territory and wouldn't require an FMM. We weren't even sure we could get an FMM in Cancun. So, we asked at the ticketing counter what we have to do to do it correctly. They told us to visit the INM office in the airport and present our FMM. The INM agent stamped our FMM as having left Mexico, which we'd have to show at the gate before boarding the plane. It was pretty easy, but also easy to miss as it's a non-standard step of the process.



Anyway, the rest of the airport was standard. We went through security, removed shoes, no findings, grabbed our stuff and proceeded to our gate. We got some coffees and waited patiently until it was time to board. Everything went pretty smoothly through boarding and the flight, too. Just a quick jaunt down to Panama City. Though it was a completely different flight, we arrived within minutes of my sister, our BIL, and their kid. We only had carry-on luggage, though, so we breezed through customs and to the airport exit way ahead of them. When they finally exited, we greeted them and very soon after, Nate's aunt and uncle as well. We waited while they picked up their rental car and then sorted out how we'd all get to our destinations. They were staying with Nate's aunt and uncle, Frank and Nora, while we were staying at the Rainforest Lodge, just down the street. All outside Panama City in a tiny town called Gamboa.

Nate rode with his aunt and uncle, the rest of us followed in the rental. It was a rather convoluted route which took us through the heart of the city, but it had been a while since we've seen a proper city with high-rises, so we didn't mind. Once into Gamboa, we stopped in at Frank and Nora's for a bit. The humidity was off the charts, so we were really happy to have accomodations with air conditioning. We borrowed the rental car to make the short trip to the hotel and check ourselves in. It's so lovely there! We found our room and just unwound for a bit in the cool, dry air. We took in the wonderful views from our balcony. We took a spacious, hot shower! After all that, we wandered around the hotel and eventually found our way to a buffet dinner in one of several restaurants. It was pretty good, and it was lovely to not have to prepare it ourselves, nor do all the dishes afterwards.





As part of our wanderings about the hotel, we learned of a night safari they offer for free, so we signed up for that at 8:30pm. We returned the rental car after dinner so we'd have a little time to hang with our people before walking back to the hotel in time. It's a very short walk; only about 5 or 10 minutes. We gathered in the lobby as the rest of the group trickled in and at 8:30, we all piled into the beds of two small trucks full of benches. We cruised around the neighborhood with a tour guide wielding a giant flashlight. He searched the ground and the trees, and some abandoned houses, for various wildlife. Ultimately, we saw a sloth and a few cayman. He told us a bit about each, as well as the neighborhood of vacant buildings, and we circled back to the hotel about a half hour later. It was pretty neat, although a bit creepy to pass through the empty town in the dark. It felt ominous somehow.



Anyway, after that, we retired to our room to bask in the glorious air conditioning and king sized bed until we fell asleep.

 

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Sunday was my birthday, so I got up when I was ready and not a moment sooner. It was actually early enough to catch the sunrise so. I don't sleep in well.



We relaxed in the hammock on the balcony a while and watched the birds for the morning. We went back to the buffet for breakfast. We didn't really have much of a plan, so we headed out on foot to meet up with my sister and company to see what they were doing. After some discussion, we all agreed an escape from the heat and humidity into the pool at the Rainforest Lodge would be welcome. We were allowed in the pool after checkout until noon, and they could borrow Frank and Nora's guest passes. We quickly headed back to the hotel to get as much pool time in as we could before noon. We got some way-too-expensive drinks as the swim-up bar. They were good but not that good. The sun was intense, however, so we didn't even make it to noon before we needed to find shade.



Mandy and I walked towards the canal and downtown Gamboa. There's not much there, however they do have one of the largest cranes in the world. That was pretty cool to see. We checked it out for a bit and waited to watch some boat traffic pass through. We weren't there long at all before we were approached to see if we wanted anything to eat? They were still setting up, but they'd have tacos soon. Well, yes, of course, that sounds great! We moved closer to the bustle and talked a bit more with Tyler about what was going on.

