Lost keys, A rental car and Mexico

We had spent a lovely day in the sun and sand at Isla Mujeres just off the coastline of Cancun.  As we got off the ferry we were anxious to get back to the car and into some air conditioning.  Because although we love our time in the sun there is also something to be said for that shock of cool dry air when it hits you through the vents of a car.  It's like a bit of relief from the monotonous screaming sun rays.  When we got to the end of the boat ramp we waited as Chris looked for the keys.  After a few minutes of searching he declared to all of us that they weren't there.  As he ran back onto the ferry to look around I ran out to the parking lot to catch Ross and Nora and let them know what was going on.  We didn't want to be stuck there without them not knowing where we were.  We did not have use of our cell phones there in Mexico so it would be very difficult to get in touch with them.  I managed to catch them before they left and they were able to take the girls with them back to the hotel.  They also left Carmen's cell phone with us so that we could get in touch with them if we needed to.

With a sigh of relief that the girls were being taken care of I headed back towards the ferry to see if Chris had had any luck finding the keys.  He hadn't. I looked through his backpack in hopes that I would find what he had missed. Nothing. We thought back through the events of the day trying to remember when they possibly could have fallen out.  We remembered a time on the beach when Chris went to put something in his backpack and decided that was when it happened.  The problem was that it was a 45 minute ferry ride over to the island and there would not be another one leaving that day.

Chris decided to go out to the parking lot and look through the windows of the car to see if they were in the ignition, on a seat, somewhere.  As he went to the car I sat next to the beach and prayed.  I asked Heavenly Father to help us. To help us find the keys if it was at all possible.  I told him that it would be very difficult to get the rental company to help us since they were difficult to rent from in the first place.  That I knew they would charge us the $500 deposit they insisted we put on our credit card before we could rent the car.  I asked the Lord for help in helping us solve this problem we had. And I ended the prayer in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  I opened my eyes and Chris was walking swiftly towards me.  I could feel that he had some good news although I wasn't sure what it was.  He told me that he had tried the doors of the car and that the car was unlocked but that the keys were not inside.  Although our problem wasn't solved I felt for some reason that we were closer.  I mean, hey, we got inside the car.  I also thought it was interesting that the car wasn't locked because Chris never forgets to lock the car, never.

So as Chris reaches me at the beach he tells me what he has discovered and asks me to come look inside also in case he missed anything.  I go and start looking in every nook and cranny possible.  As I'm doing this Chris walks around to the back of the car.  About a minute later he says, "hey, darilyn, guess what I found?"  And he shows me the keys in his hand.

We had learned when we first rented the car that there was no way to open the trunk from the inside of the car like there is on most cars  nowadays.  But for some reason Chris felt prompted to walk back to the trunk and lift up on it. It came open and there sitting all by itself in the middle of the trunk were the keys.  It was a miracle!

I immediately bowed my head and thanked my Heavenly Father for his mindfulness of us and for his help in finding the lost keys.  Then we called Ross to let them know that we were on our way.

That miracle as we would soon find out, ended up being an even bigger showing of the Lord's hand in our life. 

The next morning as we went to get into the car for our day's adventure Chris wanted to show the girls about how the trunk would open by just lifting up on it.  He went to open it and it was locked tight.  Then as I approached I tried the same thing, nothing.

It was then that we realized that indeed we had not been given a car with a faulty trunk but that we had been witnesses and recipients of the Lord's hand in our lives.

Miracles really do happen in this day and age.

