Jamie had quite a scare yesterday. After coming home in the late afternoon, we found that the electricity was out. No electricity means no A/C. Jamie about had a heart attack. He was desconsolate and while we opened windows to take advantage of the terrific breeze blowing off the Gulf, he was certain he would not be able to sleep. His salvation came a few hours later when he announced with glee that the ELECTRICTY WAS BACK! THE ELECTRICITY WAS BACK! His beloved A/C was ready to roar! Truth be told, it would have been a miserable night without A/C. We spent too many hours getting ready this morning; we finally rolled out of camp by 11am. I felt it was going to be a long day in the van; a local map puts the trip at 5.5 hours and we’ve found these estimates to be wrong by 2 hours in some cases.
The road out of Lerma (just outside Campeche) is windy and hilly and we were going no more 
than 35mph and I was worried that we would simply NEVER make Villahermosa. The Gulf view was beautiful though, and we enjoyed the ride. Once we got to Champoton, the drive was spectacular. The Gulf was gorgeous and we followed pair after pair of pelicans, dipping and diving over the waves. The seaside was beautiful and the Gulf was green in areas with beautiful white sand. On the inside of the van, however, there was a very loud 3yo crying and screaming that her tummy hurt (she’s been experiencing some constipation that I have been somewhat successful treating with prunes and water, but yesterday she skipped the water and suffered).
We crossed multiple bridges, two which required tolls. The tolls were really quite pricey in comparison to bridge tolls in the states, and I wonder what options the locals have to avoid them. There were quite a few hitchikers at each end of the bridges and I think that might be how they avoid them. I wanted to pick some up, but Jamie disagreed. On the bridge itself, a two-lane affair, were numerous fishermen displaying their catch, inviting a purchase. I wanted to take advantage of the FRESH FRESH fish, but I would have had to stop on the bridge and block the lane to do so. Probably customary, but even so, I decided not to. I sure wish I could have… If you have the opportunity to travel this bit of road, I heartily recommend it. The view is wonderful, the road is beautifully built and the towns are lovely.
We contemplated stopping at Isla Aguada and if we weren’t in a hurry to hit the border we 
would have. A teeny tiny fishing village on the banks of a laguna and the Gulf. Beautiful white sand beaches (where you park your RV) and fresh fish. Not a hotel, not a resort, not a gringo in sight. Kevin, if you’re reading this, GO! 
There was some road work going on and I could’t figure out how the road workers decided to close a lane and make it a single lane and when not to. There were a few times that the opposite lane had about 2-3 feet (less than a meter) to it and when approaching traffic came, and you feverently hoped it would be one of the little tiny cars that everyone drives here and not a gigantic double trailer semi, you had to SCOOTCH WAY OVER into the sand and grass to avoid a collision. But, sometimes they’d close the lane and you wouldn’t have to worry about collisions.
About 10km outside Villahermosa the kids exploded in hunger. I so wanted to keep going; we 
were SO close, but we stopped, fed and watered and headed out again. The signs are 
pretty good except the lack of one critical sign just before the center of town. But we had the Guia and made the turn and were quickly at our destination, a BALNEARIO! The kids were beside themselves; this one has tobaggones (enclosed water slides) and lots of slower slides. They kept it open tonight until 9pm and we had the place to ourselves. The boys will hardly be able to sleep tonight for the excitement which awaits them tomorrow.
Snapshots of Campeche in my mind
Driving down a main street; flooded up to people’s knees for block after block. We renamed that street “River Street”. Busses would become impatient and roar past, shooting walls of water up around them. I expected one wave to completely disable one car.
The amazing storms that crept up, day after day, in the afternoon. The sky was amazingly blue with big puffy clouds and slowly, very slowly, it would fill with larger clouds, then grey clouds and then coal black clouds. The wind would roar and the thunder would boom incessantly. Lightening would flash; some strikes would hit open water and one day we saw a tree which had been hit the day before. Then the rain would begin in large fat drops which would soon lead to sheets of pouring rain. The rain would usually continue all night and the next morning would dawn cloudy and looking like rain. Eventually it would clear and the cycle would begin anew.
Jamie’s return to the two wheeled vehicle. He attempted a ride in PaaMul, once over Typhoid, but the heat combined with the flat terrain and lack of road caused him to abandon. Here in the “mountains” as the locals call them; hills whch provide a lovely terrain, Jamie had two glorious days of riding. The boys, zipping around the club (which was VERY hilly in places) did a very good imitation.
