Moving on to Mexico - Winter 2008-2009
 

In February 2009, we returned to the US and worked to finish stories about the places and culture of our neighbor to the south, both ancient and modern. Below is summary of our travels, followed by links to our stories. We hope you enjoy them.

Following our summer in Europe and a month in the eastern USA, we returned to Home Base Albuquerque to catch up on our writing, see friends, visit doctors, take care of business, do a bit of campaign work and, most importantly, VOTE!

On Election Night, we received an early Christmas Present - the election of Barack Obama, along with the Congressional candidates from New Mexico that we supported!

We then began to plan our next journey, seeking a place with warmer weather, great cities for urban research, and culture to experience. We also sought a place from which to observe the historic transition of the US Government, and to view the global financial crisis from a different, more worldly, perspective.

By early December, the weather had turned decidedly colder in Albuquerque, so we decided it was time to leave for a warmer place. We jumped on an Amtrak train and headed to Los Angeles to continue our research and planning. We decided that Mexico would meet our requirements, so we focused our travel plan south of the US border.

We began our journey with a flight to Puerto Vallarta to enjoy a few days of vacation and an easy entrance into Mexico; easy because so many Americans visit this sun drenched beach city that many local people in the shops and cafes would be accustomed to the influx of turistas and would tolerate our efforts to improve our Espanol.

After a week of sun and beach, we flew over to Mexico City to begin a month of exploration of this great city, including the ancient site Teotihuacan. Visits to their Museo de Anthropologica began to prepare us for visits to Mexico's wonderful archaeological sites.

We then switched to travel by bus, which we found to be very enjoyable. Our first trip took us to Oaxaca, including the wonderful archeological site, Monte Alban on a mesa above the city. Then on to Veracruz, the historic Caribean port city that Susan had visited years ago. Another ride took us to Palenque, our first Mayan site.

Merida was our next destination, where we took a few days to catch up on our writing and take a day trip to Uxmal, another Mayan site. From Merida, it was a shorter ride to Chichen Itza, perhaps the most well known Mexican site, and now voted one of the 'Seven Wonders of the World'.

Another short ride took us to Tulum, where we enjoyed their wonderful Mayan ruin and the white sand beaches and azure waters. We finished our trip with a few days on Cozumel, including some snorkeling on a nearby reef.

A ferry and a bus took us to Cancun airport for our flight back to the US, the end of this, our latest nomad adventure.

Click on the following links to read about our adventures.

Puerto Vallarta - A Near Perfect Tropical Resort City

Mexico City