Charles left out few things. On the way to Merida we stopped for the night in a small town, then drove through clouds of butterflies to two Mayan ruins 20 minutes away. The Mayans numbered as many as ten thousand in the city of one of the ruins. They relied on collected rain water since they were up in the hills and had no wells. They also cut down all of the trees in the area to manufacture cement from the wood ash. Partially as a result of the deforestation they suffered a sustained drought that led them to abandon the city. They did use slaves in building the shrines but only for the production of lime. It was too unhealthy for them to do. The stone work was done by skilled mayan craftsmen and not by slaves. The pyramids and palaces were so cleverly constructed that if you face the pyramid behind us in the picture and clap your hands, the sound is changed and comes back at you as the call of a quetzal, a sacred bird to the mayans.  The king's palace was built so that Venus rose above one end or the other at the Summer and Winter Equinox when viewed from a statue of one of the gods.

Many masks and depictions of gods as well as swastikas in the stonework.

We arrived at Merida and were warmly welcomed by Carol to her home/art space. She has not had much time to get around but took us to several nice restaurants and with The Beast we were able to visit places she had not yet gotten to see without a car. We went to Walmart and Home Depot to get stuff that would be hard in an Uber. A lovely house with pool and guest house behind the pool. 

We went to the Cenotes by moto taxi.  Not a comfortable ride.After four of them people were tired.  While Carol slept in business class (back seat) Charles was able to demonstrate his laid back style of navigating.   After several days we hit the road to Villa Hermosa on the way back home. We had been putting air in one tire every few days and stopped to have it repaired. 

 Not quite off the four lane highway but the guy said it was fine. $2.50 to remove the rim and tire, patch it and reinstall. Charles had a soda while we waited and about an hour and half later after being mildly hassled at a police checkpoint, announced that he couldn't find his wallet containing little cash, but his drivers license, debit and credit cards. After a brief search of the car and his luggage he was sure it had fallen out at the tire place. When we got back no one had seen it and they even questioned their kids who had been sitting there doing their homework. Then we were back in the saddle. Crossing the state line into Tabasco we were extorted by three state cops with automatic weapons. Little damage but still jangling. I read about it online but that was very brazen. I can still use my debit card to get cash for Charles but it's a pain in both of our posteriors. So despite a delay of several hours we got to our hotel at a little after dark. Today we made a much shorter drive and are staying in one the nicer hotels we've been in albeit more expensive ($40.00 a night)! It overlooks a lovely river in the city of Tuxpam. Tomorrow One more night then a run for Texas to avoid the border area other than at mid-day. Oh, and Charles does still have his passport. We're Golden, don't worry about a thing.