So, at one time, there was a building going up alongside the river. For whatever reason, construction was abandoned and Tyler bought the half-finished building. I'm not sure what happens the other six days, but on Sundays, he organizes local cooks to prepare food on site. It's always different people and a different style of food. This day, by total chance, was a Mexican theme. We laughed and told him we'd literally just arrived from Mexico, so this was an interesting way to ease into Panamanian food culture. We bought a beer and watched everyone setting up. Besides tacos, there were also nieves, margaritas, and an assortment of Mexican candies. We told my sister and Nate and Max to come down to get lunch with us. Tyler told them to bring Frank and Nora, too, because they don't get out enough. Apparently, everyone knows everyone in town because it's so small. Well, Frank and Nora didn't come, but everyone else did. We got tacos and hung out on the second floor. There, there was a much better view of the water and the massive storm rolling in.





We eventually got rained on, but we didn't care. The storm rained down pretty heavy, but it didn't last very long. They'd driven down, anyways, so we had a dry ride back when we eventually decided to leave. We thanked Tyler for a great time, and we hitched a ride to basically Frank and Nora's back door. Just one street over, Mandy had booked us an Airbnb for the remainder of our stay. We checked in and got settled there. Moving is easy when you only carry two backpacks. It didn't take long. The host had left a small birthday gift; I guess Mandy had mentioned we would be there on my birthday. So that was pretty sweet. There was a word search which would come in handy on the plane, a bath bomb which we'd use in the tub there, and a few other small items. It was thoughtful and sweet.

After we checked in, we walked down the street to Frank and Nora's for birthday dinner. After Nora found out it was my birthday, she was so excited to prepare a Panamanian dinner for everyone. We always like to try the local flavor, and it was clear how excited she was to cook, so we obliged. We arrived early, so we hung out on the deck while the food was prepared. We feasted on a roasted chicken with a bunch of vegetables, coconut rice with guandú, and steamed broccoli and cauliflower. It was all delicious, especially the rice!

After dinner, we continued hanging out on the deck. There was a fire in the chiminea to fend off the bugs; we definitely didn't need it for warmth. Eventually, we were starting to get tired, so we took the short walk to our new home and headed to bed.

 

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Monday morning, we didn't have any breakfast items. We did at least have the foresight to brew some coffee in the refrigerator the night before. So we had that. After we got up and showered, we set out in search of something on which to break our fast. We walked back towards the waterfront, which is basically where everything in town is. We went into Restaurante Encanto de Gamboa and ordered at the counter. In search of even more Panamanian cuisine, we ordered a smorgasbord of things including hojaldres, carimañolas, emapanadas and chorizo. It was all delicious, and super cheap! We got enough food for both of us to fill up on for about $6US.



So, we have encountered some weird currency exchanges along our travels, but I think Panama has one of the strangest. Belize might actually win, but Panama's cash situation is...odd. So, they use the Panamanian Balboa, but it's a 1:1 with the US dollar. Because it IS a US dollar. Literally. The same bills minted in the USA are what's used in Panama, but under a different name. Even though on the bill itself it says "United States dollar", they call it a Balboa. But then, they didn't go all the way with it. The coins are unique to Panama. Including the Panamanian dollar coins, which are not US dollar coins. Like I said, it's weird. But it does make it really easy to keep track of spending.



So, after breakfast, we weren't sure what to do. As we walked home, we figured it out, though. The place we'd rented has bicycles available to guests. So, when we got there, we ulocked the bikes and took them out for a rip. Nearby, there's a pipeline road. It was originally cut in to install and maintain an oil pipeline which would run north-south across Panama. I forget the whole story, but ultimately the pipeline wasn't finished. Nor was the road. But it cuts into the Panamanian rainforest, and has become a major destination for bird-watchers from all over the world, because of the variety of tropical birds commonly found along the road. It doesn't really go anywhere; it just terminates in the middle of the rainforest. We took the bikes into the forest as far as we felt like peddling. Which, given the humidity, was honestly not that far. We were sweating in no time.



We grabbed a bottle of water at the rainforest discovery center and decided to turn back there. We still had to get back, and we wanted to reserve ourselves enough time to rinse off the sweat in a cool shower. It was hard to spot many birds on the way out, because it was generally uphill, so we were focused on pedaling. On the way back out, we took our time, and spotted some monkeys traversing the treetops. We caught up to some photographers who'd spotted a pretty blue bird just off the road. I forget what it's called, but we'd seen one in Guatemala, too, after Terry pointed it out to us. We cruised the rest of the way downhill and out to pavement in time to watch a Princess Cruise ship pass by on its way through the canal.



