Travels of the Bay family and the Yoda Van

I thought San Cristobal was a little funky, but that was because I hadn’t been to Palenque yet.  We had heard from other travelers that a place called the Mayabell was the place to stay.  In our camping bible it said that you will find more VW Campers there than anywhere, so we knew we had to stay there.  We were actually the only VW Camper there which was a little surprising since this is hippie central.

The site was great.  It is in the jungle, just 2 km from the Palenque ruins.  We heard howler monkeys and other jungle animals from our campsite.  There was lots of drumming, acoustic guitars and barefoot hippies singing and holding hands.  There were naked toddlers named Luna, hemp and wooden bead necklaces, men in sarongs, pregnant woman without bras, woolen handbags with long straps, a 4 year old with better dreadlocks than any stupid-ass frat boy I’ve even seen in the States, some pretty scraggly facial hair and lots and lots of marijuana. 

We set up camp with our Swiss friend Marcus and we just happened to be right next to another German guy, Dietmar, who has been traveling by motorcycle through South and North America for about 14 months.  Again each one of us had great stories to tell and it was interesting listening to each other’s adventures.  The first morning Marcus and Dietmar set off to the ruins bright and early.  We got up slower, had breakfast, went for a swim and then went to the ruins.  Both kids had fun again climbing up and down the ruins and exploring the tunnels and crumbling stairwells.    The ruins are pretty spectacular.  You just can’t beat the setting in the lush green jungle. 

The next day all 6 of us went to Agua Azul.  This is a river that travels through the jungle and cascades into pools as it comes down the mountain.  The water is turquoise blue and beautiful.  Some people at our campsite gave us some good advice where to go when we got there.  There are lots of restaurants and vendors selling stuff, but we just kept going past all this until there were no more stands.  At that point most people turn around and go back, but we kept going a little ways further and found a nice spot where we could swim.  There current where we were was not that strong so it was possible to walk just a little ways upstream, get in the water and float downstream.  Occasionally a few people would walk by, but for the most part we had the place to ourselves and we were the only ones swimming there for the entire afternoon. 

I was sad to leave since this was one of the nicest settings we’ve stayed at in a long time.  Next we’re off to the coast on the Yucatan Peninsula where we’ll by meeting our 16 year old nephew who is flying in to Cancun in about a week.  He’ll be traveling with us for 2 weeks before flying home to Germany.

We left Thursday just before 9 AM. We said goodbye to my parents and drove off. Matthias and I were full of emotions when pulling away, but mostly exhilaration and euphoria that this trip we had envisioned for more than a year was finally a reality. We started out by passing through the rush hour traffic I spent every day commuting in. It feels great to have given it all up and hit the road.

We actually spent a lot of time driving the first two days. The first stop was just past Pendleton, Oregon. We stayed in a beautiful area in the Blue Mountains. That evening was just wonderful. The excitement and the warm weather, and the familiar Northwest forest provided for a great evening.

The second day we traveled from NE Oregon to Mountain Home, Idaho. We stopped in Baker City, Oregon which is a neat town. There is a well preserved historical downtown, with a nice shop, Bella, which sells kitchen gadgets, coffee, European wine and organic food. It was a bit tough with Julian whirling his Big Bird through the air, but the owner is very nice and remembered us from the last time we stopped in there over two years ago.

The landscape changes so fast and dramatically once you are out of Seattle. We are staying in Idaho right now on the prairie. We are surrounded by brown mountains and tumbleweeds. The playground here is not the recycled tires/wood chips surrounding we are used to, rather loose brown silt. Honestly, we’re filthy, but happy and still anxious.

Today was also rough at times. We’ve decided to spend a lot of time in the car to get some distance behind us during the first few days, and that it is a little tough for all of us. Today our high temperature reached 100 degrees as we turned off the highway to a visitor’s center (that was closed) and a leaky propane tank (that turned out to only be a safety overflow) in a town where the only grocery store was a Wal-Mart (which we refused to patronize). It is apparent that we are quite far from our familiar home. But then we met a lawyer who worked in Central America as legal council for a group of American missionaries that were murdered (years ago) and knows Mexico and Central America very well. She gave us lots of suggestions and encouragement for a great, safe and worthwhile trip. I watched Julian practice stacking blocks and worked with him to learn to identify colors (he knows which block is the orange block 95% of the time now). Then the four of us all took a walk together in the area and explored the surroundings. We looked for snakes, watched the sun set, found a bunch of ants, played tetherball and swang on a swing. Despite the long day in the car, the loss of a permanent home, and changing our lives 180 degrees, I’m still ready and eager for the next day.