Well, we finally did it! We quit our jobs in Virginia and sold/gave away all that we had that wouldn't fit in the car and started the drive to Merida Yucatan. It was quite a drive from Virginia, since the roads were icy and it was freezing cold. It took a little longer than we thought. My sister Julie gave us a SPOT (GPS individual Locator) for our trip, so we could push it every day once we got into Mexico. Our trip took us through Florence SC the first night, then Montgomery AL the next night. Our third night, we stayed in New Orleans with our son and daughter in law. We decided to stay two nights there and rest up. The weather was nice when we arrived- 72! But the day we left was back down to 35! What a change!! We headed for Texas and made it to Corpus Christi only to find out that we were at a hotel in the industrial district, changed hotels to South Padre Island Texas. There was such a terrible Ice storm they closed all the bridges and Interstates. We were stuck there for two days waiting for the weather to improve some. The third day, Husband decides he's had enough cold weather and wants to get on the road to Mexico. :) So, we went on the feeder roads (interstates still closed!) all the way to Brownsville on the Border. It took us all day to go these few miles. We stayed the night in Brownsville since the Border Bridge was ALSO closed. wow.
The next morning, the interstate was still closed, but the side feeder roads were open, so once again we drove the feeder roads to the Border. Once we crossed, it seemed like the Immigration folks were hoping for another snow day, they were all late to open. We waited there two hours for someone to show up so we could process through. But, the long wait was worth it, we got through no problems.
We were warned by two different people NOT to drive in Mexico at night. So, we drove on through 500 miles the first day to Tampico. (breaking the first rule we were told- we drove at night till we found a hotel)
We stayed at the Grand Royal and I would NOT recommend it to anyone. We had seen it recommended on two different sites of travellers, and we have a small Chihuahua we are travelling with, so we decided to stay there.( Dark, filthy carpets, sheets that don't fit the bed, towels you could see through.)
Next day we drove to Costa Esmeralda (the Emerald Coast)- on the Gulf of Mexico. Very beautiful place! Lots of Mexicans vacation here. We drove by a place that looked great so we stopped. Misiones Del Mar. I think we pretty much had the whole resort to ourselves since the Mexicans thought it was freezing (75). We sat out by the pool enjoying the warm sun. Then we went across the street to a great Seafood Restaurant I wanted my camera when the waiter brought a tray of raw seafood out for us to choose our dinner! The shrimp were about 10 inches long each. I don't think I've ever seen shrimp that big before. The meal was 6 of those!!
Next morning we left on the big drive to VillaHermosa. We stayed in the Hilton VillaHermosa and I would recommend it to Everyone! It was beautiful and clean and very nice. Petey the Chihuahua was allowed to stay there too. (I guess the Hilton owners have small dogs too, right?)
We are close to Yucatan, but not close enough to make it in one day. Day 11 of driving.... getting tired of being in the car all day long..... whew
Made it to the State of Campeche and the City of Campeche! What a beautiful town. It is right on the Gulf and has a boardwalk. We stayed at the Holiday Inn across the street from the Gulf. We woke to birds singing and warm weather! ahhhh If you go there, please check out the Breakfast Restaurant across the street, right on the Boardwalk. We had a wonderful breakfast there, under the palapa roof (straw roof) watching the fishermen leave to go out for the day.
Wednesday we finally made it to Merida Yucatan!!! YEAH!! The end of our long trip.
We met our Real Estate agent in Burger King and he took us to the house we rented.
Our new adventure has begun.....
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