We went home and rinsed off in the shower with some time to spare before our next adventure. We walked down the street to get Nate and head over to the Rainforest Lodge. Well, just next to it, actually. There's a zipline tour there, which we'd signed up to do online. So, we headed over to the starting point and told them we'd booked a 2:00 tour. They looked at the dark clouds rolling in and explained that while it was ultimately up to us, they advised cancelling for the day. If we started the tour and then had to end it early due to rain, we wouldn't be refunded. The advised going in the morning, so we agreed that made the most sense and planned to return the next day.

With an afternoon suddenly free, we weren't sure what to do. We went back to Frank and Nora's and grabbed my sister and Max to go for a ride. We headed towards the Miraflores Locks. There's a visitor's center there I wanted to check out. Unfortunately, by the time we actually got there, it was shortly before closing and they wouldn't let us in. We crossed the highway into the City of Knowledge (subtle) and grabbed a table at La Taberna del Canal. We were all a bit hungry. We ordered a late lunch or early dinner, I'm not sure which. Then, after we ate, we headed back to Gamboa. We stopped along the way to get some breakfast food, so we could serve ourselves rather than having to go out the next morning.



We hung out for a little bit with everyone, but ultimately headed to our place fairly early. Mandy and I had also picked up a bottle of wine to share, so we filled up the tub and started to work on that. We put in the bath bomb and climbed in. We setup our tablet on the shelf across the tub and watched a show together in the light of the one candle. It was lovely. It makes your butt sore after a while of sitting in the same position, though! We eventually got out, dried off, and spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the nice cool, dry air inside our place.

 

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Tuesday morning we had an appointment at 9:30am to go ziplining. So, as you can see, we had a fair bit of time to leisurely get up and moving. We had some coffees and breakfast, and we organized all our stuff a bit so it didn't feel like we were living in a mess. We walked down the street to get Nate again, and drove over to the ziplining headquarters. Again. This time, we were allowed to gear up and given instructions. This was not our first rodeo, so we knew the basics. Some of the others with us had never done it before, and a refresher is always helpful. Shortly thereafter, we were herded into a truck and driven up the hill. A short hike later, and we were at the first cable.

We hooked up and zipped down through the rainforest canopy. What a ride! I like how they operate the cables at this spot; 4 staff zip down ahead of all the guests, so immediately after completing the first cable, you're hooked onto the next and sent off the platform. Other places we've ziplined, the whole group does one cable at a time, so there's a lot of downtime between each. Not so in Gamboa. We zipped down three or four lines in rapid succession before we got an opportunity to even see another person in the group besides staff. Then, they repeat going ahead 3 or 4 lines. This gave us time to look for toucans and monkeys, but we couldn't see anything at all. There was a really great view of the river at a couple points, though. Unfortunately for you guys, I didn't bring my phone for fear of dropping it out of my pocket. So I have zero pictures. But I do have a phone still, so, not sorry.



After ziplining all the way back down to the parking lot, we removed our gear, thanked our guides, and set out in search of the rest of our day. We decided to pick up my sister and Max again and head into old Casco. Casco Viejo. It used to be the capitol city of Panama, but not anymore. Once there, our skin started to blister immediately. Not actually, but holy smokes it was hot. The sun was intense! We wandered around a bit, but quickly learned to seek the shady side of the street. Our original plans had Frank and Nora joining us for lunch in the city, but we squandered a few hours waiting for a nurse to show up at their house much later than scheduled. We modified the plans to meet them at their favorite restaurant, but they ultimately bailed on that, so we made up our own plan. We went to Finca del Mar and got another early dinner. We got patacones and chicharrones which were so good. Patacones are plantains which are fried, then mashed into patties, then fried again. Chicharrones are different depending where in the world you are. In a lot of places, they're deep-fried pork skins. Usually called pork cracklings or pork rinds, and they have a consistency similar to Funions - mostly air. However, in Panama it seems you can get Peruvian style chicharron, which still has the meat atttached and is roasted rather than deep fried. It's like a thick cut of pork belly with a crunchy skin. Similar, I guess, but really very different. And way better.



