Epic Journey December/January In California – Farewell USA

Please don’t forget to visit and click on the ‘follow me’ button at our new Blog Site for our continuing Journey commencing in January 2016 cycling through Yucatan, Central and South America at: https://travellingfoxes68part2.wordpress.com

 

We returned from Australia to the USA for the month of December 2015. Even though it was the holiday and festive season, there was still nursing to be done, nursing education points to be attained, scanning to be completed, income tax to be prepared, a storage shed to be dealt with and valuable time to be spent with our close friends.

We are DEFINITELY not in Rockhampton any more Toto!

Keith’s waiting in Pajamas to pick us up, EVEN though we had organised a shuttle!! Crazy guy!!

Night spent with the Smith’s around a lovely fire pit (only a 40 degree Fahrenheit temp difference!)

Missed these guys!

A sad daily reminder how Society really does only move as fast as its slowest member, so even though we have personal rights, being part of a society we need to have a social conscious, respect and sometimes do without what we want for the safety of others!!. We literally could have hit the shooters apartment with a rock if we threw one from our bedroom window!

Aussie goodies!

World news around the corner from where we stayed for well over a week to exploit Oops, ‘tell the story’ of the San Bernardino Massacre shooters’.

The beauty of Christmas and remaining fall leaves

A little dusting of snow over the mountains! Beautiful.

Catching up with a great mate Marshall who visited us in Redlands, all the way from Central California

Playing corn hole and drinking beer! Doesn’t get much better!

Mark and Colleen hosted Matt via ‘Warmshowers’ cycling from Alaska to Mexico

Over 19 weeks of 3 –12hrs night duties a week, Jules managed to scan, name and file approx 17 THOUSAND photos and documents, with a bed only 4 feet away!!! What a BLOODY LEGEND!

Days off visiting Kathy and Jack in Huntington Beach and strolling the streets checking out the Christmas lights

Yes! the new Star Wars was about to be released!

No visit to Southern California is complete without a compulsory visit to Disneyland! with a HUGE shout out to Marcus who generously gave us the tickets!

Visited California Land as well!

Just a little publicity for the new Star Wars being released by Disney!

Selfie shot with a Storm trooper! Tick!

We’re not even Star Wars fan, but it was an interesting a fun experience.

Well that was an easy 12hrs filled in!

Next night off to the pub in Buena Park and Marcus and Sara for Christmas Party drinks.

Then to Cathy and Marv’s for a Christmas White Elephant party (always a lot of fun)!

Then it was the ‘Boys’ morning to ham it up with the kids and do a bit of ‘Manly’ painting of Xmas crafts from pinterest!!!

The circus was in town with Austin as the main ringleader, and bike stuff arrived!! Woohoo!

Christmas in Brea

Then we strolled through one of the crazy American neighbourhoods that go absolutely ‘Balls to the Walls’ with their Christmas decorations!

Absolutely ‘Off the Charts’!

Ran into the beautiful Mum Salicido! Always a pleasure!

Vegemite time!

Yes, we folded and went to see the Star Wars movie, with the Smith Family Clan

Woohoo! Sheds empty, now its time back in Redlands for Christmas Eve drink with Chuck, Mark, Colleen and Friends!

Merry Christmas!! Champagne and Croissants with each others best friend!

Time for a little tandem ride with decorations on Christmas day before work

Kens Birthday

Kens final night shift with the Redlands gang and a special photo with Dahlia, who missed the gang photo, as she was actually working!!

Jules picked me up on the Tandem and we rode down to a lovely cafe, Martha’s Green, for a celebratory breakfast.

Final night spent with Mark and Colleen, we prepared home made pizzas and enjoyed a few brewskis

Keith being an absolute trooper, chauffeured us in from Redlands, back to Orange County for New Years Eve and our last few days.

New Years Eve      The Blokes                                                   The Sheilas

The Party Revelers

The Crazy Kids!

The Ocello Tribe!                                            The Looney Bin!!!!

The photo is blurred! So was the Day! But the packing continued!

Merry Kegsmas Party

Our last Morning with the Smiths

Our last Evening with the Salcidos

We are SOOOO gunna miss all of these guys!!!

D-Day! Waiting to be picked up by the shuttle, then being dropped off at LAX. Not the same not having a Salcido or Smith with us!!!

                             

Views of Denver Colorado at night!                                           Soon!!

Arty Farty stuff at Airports! Why Bother??

Poor Budget, Couldn’t afford the VER!

Here we go Boys and Girls!! Its Journey Time!!

