{"id":272,"date":"2014-05-29T17:08:03","date_gmt":"2014-05-29T17:08:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/donniemeals.net\/?p=272"},"modified":"2019-05-07T17:08:38","modified_gmt":"2019-05-07T17:08:38","slug":"1000-miles-between-us-and-the-maid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/donniemeals.net\/index.php\/2014\/05\/29\/1000-miles-between-us-and-the-maid\/","title":{"rendered":"1000 miles between us and the maid"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>3 Minute, 52 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n

May 25 \u2013 Patzcuaro is now in our rear view mirror as we head for the coast. \u00a0Originally we were going to Zihuatenejo but Sharon read something about Playa Azul that sounded inviting. \u00a0This meant drive to the coast and turn right not left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Playa Azul.  If we could surf, Playa Azul  would be entertaining.  Since we don\u2019t surf, Playa Azul is a dud. Besides having a good lunch on the beach, there was nothing to keep us there.  We hopped back into the car and headed further up the coastline to Caleta de Campos. In short, dud part 2 yet with the edginess of an actual armed militia at the edge of town.  It was getting late in the day so we found a room at the only respectable hotel in town.  We were also the hotels only guests.  We stuck out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 26 \u2013 Well, the Pacific coast seems to not want us here and supported that statement by sending in a hurricane. \u00a0It seemed insightful to get out while we could.
\u201cDesperate times call for desperate measures.\u201d<\/em> With that quote as our mantra, we decided to cross the country and head to the Yucatan. \u00a0You may need a map at this point. We left Caleta del Campo the way we came in; past the militia, thru Zihuatenejo, around Acapulco, on to the toll road to Mexico City, exit Cuernavaca, to Puebla.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 27 \u2013 We\u2019re not screwing around here.  Been to Puebla many time so we loaded up and asked the front desk how to get to Orizaba. Front desk guy pulled out a basic tourist map. Picture this. He draws on the map. Take the \u201cperiferico\u201d (the loop). As if on a clock, he draws a route that goes from 6 o\u2019clock three quarters around to 3 o\u2019clock and there, se\u00f1or, is your highway to Orizaba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perplexed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we walked to the car we decide that was just silly.  Why not just go the other direction? It\u2019s a loop, right? Start at 6, go directly to 3, forget 9 and 12.  We\u2019re a counterclockwise kind of couple.  The direct route to 3 was a wide 4 lane highway with surprisingly little traffic.  We were making time, baby, streaking toward the Orizaba highway.  Without warning, our 4 lane superhighway ended.  Literally. It just\u2026 It\u2026 It ended. Like a cartoon, there were 3 or 4 cars in no particular arrangement with giant question marks hovering above them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perplexed again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Off to the side was a rutted dirt path that a bus came from.  \u201cOk, let\u2019s go that-a-way.\u201d  Sure\u2026 The \u201cpath\u201d meandered through a wooded area, though a foot deep flooded part behind a building, then \u201cta da!\u201d to the entrance to the Orizaba highway. We collectively shake our heads and carry on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the way, Orizaba\u2019s volcano is the highest point in Mexico. The drive through was spectacular but we were on a mission and continued on, out of the mountains and into the flatland of the isthmus of Mexico.  I don\u2019t know if they really call it \u201cthe isthmus\u201d but it\u2019s fun to say. \u201cIsthmus\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Past the isthmus, we stayed the night in Francisco Escarga.  We were positioned to make it to Playa del Carmen the following day.  At the hotel, I figured I best check in with the in-laws but my iPhone was nowhere to be found.  It must be somewhere in our pile of disorganized \u201cstuff\u201d in back of the Honda Element.  No biggie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 28 \u2013 Up early and out on the one lane highway across the bottom of the Yucatan.  We weren\u2019t screwing around and entered Playa del Carmen about 2. Sharon needed beach, I needed tequila.  Mission accomplished.  We hit the streets in search of accommodations. After several $200 to $300 a night hotel quotes, we were pleased to find our new friend, \u201cRod\u201d.  Rod works at a sort of apartment finders type place.  Through him we acquired a GREAT deal on a condo. Rod\u2019s English was exquisite, as it should be, seeing as he graduated from Clark high school in San Antonio.  As we got settled in at the condo I continued to look for my phone.  I came to the realization that I hadn\u2019t noticed my little laptop computer in a while either.  A thieving maid in Caleta del Campo had struck!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We headed to the store.  Tequila made it all better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n

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May 25 \u2013 Patzcuaro is now in our rear view mirror as we head for the coast. \u00a0Originally we were going to Zihuatenejo but Sharon read something about Playa Azul that sounded inviting. \u00a0This meant drive to the coast and turn right not left. Playa Azul.  If we could surf, Continue Reading<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/donniemeals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/donniemeals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/donniemeals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/donniemeals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/donniemeals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/donniemeals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":273,"href":"https:\/\/donniemeals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272\/revisions\/273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/donniemeals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/donniemeals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/donniemeals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}