I am grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who knew that we needed help and was able to help us. This experience strengthened my testimony that he is aware of each of His children and loves each of us deeply.  I am grateful that I was taught at a young age to call upon the powers of heaven through prayer and that I have a husband who is worthy of the priesthood he bears and able to listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

Traveling the Yucatan -Day 7 - Celestun and back to Merida

After a rough night of sleeping because it was so hot we slept in and then packed up our things to get ready for check out at 11.  After we checked out of our room we ended up sitting in the breezeway of Celeste Vida and talking to Ken and Karen and playing with their 5 dogs for a couple of hours while waiting for our family to come meet us. The plan was to go see the pink flamingos at their breeding area.  You can see hundreds of them and apparently it's really something amazing to see.  We unfortunately did not get to see them.  I had read that after 2 in the afternoon it's not work paying for the boat ride because the flamingos move in the afternoon to escape the heat.  Since the rest of our family was late arriving and didn't get to Celestun until 1 we decided we shouldn't do it.  That ended up being a really smart decision because about 30 minutes after a tropical storm moved in.  As we were leaving town we could see all of the people tht had paid for the flamingo tours being brought back in. I'm sure they did not get a refund of their money either.

Chris and I took the girls down to the beach in front of Celeste Vida where Makenzie immediately started gathering shells.  She has always loved shells and has been a collector of them for some time now. I have brought her shells from Thailand and from Puerto Rico and now she has some from the Gulf of Mexico.

Since it was lunch time we decided to get something to eat at one of the restaurants along the beach.  This time we went to La Palapa and it was even better than the one we went to the day before.  What I liked about this one is that it was really cool inside and had a nice breeze going through it. The service was 5 star and the food was really good. A lot of the same dishes as the previous day and just as tasty.

On the way back we had quite the tropical storm to drive through. I guess that's why it's called the rainy season!

Traveling the Yucatan - Day 6 - Celestun

This was Chris and I's getaway day.  We threw a change of clothes and a swimsuit in our backpacks and headed off for the town of Celestun. It is described as a sleepy fishing village and I think that is a fairly accurate description.  I loved our drive there.

 
We drove through 3 small towns, Uman, Samahil and Kinchil.  Uman had a good size market in their town square. I wanted to stop but was also anxious to get to Celestun as well so we didn't stop.  Samahil and Kinchil were working villages. These were towns where the people had to work hard for their money.  I loved driving through them because there were lots of people out in the streets.  We also got a lot of stares. I don't think they get many tourists coming through. 

I noticed the women wearing beautiful white dresses with a lacey underskirt. It is the traditional Yucatan dress called a Huipil and in these small towns most of the older women wore them. They are made out of white cotton with flowers and geometric designs being cross stitched around the collar and the bottom.  We stopped at a little stand at the edge of Kinchil to try one on.  It fit but wasn't exactly what I was looking so we didn't get it. These traditional dresses haven't changed much since the pre-hispanic area.  Mayan women for hundreds of years have been wearing them and it was a priviledge to see first-hand their handicraft.

Our directions to Celeste Vida were perfect and we arrived without any problems.  We were greeted warmly by Ken and shown to our room where we put our things away.  We soon met Karen and loved her as well.  They are from Canada and 5 years ago moved to Celestun and opened their small resort, Celeste Vida.  It is a lovely place full of heart and I would definitely stay there again.

 
We had two meals in Celestun and both were outstanding. Celestun is on the Gulf of Mexico and so it's main trade is fishing. There are several outstanding restraunts right on the beach.  On the day we arrived we ate at Restaurante' Avila. Chris had a seafood stuffed fish and it was amazing.  I had Cerviche and it was super yummy as well.  I wasn't feeling so great this day so being out in the heat was taking it's toll on me. After eating we walked around the townsquare where I found a stand that was selling sunglasses. I bought a pair of Chanel sunglasses for a whole $10. Knock offs? Of course.

After grabbing a coconut popsicle we headed back to Celeste Vida to get changed into our swimsuits and a swim in the ocean.  When we walked onto the beach we were shocked at how many shells there were.  Hundreds of gorgeous perfect shells. We would pick up one shell and immediately see another. I have never seen so many gorgeous shells in one place before. Since there were so many shells it made it a little hard to walk out into the water.  Tiny jagged edges poking into your feet doesn't feel so great but once we got past about a 4 foot edge there was really soft sand beyond that. I noticed that while the Caribbean Sea is blue, the Gulf of Mexico is Emerald green.  A gorgeous green color. It was so nice to swim in.  While in Cancun we enjoyed the sunrise, but Celestun is on the western side of the Yucatan Peninsula so we enjoyed the sunset here.