 

Summary

Reflecting back over the time we spent taking our break in Southern California to escape the summer rainy season in Central America was, in the end, actually very successful: Ken re-discovered his nursing profession, travel funds were topped up, approx 17,000 photos/items scanned, named and filed, new acquaintances and friends met, old friends visited, and valuable time spent with our closet USA friends…..and if that’s wasn’t enough it was all topped off with an amazing Aussie adventure to spend time with our mums, family and Aussie friends (this trip actually left us feeling more homesick then ever before).
We thank Mark & Colleen Friis, the Warmshowers hosts who kindly let us rent a room from them, lent us a car, and bicycles when needed, and for their tolerance of our ‘Vampire lifestyle’.
To the Salcidos,  Smiths, Madsens, and Eric Stone for unconditionally opening their homes to us and without hesitation lending us cars, feeding and always taking care of us.

 

To Tom and Mary and our Aussie – We can never thank you all enough for your continued support with all our crazy endeavors!
Well, as we sit here waiting to board our flight to Cancun Mexico, we discuss how this journey can be compared similarly to that of an Ironman Triathlon, which we  have successfully completed in the past.
Standing at the starting line waiting patiently (sometimes impatiently) for that gun to go off, we reflect on the preparation,  planning, fitness, our abilities, strengths, weakness and mental toughness. It’s not only the excitement of the challenge ahead and ultimately crossing that finish line, however its also accompanied by plenty of anxiety and doubts, things can go wrong, we’ve done one before , we know some of what’s in store …”can we cut it…do we have what it takes”.
So now as we return to Mexico with our dream and goal, for 2016, set on the completion of cycling through Central and South America to Ushuaia Argentina, (our 3rd leg), those same feelings and emotions are present. Yes its a completely different route, with different challenges, requiring different fitness and mental toughness. The excitement and of course  ‘flutters of anxiety and nervousness’ are definitely elevated at this point of time……”are we ready…..have we got everything….we’ve been on the road before and know how tough it can be”.  There are many things out of our control on a journey like this, and the only sure thing we know, is that when our journey begins we are going to give it everything we’ve got together.
Weather:  “Just absolutely beautiful. Cold with the occasional rain, and dusting of snow on mountain tops”

Towns/Villages:  Los Angeles, Anaheim Hills, Anaheim, Placentia, Huntington
State/Country:  (OC) California, USA

 

Until Next Time Friends, Stay Safe
The Travellingfoxes – Ken & Jules

Epic Journey Australian Summer Break

November 1-December 1 2016

Here we are on a plane off to the great ‘Land Down Under’ to freak out all our families and friends that have NO idea of this visit!!

We thought that after 3months of work we deserved a bit of a holiday!!! Ha Ha Ha!

This should be called ‘the Selfie trip’ as there are more than 20 selfie shots within!

We have organised with everyone to either skype or phone them at some point this week and our plan is to surprise everyone whilst either on the phone or waiting at the computer!

So here it goes!!!

Getting excited!

Home Sweet Home! Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia

Its amazing when you look back when you were younger, how bad you wanted to get away from a place, and now 13 years later how much you thoroughly enjoy returning!

                 

Our first stop was to surprise the Mum’s! – Reaction ………..Priceless

There is no better feeling than given ya mum a good ole HUG!

                               

Good ole Aussie meat pie with mushy peas and sorting out some wheels!

Nico’s                                                                       Briskey’s

This first week was spent surprising EVERYONE!

Buchanan’s                                                               Ahern’s

Harris’s                                                     Not a bad view from their house!

         

Gruberto                                                         The best Gym in Gracemere – Nico’s!

In amongst the coffees and drinks we did actually attempt a few training session!

The Sewing Ladies of Central Queensland

Good times visiting the local Botanical Gardens!

Our ‘Coat of Arms’ relaxing!                                Aussie Icons!

Always got time for a visit to Bundaberg to see the Collins tribe!

      

And what a lovely gift!!!!!

Next onwards to Kippa Ring to catch up with Barry (Jules Brother) and Zac

How could we resist a visit to an Aussie CostCo!!

They do have SOME things here you can’t get in the USA

Next onto Monkey Boy and Ms Jane at the Sunshine Coast. Great night which included Gavin dropping in.

A NOT so nice beach day at Noosa

Blast from the past ‘The Kelly Tribe’ All pushed the livers hard and survived!

Back to good ole ‘Rock Vegas’

Lovely evening with the Hudson Crew!

You know you’ve made it when you end up on the cover of the local Bulletin!

Lunch date with Paige (Ken’s little sis)

Great Historical Buildings of Rockhampton

The lovely Riverwalk

Ole A&E Crew of Rocky!                            The Legendary Piranhas!

Its time to get Stupid with the Gang!

Told Ya!!!!

Shanahan Clan                                               Ken and Shirley Mathers

Jules Uncle Allie and Aunty Bernice

Beer Chook time!!                   Woman hard at work!            Box sorting as always!

ANZ girls night out – THIS time they remembered to invite the guest!!! Ha Ha

The Beautiful Capricorn Coast

Our True home town!!

