Yucatan Day 6: Calakmul

[28-Nov-2024] Thanksgiving was another long day. Picked up at 7:30 am in Xpujil by a van with a driver and a guide. Two hours to the ruins of Calakmul. Spent several hours there, climbed Struture 2 (148 ft) one of the highest Mayan temples. Its a pyramid with another pyramid built over its front part so when you reach the top there is a platform and then more behind that which you couldnt see from the ground in front of it. Was able to see the mound of temples in Guatemala on the horizon. Saw wild couati and swarm traps for bees. Two hour drive out then all the way back to Tulum. Calakmul Photos

Yucatan Day 5: Museum of the Mayan Culture and Dzibanche

[27-Nov-2024] Returned to Chetumal for the Museum of Mayan Culture. While it has a lot of dioramas of major sites temples its lacking in artifacts. Dzibanche is partway to Xpujil where we would stay the next night. Got there pretty late and didnt have to pay the state or national fee, security walked with us to make sure we went through it quickly and left on time. Climbed the Temple of the Cormorants. Dodged a herd of cattle on the way out.

Yucatan Day 5: Fuerte de San Felipe de Bacalar
[27-Nov-2024] Drove back north to Fuerte de San Felipe de Bacalar, the only fortification I could find in the area. Its a small Spanish fort from 1725 built to defend the town from pirates. Unlike all the Mayan ruins it has a small museum in the citadel.

Yucatan Day 4: Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve

[26-Nov-2024] Started early, picked up by the us at 7:30am. Then spent 2 hours on the worst road in the world. Stop and start, weave around pot holes bouncing up and down when they cant be avoided. The only break is to stop and try to see crocodiles (which didnt appear) at Puente Boca Paila. Then more driving. Bus ride ends at a beach in the middle of the reserve where you wade out to the boat. Boat trip goes south past Isla Pájaros (Bird island) where Frigate birds nest in the mangroves around a fresh water cenote. Then it goes out to where the inland waters meet the ocean and dolphins congregate. Spent quite a while with a pod of 5 just hanging out. Went past the lighthouse. Next stop is around on the ocean side of the reserve to see large sea turtles, then some snorkeling. Had problems with my mask and breathing heavy so it wasnt very fun. Did see some coral and fish but other people said the reef was largely dead. Some swimming in clear shallow water then back around to the bay side to stop at the town of Punta Allen. Walked couple of blocks from the Punta Allen docks to the beach for the restaurant. Back to the boat after lunch, then another two hours back on the bus to return to Tulum. Long drive after that down to Chetumal. Sian Ka'an Bioreserve Photos

Yucatan Day 3: Coba and Tulum ruins

[25-Nov-2024] Drove from Valladolid to Tulum stopping at Coba ruins on the way. Coba is in the jungle and shaded, lots of stele. Lots of wildlife, saw butterflies, monkeys, and turkeys. Tulum is a walled temple district located on a rock above the beach its a beautiful site and the views from it are even better. Walked the main strip of modern Tulum. It needs to die like Vegas. Next morning watched the sunrise over the Chedruai with some yellow birds.

Yucatan Day 2: Ek Balam and cenote
[24-Nov-2024] After Chichen Itza drove to Ek Balam. Ek Balam much less touristy and you can climb the acropolis. The acropolis has two uneven sides with giant jaguar mouths that you really cant see from the ground. Reading says the Mayans themselves buried the acropolis which is why the carvings survived. Climbed the acropolis. Ended the day swimming in Cenote Xcanche. Went back to Valladolid.

Yucatan Day 2: Chichen Itza

[24-Nov-2024] Got to Chichen Itza before it opened to avoid the tourist busses. Mexico insists on having 3 pay stations. One for parking, one for the state and one for the federal government making entering any park a pain. They also allow local vendors to come in and set up on the paths of the park but only when the park opens so if you get there when it opened the vendors are all pushing carts to get to their place. Thankfully they have a separate entrance. Signage and interpretation is lacking. Many ruins have little more than a name and at best a single plaque that is in Spanish, English and Mayan so the info provided is low. Museums with artifacts are also lacking. Almost no directional signs. Chichen Itza itself is mostly clear of trees and obstructions. You cant climb any of the ruins. They also hide the best carved reliefs way back in the back. Photos Caches GCG9MY: El Castillo

Yucatan Day 1: Valladolid

[23-Nov-2024] Plane landed half an hour early in Cancun. Its nice and warm there. Got rental car and drove to Valladolid. Saw nothing of Cancun other than on the flight in. Roads are not a problem except the stupid speed bumps on the highway at the start and end of every town. Stopped at the Vallazoo on the way in and the Xkopek beekeeping park for the stingless bees. The zoo was a small local zoo but had some unusual local animals, and farm animals. The beekeeping park kept several types of local stingless bees as well as apis mellifera. Its built around a cave that has a stingless bee hive on the roof a well as an open air mellifera hive about 30ft up. The tour then goes to the stingless apiary and opens some hives (with glass lids inside) and does a honey tasting.