Traveling the Yucatan - Day 5- Cancun and travel to Merida

On our 5th day we spent the morning packing up and getting our stuff in the car.  Once we were all checked out we walked out the back door of our hotel and walked next door to the J.W. Marriott.  Chris and I had been there a couple of days earlier to check out their pool area.  I had read online that it was impressive and the reports were correct.  Awesome awesome pool.  It's like four pools that are all connected and you can swim under foot bridges. It has an infinity pool that you can hang out at and it overlooks the caribbean. Gorgeous view and tons of fun.  We swam there for about an hour and then got out to go meet Carmen and Abel in a town a little bit to the south of us before heading to Merida. 

On our way out of town Ross got motioned to pull over by one of the police at a checkpoint.  We couldn't figure out why he had gotten pulled over.  He spoke with him for a good 10 minutes and then let him go. He apparently had been speeding. Ridiculous since we were all going with the flow of traffic. I am certain that the cop saw that it was a rental car and pulled him over to intimidate him. Fortunately Ross has excellent Spanish skills and had his Mexican wife in the car with him and was able to talk him out of the 2000 peso ticket.  Yikes, that was our first of 2 encounters with Mexican police.


By the time this was over we had heard from Carmen and Abel that we should just go ahead and meet them at a quesadilla stand in downtown Cancun and then we would go to Merida from there. When we arrived at the location we could not find Heidi's bag that had her camera and all her money in it.  We realized that Heidi had asked her dad to put it in the trunk, he said okay, and then Heidi sat it down next to the car.  Well, it didn't make it in the car. We sat at the quesadilla place while chris drove back to hopefully find heidi's purse.  He was able to get it from the hotel front desk thankfully and all was well.  That was a definite blessing and prayers were answered that day.  Each of our girls had to take their own spending money.  Heidi hadn't spent any at that point so all of her money was in there, $100.  She was very relieved to get it back.

The trip to Merida went smoothly.  There are two roads that you can take from Cancun to Merida.  The cuoto (toll road) or the non-toll road.  It costs 400 pesos or $35 to take the cuoto but it is well worth it. It takes 3 hours to take versus 6 hours on the non-toll road.

When we arrived in Merida all three cars pulled over to get filled up on gas and when we were done we had our second encounter with the Mexican police.  We were sitting at the gas pump getting ready to leave. Chris was out of the car paying for the gas and I was in the driver seat.  All of a sudden a policeman pulls up in front of me, blocking us and he is talking into his radio and staring at our front license plate.  He then pulls forward to the exit of the gas station and just sits there.  Chris gets in the car and we are the last of the three cars in our group to exit out of the gas station.  As soon as I pull out this cop pulls out right behind me.  His lights are on but in Mexico that doesn't mean anything because they all drive around with their lights on.  It's like an intimidation thing or something,  not sure.  So he follows us for awhile and then pulls to the left of me and I can feel him staring at me. I just kept looking straight ahead, acting calm (i wasn't) and following the rest of our group. He eventually turned around and went back the other way leaving us alone.  From this point on during our trip Chris and I were both a little paranoid of the Mexican Police.

July 20th

July 20th is a special day. It's the day I married my sweetheart in the Portland Oregon Temple. This is the second time we've spent an anniversary in the Caribbean. I count that as a blessing.  We didn't have any romantic getaways planned for the day of our anniversary, that would be coming a couple of days later.  But what we did do was get up before the sun broke the horizon and go down to the beach to capture it.  Here is what we saw...

Traveling the Yucatan - Day 4 - Tulum

When going to Tulum, wear a swimsuit.  I wish we had known to do this because if we had known then I wouldn't have had to change into my swimsuit between a couple of palm trees off a less traveled path with the fear of someone coming down that path.  Luckily no one came and I was able to get into my swimsuit.  Tulum is one of the best preserved coastal Mayan sites.  It was one of the last inhabited Mayan cities and is picturesque in it's setting.