Bit of maintenance on the house and shed

More of the Sensational Capricorn Coast

Queenslands best kept secret!

Yep!! It’s a busy day at the beach! – Really!!!

Tax time with Paul                        The Nico gang and Brillies at the Gracie pub

Yep!! We actually went for a REAL bike ride!

Thanks heaps Jules and Brendan for a great morning!

Local markets, and a golden opportunity to get a photo with Ms Rockhampton AND Ms Gracemere!

Heritage Markets bring out all kinds!

The final hoorah! A sausage sizzle with the mates!

Bit of chillin, bit of drinkin, lots of slap talk!!

As you can see, a Wild and out of control crowd!!

Ken up to his usual antics with the boys!

Shanahan Clan                                                       Harris’s

Smiths                                                                         The Ladies!

Awesome opportunity to catch up with mates we haven’t seen for over 17yrs!

Great mates, great times!

Lifes Good!  – no wait – Its Great!!

              

Mexican train! Toot bloody Toot!                              The last Selfie Supper

The Final Gathering! Man!!! Its always hard to say goodbye to this gang!

Whew!! Protected by TSA from the groupies behind the glass!

Farewell to Rockhampton!

Great views of Brisbane and the rivers!

AND – Off we go! After an amazing 4 weeks of family, friends, fun, BBQ’s, beers and beaches we headed back to the USA for a final 5 week contract before heading to Mexico, swinging our legs back over our trusty steads and cycling off into the sunset to see what awaits us in Central and South America!

We’d love to have you along if your feeling up for a bit of adventure.

 

Our new Blog for this leg will be

travellingfoxes68part2.wordpress.com

Click on the followme button and it will be delivered free of charge straight to your in box!

 

See ya soon!

Stay Safe

Ken and Jules – Travellingfoxes

Epic Journey California Summer Break (Part 2)

So….. Eight Weeks in:

 

Ken is back on, and has tamed the ‘Work’ horse so to speak.

Unfortunately, the Vampire lifestyle of work has not played well our body clocks……one day we are wide eyed with insomnia and then the next we are sleeping 14hrs straight…..argh!!!

We have enjoyed the change of scenery/break from riding and had every intention get in some running and strength training whilst not riding. Unfortunately we have a few irritating aches and pains since we’ve stopped riding……….so what’s that telling us……’go back out on the bikes’.

Ruth our Yoga ‘guru’, has been an integral party of our strength training for over 6 years! ‘SHE WILL BREAK YOU’ (Russian Ascent!!)
So………….What is Jules up to you might ask? She was offered a job back in Anaheim by her old boss (twice) however we are 60miles (95km) away, have no vehicle, and there is no appropriate public transport available (unfortunately). The hospital here doesn’t take on short term secretaries, and even to volunteer at the hospital, the process was going to take such a long time, we would have been leaving by the time she would be starting.
So…………..She is tackling a photo scanning project which we have wanted to do for years. That is, the scanning, naming and dating of all our travel photos/scrapbooks (pre-digital) from 1992 to 2002, which entails…..whew!!!! about…..only 14000 – YES, you heard right!! Fourteen THOUSAND photos!!!!!!! When Ken goes to work, Jules goes to work scanning! It will be touch and go to have it complete before we head off again this is one committed and dedicated woman!!.

Well, one big change for us was the acquisition of a set of ‘wheels’ thanks to Ms Heather (a work colleague of Kens) Woohoo! Lets do this!! First stop……

The LA County Fair!

My Princess!

My Strongman!                  Crazy Shadows!

Always a blast with the most unhealthy but delicious food you will come across!!

Loads of different shows to watch!

WHAT A SCORE!!!!! tickets to the legendary ‘Beach Boys’…. for $10 a piece Wow!!! and then we enjoyed a Dave Matthews tribute band before leaving after a BIG day out!

Next Stop was more summer fun at the Redlands Splash Kingdom thanks to free tickets from Keith’s Mum Janet (we were able to give the remaining tickets to an unsuspecting family,which gave them a great day for free!! Pay it forward and pay it back!)

 

We have been very fortunate to have managed to fit in sooooo many more fun events than we initially imagined, we thought it would be all work and no play, but we would have gone bonkers!!!

Keith and Erin managed to get us into the last Home game of the Angels Anaheim playing the Oakland Athletics.

Great times!

We then took the opportunity to house sit for Marcus and Sara and enjoyed the pool and fire pit

Next it was ‘Vegas Baby’!! with good Aussie mates Barry and Jane.

Yes believe it or not we have been working in amongst all these good times!

Holy Crap! Cupcake vending machines!!!

Fabulous!!                             Jules shopping at the not so secret ‘Victoria’s!

Connors 8th Birthday! Sophie and Connor – Blue Tongues!

What a better way to watch 2015 Kona Ironman World Championships!

Doing Vegas the ‘McCarthy Way’!!

