Wandering with Tedder and Tamara

Today is Tamara's birthday. We stayed at a swanky place last night, enjoying the air conditioning and edge-of-a-jungle location. In fact, there were birds right outside our window (hi Grandma!).

We decided to wake up but stay near the hotel for the morning. I wanted to check on some things, and didn't want to rush to our destination early in the day. That wasn't the best decision in some ways- more later.

It was good for some reasons, though. We moved some money between accounts last week, but the main transfer check bounced (because the signature wasn't close enough to what was on file). It was a large amount, and it caused a chain reaction of bounces and overdrafts in some of our accounts. To fix it, I tried wiring the money, but that failed for a different reason.

So, we placed some calls back to the US and got most of the issues resolved. I also traded some stock, since Amazon stock was on a run and I finally got my account up and running (this morning, actually). Once that money settles it'll give us another cushion until the house sells.

So we left Palenque just before 1pm, but we just went to the edge of town for lunch, which is the main meal of the day. We stopped where we had lunch the previous day, since we enjoyed the people so much. It was a good choice- simple and hearty food.

The real issue was that the temperature was rising, and the humidity is impossibly high. I knew that would be a problem when I made the plan, but didn't think it would be so bad. The 200 miles from Palenque to Campeche was miserable- in fact, I felt somewhat sick and was glad to take a break in the pillion seat for a while.

I managed to get the tool tube open (first time since leaving San Miguel!), and there was a big bottle water in there. I poured the water on us, which kept us cool for the next 20 minutes or so. It'll be nice to have the tool tube back- both for space and ease of access to the tools. I need to follow Jim's advice and make a gasket for it so the cap doesn't get stuck.

We got to Campeche just after 5pm and found a really cute hotel. It is probably older, but has been beautifully remodeled. The rooms have AC (a requirement for us right now), and our room is abnormally large with very tall ceilings. It's my favorite room so far- clean, comfortable, with a friendly staff. No 'net access, but there are at least 2 internet cafes in every block.

Since it is Tamara's birthday, we splurged a little for dinner (fresh seafood- wow), then went to a bakery and bought a little cake. There was plenty of leftovers, which we shared with the bellboy and receptionist.

Tomorrow Tamara is going to see the city from a tourist tram and on foot, and I'm going to see if I can find a replacement chain at one of the motorcycle stores. Mine is really crunching and skipping teeth. I can adjust it further, but it isn't going to last much longer- I don't know if it'll last till Costa Rica or not, so I'll see if anything can be done about it now. Certainly I won't find sprockets, but I can live with that.