Being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints we have special interest in these sites as being cities of the ancestors of a group of people in the Book of Mormon known as Lamanites. There are many carvings and drawings and buildings at Tulum that are recognizable from The Book of Mormon. We had a guide named Abinadi who was a member of our church and gave us a tour in both English and Spanish as we had both languages in our group. He did an excellent job and shared his testimony with us at the end.

Did I mention it was hot there?  So hot. I remember it as being the hottest of all the days. When you finish wandering around the grounds you are able to go down to the beach they have right there and cool off in the sea. That's why you need to be wearing your swimsuit.

There is no where to change.  The beach is crowded so if you want a truly amazing beach experience then exit the park and turn left to walk to the public beaches.  It's about a 1/4 mile walk and you will see a sign to your left letting you know you've arrived at a public beach.

This was the best beach we swam at. Almost empty and there was a little house serving drinks and food.  Bathrooms there as well where you can change for 10 pesos.  I didn't take any pictures at this beach. Upon arriving there I was so hot I dropped my backpack, kicked off my shoes and ran for the water.  Then I got out and reapplied sunscreen that had surely been sweated off me during my time at Tulum.  Then I got back in the water.  I stayed in the water for about 3 hours. No joke. It was lovely. The sunburn I got from it?  not so lovely.  But it was still worth it.

Traveling the Yucatan - Day 3 - Isla Mujeres

There is an island off the coast of Cancun called Isla de Mujeres and one day we took an excursion over there.  For 250 pesos each we boarded a ferry with a bunch of other people and were given all the pineapple or orange juice we cared to drink while they took us over to the island.  Once we arrived there we were able to get a snack in a buffet line which was really like a lunch.  There were hotdogs, nachos, beans and some other stuff as well.  All quite tasty.  You could then spend the day there on their private beach and kayak or go on a walk to see the sea turtles.

Heidi really wanted to drink coconut milk from a coconut and for 20 pesos she was able to do that here.  It made her really happy.  Emma got one too and they carried their coconuts around with them everywhere that day.

We chose to walk out to the road and catch a taxi to Dolphin Discovery where we had booked a dolphin encounter for each of the girls.  We had been told by some friends that this was a highlight of one of their trips and that if we ever had the chance we should do it.  So we did.  I felt like it was a lot of money paid ($79 per person) for the 30 minutes they got in the water with the dolphin.  There were about 12 people in their group and they each got to give the dolphin a kiss and let the dolphin jump up to touch their hand.  They also got to toss the ball around with the dolphin.  The girls enjoyed it and I guess they can say that they got to "swim with dolphins" but I thought it was extremely overpriced for what we got, the girls agreed.

After the Dolphin Encounter we hopped back in a taxi to go back to our ferry's beach area for lunch.  Lunch was included in the price of our excursion and was quite good with an assortment of mexican dishes including fish which I really enjoyed.

Then it was back on the ferry where they took us to the shopping section of the island.  We got off here and headed to the point of the island where we found a nice beach to swim in.  It was pretty crowded here and we only ended up having about 20 minutes in the water before we had to be back on the boat to depart for Cancun.

This day was Heidi's favorite day of the whole trip.  It was probably my least favorite day because I didn't feel like I got to experience the island.  We are not prepay excursion people but when traveling with a group of people you have to be flexible and go with the flow.  We did that and although it wasn't a total waste of time we would have enjoyed it better doing it a different way.

How would I do it differently you ask?  Well, I would take the speed boat over to the island and then rent a golf cart for $45 for the day.  That would get me wherever I wanted to go. I'd go find the beach that is famous for it's sea glass. I would not swim with dolphins and I'd find some good local food on the streets and then just spend time on the beach.  I'd spend all day and then take the car ferry back which leaves at 9 p.m., costs $3 per person and star gaze all the way back. That's how I'd do it differently.