Next Stop……..

From Vegas to Venice Beach!! Woohoo!!

The literal ‘Freakshow’            2 nosed dog!!

He’s been in Venice for 40 yrs now!!

Seriously Love this place!

Yeah! we know!!! Another shitty sunset photo!! BORING!!!!!!!

Back to the Desert Lands, where work was broken up with a great ‘Meet, Greet and Dinner’ with Bill, Julie and Family (warmshowers Hosts in Redlands, that invited us over during our USA stay!)

A great opportunity arose to catch up with another good mate, and our unofficial Sponsor Heath, who was moving on from Rudy Project.  we wish him all the best!

Another great night at the Madsens!

We have taken every opportunity to spend as much time possible with friends, which has been priceless.

Fantastic night out with Marcus, Sara, Keith and Erin at Hero’s pub……

………followed by a lovely night kicking back around the fire pit.

After final shifts at Redlands, it was time to hit the train.

We travelled via downtown LA Union Station through to Fullerton, Orange County…..

Halloween is here with a Frapula Frappuccino!! BOO!

where we spent a couple of lovely night with Sara and Marcus

Neesa and Marco                   BOO                               Sara

And then onto the ‘Salcidos for Halloween!

Buggered if we knew why the kids weren’t coming for candy!!!

But then they came!!

and…… they kept coming!!, it was an awesome night.

After a good night sleep on the couch…..

Thanks to our personal Salcido taxi service (Erin and Jim), it was off to LAX for our next ‘Side Adventure’ to……….

You’ll just have to ‘Wait and See’!!

 

Be Safe our Friend’s!

 

Summary
Weather:  “Just absolutely bloody beautiful

Towns/Villages: Los Angeles, Anaheim Hills, Anaheim, Placentia, Huntington Beach, Fullerton, Redlands.
State/Country: Nevada, California, USA

 

Until Next time our friends, Stay Safe
The Travellingfoxes – Ken & Jules

Epic Journey California Summer Break (Part 1)

Holy Moly!! Where do we start!

Hellooooooo Sunny Southern California USA!

 

Well as prepared as we thought we were for landing back in Southern California “The Big Smoke” it was rather intimidating for both of us. Such a busy, rat race!

Once we were off the plane, with bag in hand we were quickly whisked away to ‘home’ by our good mate Keith.

It took a little getting used too…..everyday real life again, that is…..and it was a little overwhelming for Ken. From July 16 to July 27, all up he had to do about 18 on-line courses (between both the company and hospital requirements), then have medicals, drug screens and endless paperwork but it all worked out fine and he would start work on July 27 at Redlands Community Hospital.

Sara, Marcus, Marco and Neesa

 

In the meantime (between all that work stuff) we spent our time drifting between mates (our Southern Californian Families), sleeping on couches, eating lots of food (had some weight to put back on), enjoying a few too many drinks at times and catching up on the happenings of life over the past 6months.

Eric

Loads of odd jobs to do and things to fix ‘or break!’

A man can’t even shave in peace!

Die hard fan and Keith’s Mum, Janet

A beautiful Summers day with the Madsen Tribe

More Bbq’s and food!!

Breakfast with the Salcido Crew!

MUMMA NEEDS MORE COFFEE!!

Do these shirts make our Butts look buffed!!

Going up! First floor!! now THAT’S a big Truck!

All fun and games to the side, it was now time to get serious and move out to Redlands, California- where we are going to make our home for the next 3 months

Through the amazing cycling community and network of “WarmShowers” we were extremely fortunate to find accommodation, and are renting a room from a local couple.

Meet Mark and Colleen and their two wonderful dogs ‘Sam & Kaya’

Well, they say all good things come to an end, and so the dreaded big “W day” arrived …….’Thou shalt not speak of such a word’! Kind of the same theory as “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named”!!

 

So after 21months, you can appreciate that there was a tad bit of anxiety in the air. Ken is working Night Shifts (7pm-730am)…… and so ‘the vampire lifestyle’ begins, working at night and sleeping during the day, (well either sleep or insomnia!)

Chelsea and Stephanie – 2 other travelling nurses)

The generally suffering compulsory orientation had to be completed (although we worked for 2 weeks prior to doing it.)

We are only 2miles from the hospital (so Ken rides) and less then 1mile to the downtown area. Pretty easy to walk and ride everywhere. Redlands is a very cycling friendly outdoors community and there are lot of very nice houses and buildings of Colonial and Victorian era style. As we have left our ‘trusty steeds’ in Cancun, we are using our old road bikes for most transport, which by the way we almost fell off on the first ride as they are so light in weight.

Local events in Redlands, such as the Summer concert series at the outdoor bowl and Thursday ‘Farmers Market Nights’

Kathy and Jack in Huntington Beach

 

We’ve have definitely made sure to enjoy our ‘Californian Summer’, with lots of events to attend and hang out with good mates.

