Exploring the ruins was neat anyway. Being the only people in there made it pretty fun, if not slightly eery. Mom even climbed one of the ruins!
Once we were done exploring there, we headed out towards Calakmul. There we were planning on staying in a jungle, eco hotel. We arrived a few hours before the gate for Calakmul was going to close, so we decided to drive the 20km to the museum. Unfortunately, the museum closed the minute we got there. The woman running it was very kind and let us do a quick walk through. So, we got to see what was there, but weren't able to mull over anything or really read it, but that was fine. On our drive back up the road, we took our time looking for birds and other wildlife. We ended up seeing parrots (my photos weren't great because of the bright sky behind it) and a lot of hummingbirds.
We got to the hotel around 5 to get settled in. The cabins are just screened in (no glass windows). They have mosquito nets above each bed for the rainy season. We didn't need to use them. They also have a resident howler monkey that hangs out within the grounds. It started calling at one point, so I got video of that. We ended up pretty thankful that we heard that before going to bed since that one ended up calling back and forth with the howlers in the nearby jungle at about 4am.
Before bed though, Mom had heard about a cave nearby where millions of bats exit the cave each evening. So, at about 5:30, we found the spot, headed down the trail and waited for the bats to exit the cave. Once they started it was pretty amazing. They just kept coming and kept coming, always at the same density. They would spiral up until they cleared the trees, the continue on in a river away from the cave. As it got a little later, more started cutting through the forest. Right through people watching. At this point, a lot of the onlookers had left, but we stayed for a bit longer and had bats pass right between us. We could feel the air of their movement as they zipped by. Very neat.
-Miranda
Mom and Papa at the top of one of the ruins.
The Pyramid of the Masks. This is the main draw of Kohunlich.
The Howler Monkey.
One of the beds in the room.
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Joe was already down in the Yucatan with his mother, but my parents and I headed down on Thursday to join him. Mary headed home that same day. We arrived in the evening to rain. Joe had rented a car and met us there without a problem.
The drive to Tulum from there was pretty stressful. Joe hadn't driven too much in Mexico yet and having a rental was a bit stressful, but it worked out fine. Mexico has topes (speedbumps) all over the place. Most are marked, but some aren't and can ruin your car if you go over them too quickly.
That evening we ate dinner at El Vegetariano, which was a very good, completely vegetarian restaurant. From there we headed to the hotel and basically crashed.
On Friday, Joe and I basically ditched Mom and Papa most of the day. We dropped them off that the Tulum ruins (we did them last time we were down there together). We picked them up a few hours later and found lunch. After lunch we decided to have them check out the Gran Cenote. Again, some place we had already been (and it was a bit pricey to go a second time), so we dropped them off. We went a little farther down the road to the Car Wash Cenote. It was basically a jungle pond with a few underwater caves. The water was clear, but the trees went right up to the edge with the roots growing in. It was a bit creepy looking. The dark caves underwater didn't help. It was still a refreshing swim though. There was a group of divers there heading in to the caves. That was neat to watch them head in.
We picked up Mom and Papa (they seemed to really enjoy the Gran Cenote) and we headed out of town. That night we found a place in Bacalar to stay the night. It took a bit of searching, but we eventually found something that worked out.
-Miranda
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This past weekend we headed off to Chicago. We really didn't want to drive, which is why we took the train. It was approximately the same amount of time as driving. The train ride was comfortable. We arrived a couple hours late, but that wasn't a big deal for us. The hotel we were staying at was about a mile away, making the walk not too bad.
The next day, we headed to the Field Museum. We enjoyed the exhibits quite a bit. We were there for 6 hours. Unfortunately, by the end, we were getting information overload. That would be a great place to visit frequently to absorb certain areas instead of trying to take in the whole thing.
That evening we took the train to the area near Wrigley Field. I had a show at the Underground Lounge I wanted to see. It was a great show. Unfortunately, the area around us was basically all bars. When we needed to waste some time because we were there too early, it made it a little tough since we don't exactly like the bar scene.
The next day, we headed to the Shedd Aquarium. It was neat, but I sort of wish we had gone to the Planetarium or the Science Museum instead. It was still neat though. From there we took the train to Tinley Park and walked to our hotel there. We headed to the Kelly Clarkson/The Fray concert via taxi. The show was enjoyable. I had decent seats in the 7th row off of center. We left a little early, about 45 minutes into The Fray's set so we could miss the rush. We walked the 2 miles back to the hotel.
The next morning, we headed back to the train and back into downtown Chicago. The train back home was on time, which was nice since we wouldn't be getting back until after 10 as it was. All in all, it was a fun trip. I wish we had a few more days to go to the Brookfield Zoo, the Planetarium and the Science Museum, but I guess that's for another time.
-Miranda
Chicago.
A neat gemstone in the Field Museum.
Purty jelly fish.
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We've actually been back since Monday, but the trip was quite a bit shorter than we originally thought it would be. The bugs were just too bad. We found we were mostly hanging out in the RV since we couldn't enjoy the outdoors much.
Anyway, Eighteen Lakes was a nice, free campground. Joe and I went swimming a little to cool off. There was a red squirrel that kept jumping up on the bikes and looking in the window, which would then make the cats freak out. It was pretty funny. We stayed there just one night. On Sunday we drove around a little bit, exploring the area. We found a nice spot off the main, dirt road to let the cats out. From there we walked farther down to see if there was anything, but it was too buggy and there didn't seem to be anything of interest. Once it cooled down a little, we took the bikes out and checked out any of the side roads that we had passed but hadn't gone down. One ended at a lake that is under management for wild rice.
That evening, we headed out to do some moose hunting. We didn't see any, and right before Finland, we found a spot to sleep for the night. The next morning, we headed down the North Shore and back home.
-Miranda
Lucy checking out the squirrel.
Curly was pretty toasty during our walk. He would pause in the shade once in a while and pant.
The lake where wild rice was growing.
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We decided to go on a short RV trip just around some of the national forest in northern MN. We had never really taken much time to explore the area or the lakes all that much, and now seemed like as good a time as any.
We left yesterday, late afternoon. We checked out one place along our trip. Got out and walked. Curly even came with us. He kept up really, really well. Unfortunately, the mosquitoes and deer flies were so bad that even walking with our rain jackets on (hoods up) we couldn't stop for even a second and were still getting bombarded on our faces. There was lake access at the end that even had a loon swimming and calling on it, but even if the bugs hadn't been that bad, we probably couldn't have gotten the RV down there. It was just too wet and filled with pot holes.
We ended up staying at a very small, free campground on Sand Lake. It was a pretty area. The bugs weren't terrible there.
The next morning, we headed out and continued on our way since there was no cell service (meaning no internet). We checked out another road. Parked, then walked down it, taking Curly with. Again, the bugs were just awful. It was a little tougher for Curly, I believe because it was sunny and warmer, so he was getting hot. He still did really well keeping up with us.
We checked out a few more places, but ended up staying at Eighteen Lakes campground. It's another free one with only a few sites. There's a trail that goes around the lake and the water temp seems decent that we may still go swimming. So far the only excitement was a red squirrel running on top of the bikes in the back, right along the window. It even stopped to look in. That got the cats pretty excited.
-Miranda
Joe looking out over Sand Lake.
Our walk today. Curly got a ride for some of it since he seemed pretty pooped.
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