Mainland Part 1

Aw the dreaded ferry. I made it alive after 18 hours. I only got dizzy once and we slept outside under the stars with fresh air to save both money and the chance for me to lose my dinner. The best part of the ferry was the movie selection. Wow, Mexicans have no boundaries. With more children on board than adults, the movies they played were both Hangovers, and Apocolypto, which they chose to play at breakfast while I ate machaca. Straight up disturbing.

We spent a few days with Jose and Petra who Andrew's dad met about 25 years ago and they've been like family ever since. We did nothing active, ate way too much food, had an unforgettable church experience from the 1950's, saw some crocodiles, and hiked into a waterfall where I was unsuccessful in my cliff jumping and as a result, have a bruise the size of Texas on my leg. 

We didn't spend more than a day in Puerta Vallarta but we did make it to the set of "Predator" where Andrew and Chris took the crowd by surprise and went down the waterfall in front of the restaurant. We also found some puppies and I wanted one so badly until I remembered I'm living in a van for the next five months. We stopped at an overpriced campground, then headed out dark and early the next morning. 

After 14 hours of driving towards San Luis Potosi through crazy Guadalajara, we stopped for some tacos at sundown. We asked the owner if she knew of any good/safe places to camp and instead went in search of her sister, Magdelena, who insisted we stay in her house for the night. She said to come by anytime - just bring wine. I could tell she enjoyed our company as much as we did her hospitality. 

Once in Ciudad Vallez, the boys ran Puente de Dios which is a double tear waterfall and the most beautiful place I've ever seen in my life. It was surreal and only one of many places I'll get to see in Mexico. We stayed in El Naranjo and camped near the Micos, Minas Viejas, and El Salto which all have their fair share of beauty. Vera Cruz is our next mission and on our way we stopped at the Tajin ruins to break up the 10 hours drive. Once in Vera Cruz it was goodbye tan, hello frizzy hair and mosquitos.