Marshall dropped down to see us from Central Cali which was a great visit.

We attempted 2 rides into Anaheim from Redlands which both went horrendously,

the first ended up with 26!! YES ladies and gentlemen we repeat ‘26’ punctures OMG!!!!!

But worth it when your getting to see such great friends!

It was perfect timing to get the gang back together and have a Pageants of the Masters reunion at Laguna Beach

Sunny Southern California Days

But – we weren’t here for all fun! so back to the Desert People for more work.

 

The Bicycle BBQ Community bike store in Redlands.

Local weekly markets and music.

Our 2nd and final disastrous attempt at riding into Anaheim (go figure!! after riding over 12500 miles, for this to be such a tough endeavor!)

But we persisted

AND persisted!!!!!

and reaped the rewards of the beautiful SoCal Summer Experience!

We thoroughly enjoyed a fantastic visit by a great friend Tom from Lincoln, Massachusetts. (the beginning base for our crazy journey!

How can you not enjoy a fantastic ‘Ruby’s Shake’!

 

Stay tuned for part 2

 

Summary
Weather:  “Just absolutely bloody beautiful”

Towns/Villages: Anaheim Hills, Anaheim, Placentia, Huntington Beach, Redlands.
State/Country: (OC) California, USA

 

Until Next time our friends, Stay Safe
The Travellingfoxes – Ken & Jules

Epic Cycle Journey Chapter 248 Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico – Orange County, California, USA

Please don’t forget to visit and click on the ‘follow me’ button at our new Blog Site for our continuing Journey commencing in January 2016 cycling through Yucatan, Central and South America at: https://travellingfoxes68part2.wordpress.com

 

July 16, 2015  Day 441
Cancun (Q.ROO) Mexico – Orange County (CA) United States of America
Distance:  0km     Total: 20286km

 

Well it was a very late night to bed, or should we say  it was an early morning around 1am and unfortunately we had such a crappy, hot miserable sleep. We woke at 315am…..so decided to just stay up.  With a few last minute things sorted, some breaky in the belly, we said ‘see ya soon’ to the trusty steeds and were walking out the door at 430am.

A huge shout out and thank you to Kundry and Benoit – for keeping our trusty steeds safe!!!

It was only a short stroll to the main road,  surprising very quickly we hailed a taxi and were speeding away to the airport.

We hate airports!!!! However thankfully this one went as smooth as ice!!  Now we just had to and wait for 2 1/2 hours.  Boy were we tired.

Unbelievable! 5 1/2 months in the country and she feels the need to peruse the souvenir crap in the departure lounge to see if ‘She should buy something”!!

Still drying stuff!! We can’t help ourselves!

Once on the plane, comfy and sorted it wasn’t long before we were both in snoozeland…….ahhh needed it.

The return flight from Cancun to Los Angeles was 5 1/2 hours (slept most of it): hhmmmm with a click of the fingers, what we had cycled during our 5 1/2 months was over in a flash and seemed so surreal.

Holy Crap!! Where not in Kansas any more Toto!!

Back to reality!

The Man , The Legend! Keith!!!

We had mates to collect us from LAX (Thanks Keith & Erin) ………

……..and it was back into the hustle and bustle of life in the ‘fast lane’ of SoCal! Caught up briefly with Cathy and Marv to pick up our ‘USA bag’ which has basically everything we need for our visits.

We had a wonderful afternoon and evening with great mates……and some delicious ‘You & I’ Thai Food with the Smith’s (Thanks Marcus & Sara)

.

Aussie favourites!! Mmm Mmmmmm!!

Keith getting us a pair of flannel sheets for the night!! It was 90F+ (35C+) degrees….DICK!!!

l

The welcome home (USA) we received today was absolutely wonderful and we must admit a tad overwhelming.

Well, here we are for 14wks…….One week of paperwork, exams, medicals etc for Ken and then a 13week nursing contract in the ER at Redlands Community Hospital starting July 27 and finishing October 24.  “Oh Janie Mac!!!” This is a going to be a crazy 3mths but hopefully worth it at the end. Thanks everyone!

Jules will look for a part time job, however will have plenty to keep her busy with the scanning of our past travel photos, only about 7000!!!!!

So ladies, gentlemen, boys and girls…….as Day 441 draws to a close, we will sign off for now until we return to Cancun, when we will continue our journey through Central and South America.

Don’t worry……we will drop a line and keep you in the loop with news during our visit in So Cal, USA.

Summary
Weather:  “Just absolutely beautiful – a breath of cool fresh air – heaven”, and no mozzies!  (But don’t ask anyone from Southern California, they’ll say it’s hot and humid!!)