After lunch/dinner, we zig-zagged our way through the city back to the car and headed back to Gamboa. We packed up all our stuff, which included a lot more than when we arrived. I got new flip flops to replace my barely-worn-but-totally-destroyed ones from American Eagle. Those lasted about a week, maybe less. The new ones are made by Olu-Kai and are advertised waterproof. We'll see. I read a lot of bad reviews of newer products from Chacos; seems like they used to be much better than they are today. I also got new sunglasses from Woodies because I just destroy or lose sunglasses way too fast. Mandy got a couple tank tops she'd ordered for herself, and I got a t-shirt I'd ordered. We also got Baja Brackets from Van Compass to reinstall our shock that broke on the way to Caracol. We got a bunch of 3D printed parts from our friend Mike that will allow us to roof-mount our Starlink. We got my bolt extractor set to remove the broken shock bolt. We got a ladder mount bracket for the Starlink, too, in case the roof mounting doesn't work out. It took some doing, but we were able to fit everything into our backpacks; they were just really heavy.





After all that, we headed over to Frank and Nora's to say goodbye to everyone since we'd be leaving early in the morning to catch flights home. We didn't stick around late, so we wouldn't struggle to get up in the morning. We got all the details on the shuttle bus before we left, though. We thanked everyone for everything, and then headed home for one final air-conditioned sleep in Panama.

 

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Wednesday morning, we packed the last-minute things and headed out the door. Our shuttle was supposed to arrive around 6:00-6:10am. We only had to walk a few minutes down the street to the bus stop, so we got there with plenty of time to spare. The van didn't show up until around 6:30am, so we had even more time than we thought. We could have hitched a ride in the rental car, but they were leaving Gamboa around 4:30am, I think. We would have had way too much time to kill at the airport and we weren't interested in getting up that early. We could have gotten an Uber or taxi, but that was somewhere around $50. The van cost $2 each. It took us to a transportation depot in Panama City, where we probably could have gotten a different bus to the airport. It wasn't immediately obvious where such a bus was located in the depot, though, so we got a cab instead. He told us $25 to get to the airport, but all we had left on us in cash was $21, which he said was fine. We took the ride over to the airport, paid the fare, and began our checkin process. It was pretty seamless until they scanned our bags and saw the bag of hardware for the shock brackets.



"This can't fly" or whatever they said. Well, can I check the bag, then? Sure, no problem. So, I started getting all my stuff together to go back through security to check the bag, and then they were just like, you know what, it's fine. Weird, but okay. Thank you! We headed to the gate instead. We had so much time to spare, that we wandered in search of some breakfast. We got a mediocre airport meal and then went to our gate to wait. We read our books for a couple hours until the plane was ready for us to get on. We were all the way in the back this time, but we got settled in and awaited takeoff. The flight was pretty uneventful and honestly not noteworthy. Arrival to Cancun was a little bit rough, even though the skies were clear. We landed without issue, then waited our turn to hop off. The line at customs was quite long and only about a third of the booths were occupied by agents. We continued waiting until it was our turn, quietly thankful we didn't have to manage any children through that wait.



Things got mildly interesting here, however. Well, actually it began while we were in Panama, but we weren't using it much so it didn't matter. Google finally cut off our international data connection there, because we've been outside the USA for more than 3 months. They have unlimited international data, but if you read the fine print it's only for a maximum of 3 months at a time. So that ended. Luckily, we already had a Telcel SIM from our time in Baja, but of course it needed to be recharged. So, while we were in the airport we had access to airport free WiFi for a maximum of a half hour. Mandy connected first to begin communicating with the shuttle from our parking lot. Eventually, she ran out of time, so I connected and hot-spotted her which thankfully lasted until we got picked up. There was a little bit of a misunderstanding regarding where we were supposed to get picked up but we got it sorted out. Whew. We rode back to our van and were pleased to find it nice and clean waiting for us. And the weather was such a relief! What had been uncomfortably hot just a few days ago, was now a welcome break from the incredible humidity of Panama.



