Back to the mainland

We could stay on cozumel playing and exploring and eating/drinking forever.  But we also are eager to begin making our way across to the pacific and then back home, so we finally make the decision to hop the ferry back to mainland mexico.  That of course didn't come before a few more days of absolute perfect relaxation.

We went back to the wild side for another afternoon on Lynn's favorite beach, but this time with perfect blue skies and calm waters.  The lifeguards here know kent and Lynn well, came over for hugs and kisses as though they are family despite only having been on the island for about a year.

Only later do we put it all together that Kent and Lynn have been helping out with their program (buying new tires for the atv they use to patrol the beach, donating sunglasses, clothing and other goods, etc).  It's awesome to see how much they've inserted themselves into the community and taken part in making the island a better place despite being relative newcomers to it.

We hurried back to town for a sunset happy hour with friends and then back home to walk around the block to an amazing local meal (and some handmade tamales on the way home).   An absolute feast for all four of us for whopping total of about $14...

The next day we planned to snorkel but ended up tinkering on the bus most of the day instead.  I replaced the coil with a new one we brought down from the states, and things sounded great but then suddenly the bus wouldn't even start.  Coil tested out fine and only after trying everything twice did i figure out that somehow our points or condenser bit it somewhere in the process.  Seems odd timing, but we had backups and got the bus back to relative health.

On our last day we drove north to explore the little touched northeast end of the island.  Off road the entire way and miles and miles of beaches with nobody on them.  Every inch of them beautiful.  We relaxed on the beach until the sun cooked us out, picked up another bag of trash and then slowly made our way back to town just in time for the ferry.

In keeping with their impossibly good host status, they didn't even let us leave without a sendoff.  Rather than simply waving as we drove away they led us to the ferry terminal and unfolded an amazing cheese and cracker plate and a few beers to keep us company while we waited.

I'm not sure how we are possibly going to live up to the bar they set when they finally come visit us in portland....but we look forward to that day and the chance to try.