Five Days in One Place, Thank Goodness!

We're now in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico. We crossed the Guatemala/Mexico border two nights ago around 5 and it was the easiest, quickest border yet. The only problem I had was my passport amendment on the last page changing my last name from Tresize (my dad's) to Hazard (my mom's). The custom officials couldn't read in English and thought that because there wasn't a stamp/seal of some sort, that the printing might be false. After calling Mexico City to ask if it was okay, we got all of our paperwork sorted out and were on our way. We stopped at the first hotel we saw, which was clean and nice but it had no name other than "Hotel" and I couldn't tell you the name of the town because I forgot to ask and it wasn't on the map.

We got on the road yesterday from the "Hotel" around 10, stopped for some food, then took the wrong toll road about two-three hours out of our way. My mom gave me a Mexico road map book on the trip south with Ryan, but there are literally tons of different roads that can get you places in Mexico, but the signs are not very clear or at all in abundance. There are, however, a ton of "Don't drink and drive," "Keep the road clean," and "Don't mess up the signs" signs. If only they said the location of the way we were heading a little more often...

Anyway, we got into Puerto Escondido last night around 8 (sorry mom and grandpa for driving a little after dark but we were so close and there was nowhere to stop at sundown!) and were able to check into the first hotel/ cabanas we stopped at. We're staying at Hotel Rock Away, at the south end of Puerto Escondido, right across the street from an awesome beach break with giant barreling waves. The cabana we're staying in is $250 pesos (around $23 US) a night, which is cheap for the location, but the shower is in the same room as the sink and toilet (think motor home-esque) and there's no kitchen for us to use. But it's cheap and right across the street from the beach, in the middle of the main drag in town, and the dogs have their own space to chill out and relax. Max has been exhausted from his self-appointed role of protector, so he's been happily passed out the entire time we've been here, minus the time spent on the beach of course. We were all ready for some down time off the road and I personally think that this is one of the best spots we could've chosen for a few days off.

I woke up this morning and took the boy dogs for a walk down the beach at 6 am, while Missy and Mike slept in. There were a ton of yellow and black sea snakes washed on shore, presumably to die. They're beautiful looking and super poisonous, but have tiny mouths so they can only bite things like your pinky toe (according to Mike). Either way, I kept yelling at Maecito and Max to get away whenever they got within three feet of one. After the walk, we went and woke the two lazies up, then went to drop off the laundry and stop at an ATM. We haven't gotten laundry done yet, since most of it was stolen in Nicaragua, so I'm extremely happy to pick up (what's left) of our stuff in a couple of hours. Clean sheets and towels from home are something that I am glad I brought and even more glad they weren't stolen. I guess it's the little things, right? After laundry and the ATM, Mike and I took the dogs to the same beach that Ry and I surfed when we were here, but the waves were small so we came back to the main beach and went for a long walk with the dogs, then to lunch at a palapa on the sand. Mike and the dogs are all passed out now and I'm about to go read more of the book I'm currently obsessed with on my Kindle, called Shantaram, by the pool at our hotel. I highly, highly recommend the book to any traveler or adventurer at heart--it's about an Australian man that escapes from prison and moves to India and describes his adjustment to the culture while not being able to communicate with anyone from back home.

I haven't taken any pictures of Puerto yet, but I will tonight and the next couple of days for sure. I started a Facebook album with my pictures as well. If you'd like to see them, they are at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2125456&id=24504079&l=1613876b46

I will keep both the blog pictures and the photo album updated as I go.

As Susan (Steph's mom) said, we are finally on the last leg of our trip. We have a few more days here, then a couple days to get to Mazatlan, where we'll take the ferry from mainland Mexico to La Paz, Baja. My grandpa's 88th birthday party is next Friday night in East Cape (about an hour south of La Paz and an hour north of Cabo on the Sea of Cortez) so Mike and I will spend about a week there, fishing, ATV riding, snorkeling, etc. then a few days in Todos Santos to surf, then a night in the middle of Baja, then home.

I can't believe that it's only been eleven days and that we only have about two weeks left. Time sure flies when you're traveling through six countries in less than two weeks! I'm glad I have this blog to go back and re-remember this whole crazy adventure :)