We climbed into the van and did a little bit of unpacking but got the air conditioning running ASAP. From there, we weren't sure exactly where to park for the night but we were feeling a little burnt out from travelling all day, so we weren't inclined to spend a lot of time searching. Plus, I was feeling a little sick. I couldn't tell if it was just from not enough sleep or if it was a cold or what. But I just wanted to be done for the day. So, when we saw a Marriott hotel, we pulled in immediately. It was a little steep at about $150US, but I was glad to pay it if it meant we could be done. It was difficult to search for places to stay online without any internet access. Plus, we needed food and weren't interested in cooking in the van. And there was a nail salon in the same building which we were keen to visit for manicures and pedicures. We checked in and brought some basics up to our room, then went straight to the restaurant on site for some dinner. We were starving. We got some traditional Mexican foods, but I forget what they were exactly. But you know it was corn tortilla, with meat, tomato, onion, cilantro, and salsa on top. They're all more or less the same with slight variations in the shape of the tortilla or its thickness, whether it's rolled or folded or open, is it fried, etc. It's always great, and this was no exception.

After dinner, we got some more stuff from the van to bring inside. Mandy sorted through some clothes for donations because they're too big for her now. We wandered around the hotel a bit, checking out the exterior balconies and the views they provided. But then we headed to the room to relax for the night. Air conditioning is such a pleasant luxury.

 

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Thursday morning, we headed to the hotel restaurant to get some breakfast. It was better than average, I think. Didn't blow me away, but wasn't a massive disappointment, either. Afterwards, we tried to walk into the nail salon just outside, but we quickly realized we needed an appointment we didn't have and couldn't get until much later in the day. Oh well. It wasn't super critical. We grabbed our things from our room and checked out of the hotel and back into our van. We organized a bit, but it felt messy anyways, because of all the new hardware that didn't have a good home. The 3D printer parts for our Starlink and the Baja brackets for our shocks take up a fair bit of room inside.

We left that hotel and proceeded to another. We drove down the highway a bit towards Caracol and drove out towards the coast. We parked on the street because the hotel entrance has a fairly low palapa-style roof over the gatehouse. It looked pretty close, so we walked up instead. The gate attendant said to drive through anyways, it would be fine. So, I fetched the van and slowly crept through while he and Mandy spotted the roof of the van. It was close, but no contact besides the grass fringe. We made it! We thanked the gate attendant and proceeded to the hotel lobby. We checked into Desire Resort, got a couple drinks, and headed to the pool. We were too early to check into the room yet, but we were free to use the rest of the hotel's amenities.

Clothing is optional at this hotel, pretty much everywhere except the restaurants. So, for all the guests' comfort, part of check-in is putting stickers over your phone's camera(s). As a result, we just didn't take any pictures at all during our stay. We stayed two nights, and we met a lot of awesome folks. It's basically the complete opposite of van living, so it was fun to live large for a couple days. We didn't have to prepare any foods at all, we didn't have to wash any dishes, we didn't have to pay for any of our meals or drinks, we didn't have to make the bed each morning and stow it. We had plenty of room to spread out all of our stuff. There was air conditioning, a huge shower with hot and cold water, a large bathroom. There's a swim-up bar at the pool, live Mexican banda music, a rooftop hot tub for watching the sun set, a night club. You name it, it's there. You don't even have to think about what clothes you feel like wearing if you don't want to. It's the most easy-living couple of days we've had in a long time. You can pretty much do whatever you want - or don't - at all times.

Eventually it was time for us to return to our real life, however. We checked out Saturday morning and hung out by the pool for a couple hours until about noon. Then, we hopped into the van and headed out. We drove down to Playa del Carmen to pick up Loki. We stopped for some groceries to restock our empty kitchen on the way, then we met Veronica in the park near her house again, and she brought dog out to greet us. He was SO HAPPY! We were, too. She told us all about his time with her - there were no issues at all and per usual he was very well behaved. The biggest problem she had, she said, was that each night she had to tell him to get out of the bed and go back on the floor. We told her he'd try to sleep in the bed, and it wasn't a major issue; he climbed down as soon as she told him to. He even got along with her cat and a couple other dogs she was watching off and on during his stay. He's so good.

