Saturday morning bright and early we crossed the border into Mexico. Crossing took a while because we got there before the offices opened but by 9am we were on our way south. Our goal was to drive a long way our first day. The quality of the roads varied widely but we made good progress and finally stopped for the night in the town of Cerro Azul.This is a picture of Duke outside the door of our motel room.
Coincidentally just before we stopped for the night we were caught in traffic behind a guy named Ron Farmer who is running from Pole to Pole to raise money for the Red Cross. While we were eating dinner he caught up with us and came into our restaurant to eat with his support people. We chatted with his Mexican organizer and photographer who was from Cancun.
Sunday morning we caught up with and passed his motorcade again about 3 miles south of Cerra Azul. A few miles after we passed him the main road was closed and we had to take a detour on dirt roads for while. We even crossed a river on a causeway with water over the road..
When we reached Veracruz we parked and walked around looking at hotels. We ended up in a wonderful room at the Gran Hotel Diligencias. Our room is on the fourth floor overlooking the swimming pool, the cathedral, and the main square (the Zocalo).
We immediately went out and had a snack on the edge of the square.
For dinner we ate at the hotel restaurant. We ordered fresh fish. It is priced by weight. The waiter brought out three fish for us to chose from. We chose the snapper and the waiter took it back to the kitchen where they grilled it for us. It was fantastic.
Last night there was a concert in the Zocalo by Mane de la Parra. It was fun to watch and listen. From our room after the concert we watched security rush him through the crowd of screaming girls to the hotel.
Yesterday and today we have been exploring Vera Cruz. It is very hot and incredibly humid here. We walk for a while then come back to the room, relax and enjoy the air conditioning.
Veracruz was first settled by Europeans over 400 years ago. This is part of the original wall around the city.
The terrapins in the pool in front of Faro Carranza reminded me of our turtle at home. My friend Linda tells me that he is starting to call her Mom.
The pictures from teh mexican part of our trip are on Flickr here.
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