Towns/Villages:  Cancun, Los Angeles, Anaheim Hills, Anaheim, Placentia
State/Country: Quintana Roo, Mexic0 / (OC) California, USA

Amigos, Hasta Proxima Tiempo, Stay Safe
The Travellingfoxes – Ken & Jules

Epic Cycle Journey Chapter 247 Puerto Morelos – Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico

July 15, 2015  Day 440
Puerto Morelos – Cancun (Q.ROO) Mexico
Distance:  41km     Total: 20286km

 

During the night the winds whipped up and continued until morning. When we peeped through sleepy eyes, the wind was whispering “headwind”.

Jules got her ‘laundry’!!

As we packed up, rechecking everywhere for that camera – no such luck, a quick breakfast and then we hit the road.

Still no crocs!

After years of digging and excavating we discovered the lost people of the Yucatan The “Mini Mayan”!!!

It was only about 36km into Cancun: it was all about traffic, billboards, and resorts – another one of those less then interesting rides.  Some tall thick vegetation blocked most of those early morning wind, which quickly turned into a nice tailwind all the way into downtown.

Who thought we were back in the USA??? WRONG!!

Almost there!

 

Our route to Kundry’s place went right by Costco – a hotdog, chicken bake and coffee…..oh yes we did!!

Well we tried but unfortunately needed a membership card just to purchase the fast food…..actually, you even needed it to get in the car park!!

Oh well, we will just have to wait until tomorrow, when we will be back in our old stomping ground of Fullerton!

As we were planning our next move:

Wait…..what’s that tapping our shoulder…….”it was a Costco Angel”.
Lady: -Did you want to get something to eat or drink?
Jules: Yes we were going to but we don’t have a membership!
Lady: You can use by membership card.
Jules: Really! that would be wonderful, thank you.

So we stood in line and the kind lady place our order.
Jules: Muchas Gracias, Muy Amable (Thank you very much, Very kind)

There we sat with grins from ear to ear and the occasional brain freeze……Man they hurt!

From here it was 1km to Kundry’s place (she is actually in Ecuador) but had arranged for us to meet Benito. He got us all sorted and we got to work reorganising our gear.

We made a quick ride to the carwash (had to remove some of that sand from the bikes)…

then a stop at the supermarket, then home.

Now the babies were ready for storage.

We spent our last evening relaxing, doing some photos/blog…

…listening to good music, and yarning with Benito (he cooked us a lovely dinner).

Thankyou Thankyou THANKYOU!! Benoit and Kundry!

Summary
Weather: Hot sunny day
Towns/Villages: Puerto Morelos, Cancun
State/Country: Quintana Roo / Mexico

 

Please don’t forget to visit and click on the ‘follow me’ button at our new Blog Site for our continuing Journey commencing in January 2016 cycling through Yucatan, Central and South America at: https://travellingfoxes68part2.wordpress.com

 

Amigos, Hasta Proxima Tiempo, Stay Safe
The Travellingfoxes – Ken & Jules

Epic Cycle Journey Chapter 246 Playa Del Carmen – Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico

A 2fer to help you forget it all!

July 13, 2015  Day 438
Playa del Carmen – Puerto Morelos (Q.ROO) Mexico
Distance: 41km     Total: 20245km

 

Last night we had arranged to hook up with a warmshowers host for tonight, so after a lazy morning, we packed up and headed off.

We took the pedestrian street again, as yesterday we didn’t complete the entire stretch, it’s actually a couple of KMs long.  The hawkers still left us be. (Probably feel sorry for us!!)

After a quick stop for internet checks and lunch (who says I don’t know how to show my girl a good time!), we arrived to the host’s address however unfortunately Pablo was not about and we were unable to make contact.

Dreaming!! You’ll never make that much for this model!

OK executive decision made……we left Playa del Carmen (weren’t really impressed, a little over touristy for us) and headed North to Puerto Morelos.

Yep!! Definitely didn’t stay here!

It was a mid afternoon start, 2pm, hot with a slight headwind and ……. more of that ‘not so interesting riding’, passing more resorts and adventure/fun parks.

A little too freaky!

At the turnoff for Puerto Morelos, we grabbed some food supplies and headed towards the beach.

Only a further 3km, passing mangroves (with crocs in the water – didn’t see any though), and we were in the heart of the sleepy fishing village, known for its leaning lighthouse.

The seaweed was really bad here as well, but the atmosphere was more to our liking, very laid back, minimal tourists and only a couple of hawkers (unfortunately children).

We enjoyed a late picnic lunch overlooking the fishing boats.

Time was getting away, 530pm, both not really wanting to ride on any further, so we went looking for a patch of grass. ……..man, can a patch of grass offering nothing but grass really be this expensive (hence why bushcamping is a bargain).

Eventually we found a patch of grass, (still overpriced for camping) but at least this patch came with a pool, sea view, toilet, no shower though……well guess we can’t be too choosey this close to Cancun…….we’ll take it.