After chatting with Veronica for a while, we eventually said our goodbyes and took him back home to the van. We cruised over to Walmart in town to park for the night. We parked fairly early, but we didn't have much to do. I wasn't feeling great, so we just pulled the bed down and turned the fan up to get a breeze blowing through. We chilled in bed for a while before actually going to sleep.

 

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Sunday morning, we checked inside Walmart to see if they recycle batteries. I'd swapped out our old laptop battery with a new one my sister delivered to us in Panama when I was chilling in bed all night. It seems they don't, so we retained the old battery for now. We'll keep looking for a place to properly dispose of it. We left after that and drove to Mérida. We found a park downtown and parked in the shade under a big tree. There was a soccer match going on, so we watched that from the corner of our eyes as we walked Loki around the park a bit. It was quite hot in the sun, so he gave up fairly soon after starting. We coaxed him the rest of the way around the small chunk of the park, rather than going back the way we'd come. We circled about a quarter of the park or so. Not much.



Back at the van, I was feeling lucky. I thought I could at least get the broken bolt from our rear shock extracted from the van's rear subframe. Since I had my bolt extractor kit on hand, courtesy of my sister. I got myself setup and drilled into the bolt. The first attempt just spun the bolt extractor inside the hole, but after more drilling, I got the bolt to come free. That first little bit when it starts spinning out is the best feeling. Riding that high, I figured I should continue with the Baja bracket installation. It was around 100F outside, but the air was so much drier than it had been in Panama that it wasn't even uncomfortable. I was hardly even sweating! I read through the instructions and began the process of bolting in the bracket on the passenger's side. I marked a couple holes, drilled them out and painted the bare steel. The paint dried almost instantly; it was drying on the brush as I was applying it. Then, I completed installing the bracket. The last step is installing the shock to the bracket, but first I had to install a new bushing in the shock end. Somehow, after the bolt broke, the bushing got pushed out. I didn't think much of it at the time; it seemed an obvious outcome with nothing to hold it in place. But after struggling to install the new bushing, I don't see how it simply fell out. We tried hammering it in, oiling it, standing on it, C-clamping it. We even used some of the gym equipment at the park to press it using our body weight. We couldn't even get it started. Ultimately, we went with Mandy's brilliant idea of using the shock bolt and the van subframe to squeeze everything together. This was a little bit tricky but worked brilliantly. The main drawback was that we had to remove the freshly installed Baja bracket to do it. So, then I re-reinstalled it for the last time, and finally installed the shock.







I'd gotten frustrated with the bushing, so Mandy made some food for us while I took a break from it for a bit. So, once everything was together, she cleaned up the kitchen while I cleaned up the tools. I wasn't interested in doing the other side right then. Plus, the sun was starting to head down and we weren't sure if we could park overnight at the park. Once we were packed up, we headed to City Center mall, where the internet told us it was fine to park overnight. Once we got there, though, I realized we didn't really have anything to do all night. I popped into AutoZone to see if they had Mercedes Benz spec 229.5 engine oil in stock. They had just enough if I'd bought all the containers, but the total would have come out to around $350US which was way too much. I've done it for less than half that in the states, so I passed. There was still a bit of daylight left outside, and I figured the driver's side shock bracket would be a lot easier to install since I didn't have to extract a broken bolt or press in a shock bushing. I pulled out all the tools I'd need and set to work straight away. The bracket went in quite smoothly and quickly. Before the sun was all the way down, I was putting away the tools I'd used.



