We crossed the border easily.  A few mirrors from the Mexican customs guys to look for drugs underneath the trucks, a peek at our stuff in the back, and away we went!

Once on the Road I really had to pee.  Gary and I driving tandem had a series of hand and light signals to communicate.  We found a little family run restaurant where we popped in for a Coke, and the direction to the ladies room.  The "Ladies" room I was shown was an outhouse located within a fenced in yard occupied by chickens.  It was the first time in my adult life I was happy that my mother taught me not to sit on the toilet seat in K-Mart as a child.  This is a very handy technique that I have used too many times to count.  Back on the road.  

The drive was long and boring at times.  I would slap myself on the leg or hanging my head out the window to not fall asleep at the wheel.  We had our share of near-death driving experiences. I remember being in the mountains around Tampico, we were going up hill.  Gary was about 5 or 6 vehicles in front of me going up hill, while I would basically at the bottom.  Gary being impatient, decided to pass a line of carsin front of him blind, not seeing if anyone was coming over the hill-crest.  Well sure enough a tractor trailer topped the hill head on for his little blue Nissan pick-up. I screamed out loud watching as Gary cut back into the line of traffic, cheating almost certain death.  The next time we stopped with tears in my eyes I yelled at him never to do that again.   In Veracruz it was my turn. Lost in the city trying to get out,  I was stuck trying to cut across 6 lanes of busy morning traffic.  No one slowed down to let me cross, so looked for my best opportunity and hit the gas. Gary watched my ballsy move as the traffic zipped by and I made my way across the intersection.

I have not made the drive since that first trip but I hear that there is a nice highway now.  During the drive we did have one section of road back then that there was no bridge to speak of, just a series of pipes two sets, set about  an axle width apart.  One person got out and waved on the driver to stay on the pipes and not veer off into the small river.  We repeated the process getting both trucks across.

Fond memories of the drive include: the smell of ripe pineapples as we drove, and a little place we had stopped at one morning for breakfast, there was a slight chill in the air and that was the best damn cup of instant coffee I ever had to this day. 

It took a few days to get from the border to Akumal.  When we arrived into the pueblo of Tulum the road was a barely paved and barely two lanes wide through the village. No street lights.  It was a few more miles up the road to Akumal were we arrived at DeRosa Villas just in time for the company Christmas party of the CEDAM Dive Center, our new employer.   We had arrived to our one street town we call home...Akumal.

An interesting note:  The state of Quintana Roo is relatively new, it was granted statehood in 1973.  Before then it was a place pioneers, chicleros  (the guys who tap Sapote trees for chicle gum base), Mayans and some Mexicans. In 1959 was when Don Pablo Bush Romero of Cozumel and Mexico City founded Akumal. 

In 1922 a book was published in Mexico City "Quintana Roo, Album Monografico" by Gabriel Antonio Menendez.  This publication was a promotional piece to encourage people to move to the territory of Quintana Roo.  It is very rare, and I happen to own two copies a signed original, and a copy. The photos are amazing, and some of the buildings which are in Felipe Carrillo Puerto, back then called Chan Santa Cruz de Bravo are still standing today.