With our camp sorted, we sat on this lovely quiet beach, watching the last sunlight rays disappear from another day.  Then we made good use of the pool enjoying a very long refreshing evening swim.

Crashed out late as we kicked back and watch some TV. The night sky was clear and full of stars with a pleasant cool breeze.

Summary
Weather: Hot sunny day, evening breezes
Towns/Villages: Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos
State/Country: Quintana Roo / Mexico

 

May the Zen be with you

 

July 14, 2015  Day 439
Puerto Morelos (Q.ROO) Mexico
Distance:   0km     Total: 20245km

 

Jules was up early to watch a beautiful sunrise, however it was rather disappointing effort!

Ken enjoyed a nice long sleep in.

We had a morning swim and the we met and yapped with “Juan”,  who is a professional photographer, so he took a few snaps of us with our bikes.

After our lazy, late, long and lush breaky (well brunch by at this hour!) of pancakes, scrambled eggs (with ham thanks to Juan), OJ and coffee………it was time to…….kick back and relax.

We had a bit of time up our sleeves, so we did some chores:

-Ken tried to fix the waterproof camera (hhmmm a bit more TLC required here!)
-Our bike gear grip gets very hard to maneuver when damp/sweaty so Ken re-gripped them with a light leather (works like a dream)
-Resorted all our bags and gear (ready for babysitting or going to USA with us)
-Washing, and this time Jules treated herself and took it all to the Laundromat.
-Downloading the last major stack of photos.
-Making lists, lists and more lists.
-Emails

Then time for more relaxing:

With all this action a siesta was well earned

Another afternoon sitting on the beach, reading, relaxing and people watching.
Followed by a stroll along the beach into the little town centre. The beach and town centre were a little busier this afternoon, must be a new crowd in town!!

Pizza was on the dinner menu tonight, along with beers, sitting in our spot on the beach (…..yes in our amazing comfy chairs, have we mentioned at all just how much we love our chairs!!).

 

Normally we would have a cool selfie to insert here but unfortunately (later in the evening) we lost the camera. Luckily Ken had downloaded everything this afternoon, but we also had some important personal electronic information stored on the sim card – crap!  That’s gunna make shitload of work as soon as we hit American soil!!

 

As the sun set we reminisced about our Mexican adventure so far, and new friends made…….how amazing it has been……….and what lies ahead on the next adventure in the USA.

It was such a pleasant evening and much cooler. Another dip in the pool, followed by drink with Juan (and sandwiches he made us!).  Such a nice guy, and how extremely patient with our ‘Spanglish’. We didn’t get as far with that as we hoped for, but we will persist.

 

Summary
Weather: Hot sunny day.
Towns/Villages: Puerto Morelos
State/Country: Quintana Roo / Mexico

Please don’t forget to visit and click on the ‘follow me’ button at our new Blog Site for our continuing Journey commencing in January 2016 cycling through Yucatan, Central and South America at: https://travellingfoxes68part2.wordpress.com

Amigos, Hasta Proxima Tiempo, Stay Safe
The Travellingfoxes – Ken & Jules

Epic Cycle Journey Chapter 245 Playa Del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico

July 12, 2015  Day 437
Playa del Carmen (Q.ROO) Mexico
Distance:  13km     Total  20206 km

 

We woke to a clear blue sky and some heavy dew this morning.  Believe it or not, there was a slight breath of fresh air during our sleep last night, a little chill in the early hours of the morning.

(We didn’t need the sleeping bag though, which is still a joke when setting up camp, the latest joke is needing our thermals as well……now if we were Jockeys needing to loose weight it would be perfect and work just fine……oh man, sorry for waffling on, think we’re a little delirious from too much heat and dehydration!!)

It was a easy 7km cycle into Playa del Carmen.  Breakfast was at the supermarket this morning where we could fill up on fresh fruit and yogurt. This heat hasn’t been good for carrying much fresh produce.

Cruising on into the downtown area, we headed for the ferry terminal to Cozumel (where there is a ferry there is water) – wow a clear view 11miles straight across the ocean to the island high-rises Ohh bit sad to see!

First thing this morning we needed to find connection to the ‘real/social world’ and as we strolled the 2km huge pedestrian strip, we checked out a hostel and yapped with a couple of people along the way.  Lots of people trying to sell you tours and junk – though, when we have our bikes with us most hawkers tend to leave us be, no hassling, which is awesome. One guy (unfortunately can’t remember his name) wanted to know our story and got us a cold coke each whilst we told him – very nice, thank you!

Do these glasses make my ears look small?

Starbucks – yep that’ll do. So we plonked our butts here for a couple of hours, sorting out a few last minute major details regarding our trip back to the States and blogging. We also enjoyed a frappe and the air-conditioning, yep! getting softer by the day!