Meanwhile I'd been working on installing the bracket, Julio stopped by and chatted to Mandy for a bit about our travels. I didn't catch most of the conversation, but he seemed cordial. He offered us a few places to check out in and around Mérida before moving on. As I was cleaning up, Ernesto did the same. Since I wasn't under the van, I could participate in the conversation much more. Ernesto was really stoked for us, mainly because he'd done a similar trip in a school bus he built in Florida a few years prior. He was super friendly and chatty. He reassured us we'd be totally fine to stay where we were for the night and that if anyone hassled us about it to tell them that he said it was fine. He said he lived very close by, so if we actually got kicked out, we could park at his place. When we shared that we didn't really have much of a plan or structure for the following days, he said that he wanted to link up after he finished working the following afternoon. He asked if we ski, and I was like yes definitely! so he said we could get together and go skiing, and it was a friend's birthday so we'd be welcome to join. He eventually left, and we headed inside for the night. But then we started questioning the whole skiing thing. The city is close to the ocean, but not really on the water. So, is there a lake? Would Loki go on the boat? Whose boat is it and how big is it? Then, I was like, he never actually specified water skiing. Is skiing a euphemism for cocaine, because it resembles snow? Yikes. With all these questions swirling about, we went to bed.

 

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Monday, we spent the morning searching for 1-1/2" structural angle aluminum. I asked Ernesto where he thought I might be able to find it, and he sent us to a hardware store nearby where he knew we were parked. It was only about a 10-minute walk, so we took Loki for a morning walk to try and get some angle aluminum. The usual. Unfortunately, they didn't have any raw materials like that there, however the whole plaza was all construction equipment and materials. So, we tried a place next door that clearly had steel tubing. The guys there said they didn't have any, but that we should check at La Ferre, just down the periferico. So, we walked back to the van and hopped in to go for a ride. We found La Ferre just a few minutes down the highway, and I went in there to ask. They had 1-1/2" steel angle, which could work. I'd just need to paint it. Unfortunately, they only sold it in 6m lengths. I was like I only need (4) 4" long pieces. Oh well. My Spanish isn't good enough to try and barter something like that. They offered that we should try checking at Interceramic, so I continued driving to there. It was just on the other side of the highway, but we had to cruise south a bit to turn around and head back north. They have aluminum angle, but it's a trim piece for tiles, not even close to the dimensions I need.

I told Ernesto that we'd struck out at all the places, and he responded right away with a few questions to confirm what we needed exactly. The 3D printer parts Mike made for us are designed around 1-1/2" structural angle to be used for mounting the Starlink to the roof of our van. The angle fits inside a cavity printed into the parts, so it pretty much has to be the right profile. Ernesto responded shortly thereafter confirming that he was able to secure a piece of angle for us, and not an excessive length of it. Score!

He sent his address, so we cruised over there to meet up with him. He was hanging out with his friend and they were celebrating his birthday by playing tag on their 4-wheelers all around his yard. What a wild time. Ernesto insisted we participate. I tried my best, but I couldn't keep up on either 4-wheeler. Admittedly, they were much more familiar with the course, so they had the home field advantage. There was even a wooden jump, but I skipped it because I wasn't confident enough with only a few minutes of wheel time on either machine. We got the angle from Ernesto, which was perfect. It was 2" size, so I had to chop one of the flanges down, but that was easily done with the cutoff wheel. I cut the 4" pieces I needed and gave him the remainder.



Afterwards, Ernesto was ready to go skiing. We were relieved to find out that it was in fact water skiing. He has another piece of property in a development just outside the city, so he lead us there. It's not developed very much yet, but the houses that are there seem quite nice. He showed us his spot, which has nothing built on it yet, and told us his plans for it. We grabbed his wakeboards and life vest and headed over to the lake. It's a small manmade lake, and the wakeboarding happens with no boat. There's an overhead cable system, similar to a chairlift. Instead of chairs, though, there's just a tow rope that hangs down. It's a pretty clever setup. As his friend was setting up the controls, I was trying to figure out how it worked. The best guess I had was that it just tows you in a straight line down the lake, and then you must have to sink and start over to come back the other way. Ernesto explained that as you get to the end, you swing in a wide arc as the cable switches directions, to keep tension in the rope. If you time it right, it will switch directions as you do, and it'll pull you back without actually stopping. Genius!