Tornado
[17-May-2024] The tornado was a week ago. Neighbors say it passed right over but I was in Homestead. Lost some shingles and lots of stuff down from their yards into mine. Power was out till after 6 Sunday. Work didnt have power till Tuesday. Tornado photos

Petersburg
[10-Apr-2024] Took morning to see the Petersburg battlefield. Then finished driving home. Got home about 11:30, heavy rain the last half hour.

Driving

[09-Apr-2024] Left the eclipse shortly after totality at 4pm. Made good time down 5 to Orleans before hitting traffic but that was only about 10 miles away. Interstate was a disaster. By 6:30 was only at Lyndonville 35 miles away. Pulled over for gas and food. Hung out till after 8pm, line to get on the interstate did not get less. Took a back dirt road 20 miles south but back to stop and go on the interstate. Only traveled 100 miles by 11pm. Stopped and got about 3 hours sleep in an empty parking lot. Drove some more till 4:30am, finally no traffic. Made it to Cromwell, Ct. only 260 miles from Newport but was able to get a hotel room. Got up and drove through to Richmond though the construction that was CT, traffic of NYC, Baltimore and DC.

Niagara Falls
[07-Apr-2024] Passed through Buffalo, had a reservation in Syracuse. Realized I was at Niagara Falls and it was still daylight. Took a detour to see them. They are over touristed and crowded. At least they were free. Finished the day after a few more hours in Syracuse.

Huntsville Botanical Garden

[06-Apr-2024] The Huntsville Botanical Garden is right next to the rocket center. Its a really pretty place but disorganized and needs more maps. Native azaleas were in full bloom so it was a good time to visit. Left the garden and looked at cloud cover for the eclipse. Missouri is clouding over. Made the decision to drive to the Northeast. No more stops its going to be a long drive. Ended the day in Bluefield WV.

U.S. Space and Rocket Center

[06-Apr-2024] Ended Friday in Huntsville. Got up and went straight to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. The main museum is underwhelming. The outdoors displays are better and the Saturn V center is well worth the visit. I have now see all three existing Saturn Vs, this one, the one at Cape Canaveral and the one at Johnson. As well as the preserved Saturn V inside there is a full size replica outside standing up.

National Civil War Naval Museum
[05-Apr-2024] Next stop was the National Civil War Naval Museum. Missed River Blast by one day they were setting up. Ive been here more than a decade ago and not much seems to have changed. Only had 4 photos from before so adding the new ones in the Same place

Kolomoki Mounds

[05-Apr-2024] Left about 9am headed north. Texas has already been eliminated but the Southern Missiouri area seems clear. Plan is to get to Atlanta tonight. Diverted to Kolomoki Mounds since it was on the way and I have not been there. Its a small park with a few small mounds but the general gist I get is they have no idea about anyt5hing other than some of the mounds were burial and others werent. Photos

Pando

[14-Oct-2023] After leaving Capitol Reef stopped to see Pando on the way to Salt Lake City. Pando is a 160 acre aspen tree with hundreds of trunks but they are all one single organism. Which gives it both the largest tree by weight and the largest tree by landmass, and is also the largest known aspen clone, while General Sherman from the beginning of the vacation is the worlds largest single stem tree. When I turned in the rental car had driven 1855 miles from L.A. to Salt Lake City, though California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. First time in Nevada and really the first time in Utah since the previous time had only been when I went to 4 Corners.

Annular Eclipse

[14-Oct-2023] The whole point of the vacation was to be somewhere I could see the annular eclipse. That looked like southern Utah for the best weather and fewest clouds because as Craig says I have PTSD over the traffic from the last eclipse. Bought a new camera, and a Intervalometer (it takes scheduled pictures on its own) and a tripod. Built a solar filter for the camera. The parking lot was full when we arrived but all those people apparently went to the sunrise view point, more came after we got there and they were parked along the road. We go the last spot in the actual lot. Hiked all that up to the natural bridge before dawn, watching the sun rise over the rocks behind us. Set it everything to take photos. There were a few clouds but they were not an issue. Dont like how any of the photos with the new set up turned out. All the photos are from the old camera and the cell phone. They are of the eclipse you just cant tell.

Capital Reef National Park

[14-Oct-2023] It was 30 degrees so was going to wear the jeans. Had the camel pack leak all over them over night. Stupid hotel laundry doesn't open till something like 9am. Dried them as best I could with the iron. Still got to Capital Reef before dawn. Hiked a mile as the sun rose to Hickman Natural Bridge to wait for the eclipse. Were not the first people there. After the eclipse visited the rest of the park. Some old Mormon settlements, a few petroglyphs, some fruit orchards were you could pick and eat apples off the trees. Red Delicious were ripe and had one for lunch. Clearly crowded because of the eclipse. Thought we were done and rather disappointed with the park itself but then stopped at the couple of trails we passed on the way in before the visitor center which is where they hide the good scenery. Hiked both the Goosenecks and Sunset Point Trails.