He made a few passes to demonstrate how it works, and then gave some brief instructions and tossed me the rope. I've tried wakeboarding behind a boat a few times before, and I've never been able to get up out of the water. So, I was a little worried about that. The first try, I had no issues. The cable system pulls much more vertical than a boat does, so it lifts you out of the water as it pulls you across. It makes it way easier to get up onto the board. It was a blast! I got to the other end of the water and fell, though. The cable was manipulated to bring the tow rope to me, and I continued back to where I started. I failed on the turnaround again, but Ernesto gave me some pointers how to execute it better. I couple more passes up and down the lake and eventually I figured it out. He told me how to turn around to ride switch, which came pretty easily, too. It was super satisfying to pick it up so quickly. I had a wicked good time. Mandy wasn't feeling 100%, so she passed on the opportunity to ride. I swapped out with Ernesto and his buddy and we all rode a few times until we were pretty exhausted. It's a pretty tough workout, even when you figure out how to stay up on the board.



Afterwards, we were shown to the clubhouse at the end of the lake, where there are showers and restrooms. Mandy and I took turns showering. I went first, and when I came out, she was chatting to some people that were sitting outside on the patio. I joined in the conversation and she went to take a shower. Loki was content to sprawl on the tile floor. We watched a beautiful sunset, and eventually Ernesto came by to say he was heading home. We thanked him profusely for everything and paid him for the angle aluminum. He left, and we continued chatting with our new friends on the patio well into the night. We all eventually split up from there around 8:30 or 9:00pm. We drove across the development to Ernesto's property to park for the night and sleep in the van.

 

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Tuesday morning, we took a stroll around the neighborhood. We checked out some of the houses that have already been built, though there were very few. About an equal number are still under construction. But more than half of the land seems to be completely unimproved yet. It's a pretty quiet development. We only saw one or two cars pass the whole time we were wandering around with Loki. When we made our way back home, we uncovered the windows and headed out. We'd have loved to stay and spend more time with Ernesto - he was a ton of fun - but it was so hot in the whole Yucatan peninsula. We were eager to get back towards the mountains.

So, we headed southwest. We beelined for Ciudad del Carmen and got there early afternoon. I went into Home Depot to pick up some screws to assemble our 3D printer parts with. I was excited to finally get it mounted to our roof so we could have internet access all the time. We got frozen coffees there, too, to cool off with, and then we headed to the malecon to hopefully catch a sea breeze. We parked on the street in front of a cafe that happened to have free WiFi, so that was nice, even though it was intermittent. We took a walk around, but it was really hot in the sun. There was a breeze coming off the ocean, which helped a bit, but it was far from ideal. The pavement was hot, so we stuck to shady spots for Loki's feet.



Once we circled back to the van, I dug out the Starlink and the cutoff wheel and chopped off its leg. With the leg and motors removed, the antenna has a much smaller profile. It can be mounted onto the roof this way and only project up about 4". It can't pan or tilt itself, obviously, but all reports indicate that this has only a negligible effect on performance. With download speeds in excess of 150MBps, we can afford for it to be a bit slower at times. Unfortunately, once I finished cutting, I realized I'd cut clean through the ethernet cable inside. I had to cut through this wire anyways in order to remove the leg, but I wanted to cut it somewhere that would give me enough slack to crimp on a connector. In my haste, I'd sliced right through it where it entered the leg motor compartment. It really couldn't have gone any worse. Well, the only thing to do was cut the housing further to get enough wire exposed to crimp it on. So, I did that, and discovered a ferrite bead in my way. So, I cut further. I pulled the cable out with plenty of slack and slipped the choke off to crimp on a connector. As I was setting up the crimp, the whole ethernet socket pulled off the circuit board. That's bad. That's where I quit for the day.





Terribly disappointed, I put everything away and cleaned up a bit. We moved the van off the street into a parking lot on the other side of the cafe and went for another walk. There was live music on a stage right on the waterfront, and all sorts of stuff going on in town, so we wandered through exploring it. I was feeling crummy, though, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd have liked to. It wasn't awful, I was just really looking forward to having internet that didn't need to be setup and taken down all the time. It just wasn't meant to be. So, it was frustrating. But Mandy always helps to cheer me up because she's awesome like that. We enjoyed the sights around town and listened to some music for a while watching dolphins out in the bay.



Eventually, we headed back home as it was starting to get dark out. We climbed into bed with a light sheen of sweat and agreed that going to sleep wet was getting old for the both of us. Loki panted his agreement. We've gotta get somewhere cooler.