Eventually it was time to move on and after exploring a couple of hostels we found a little gem 50mtrs from the beach (stunning green-turquoise water, looks lovely), a small pool and nighttime air-con. Thank you!

We went off for a long stroll along the beach: for a few kilometers nothing but restaurants, drinks and massages are on offer.

Unfortunately, for about the first 20mtrs of ocean and on the beach there is a lot of thick and smelly seaweed – so luckily for everyone their fancy resorts have pools. (although the ‘expensive’ resorts do clean it up each morning as well as they can).

Heading back towards our hostel we wandered back via part of the pedestrian strip – touristy city (Gold Coast / Vegas) upmarket shops, tacky touristy shops, restaurants, bars, tours, shopping malls, etc etc and Cancun is supposed to be worse.

We tend not to do too well in this amount of crowd anymore, so we wandered off into the side streets and found a perfect little traditional Mexican restaurant and enjoyed some absolutely delicious (chicken with red mole sauce) ‘Pollo Mole Rojo’, sopa, frijoles, arroz, tortilla and horchata drink, all for $4 each (not bad when some places are asking $2 for one fish taco!!)

As we made our way home, we passed a local park, watched a small gathering of ladies (and a couple of men) in traditional maya dress celebrating a ‘womens festival’,

just beautiful stunning dress, some embroidery and some cross-stitch.

It was then down to the beach, past the church, through some craft markets, where we sat watching the beach (and people) as the last bit of daylight disappeared……… and the sandflies appeared. Time to make tracks home.

A refreshing dip in the pool and cold beer in hand….ahhh!…..

…and a good nights sleep.

Summary
Weather: Hot sunny day
Towns/Villages: Playa del Carmen
State/Country: Quintana Roo / Mexico

 

Please don’t forget to visit and click on the ‘follow me’ button at our new Blog Site for our continuing Journey commencing in January 2016 cycling through Yucatan, Central and South America at: https://travellingfoxes68part2.wordpress.com

 

Amigos, Hasta Proxima Tiempo, Stay Safe
The Travellingfoxes – Ken & Jules

Epic Cycle Journey Chapter 244 Tulum – On route Playa Del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico

July 11, 2015  Day 436
Tulum – On Route Playa Del Carmen  (Q.ROO) Mexico
Distance:  59km        Total  20193km

 

Oh boy…..are we getting spoilt with this night time air-conditioning!

So we slothed about for the morning, sending off last minutes emails and sorting things. It was extra miserably hot and sweaty today so we procrastinated as much as possible.

Dirk and Sune                                             Dave

With a feed and hydration stop at the supermarket completed, it was time to hit the road….it was 2pm.

We were heading for Akamul Bay, 25km North, to swim with the turtles.
Tulum to Cancun is a very busy stretch of major highway, a good road surface with excellent shoulder, however a pretty ‘uninteresting’ stretch in terms of view. Scrappy vegetation along the roadside that extends back into thick jungle, which is occupied by loads of resorts and adventure ‘playgrounds’.

Once we arrived to Akamul, (along with the other millions), we grabbed our goggles and hit the beach. Woohoo ‘The Caribbean!

The water was a beautiful temp, on the warmer side however very refreshing.  We swam out to a deeper section (almost forgot how!) and there’s a turtle, not phased by us or in any hurry to swim off.

The visibility wasn’t the best so it was better to stay in the shallower water, and we spotted another turtle.

Check out his jokers life jacket EPIC FAIL!!!

Now THIS is what you call a Selfie!

This was when the underwater camera decided to die…..yep die! Seriously there has not been an indestructible camera released yet that we haven’t killed!!

On the way back into shore, another turtle and this once was a grand daddy!!

After a fresh water “bottle” shower, we were back into the sweaty cycle clothes, refilled with cold water and continued on our merry way, hoping to find a nice little beach to camp at for the night……….nope, no such luck! Like we mentioned everything was private resorts.

At the end of one dirt road we did find a beach camp area, but we really need our kidneys and weren’t about to give one up just to camp on the beach.  We asked various security guards as we went….they knew of nothing…..Absolutely nothing!

Eventually about 7km from Playa de Carmen we found dirt road with a small area just perfect for tonight, it was 730pm. About 830pm, a security guard came passed: he mentioned that we could sleep at ferry terminal about 2km away if we wanted (he said they had a free bed we could use), but we were OK to stay where we were also if we wanted.

He wasn’t concerned that we were camping but more so of the snakes around the area! Fffttt. We couldn’t have been bothered packing up moving. Very nice of him though.

Snakes or no snakes….we both slept well!

Summary
Weather: Blue sky and hot
Towns/Villages: Tulum, Akumal, Playa del Carmen
State/Country: Quintana Roo / Mexico

Please don’t forget to visit and click on the ‘follow me’ button at our new Blog Site for our continuing Journey commencing in January 2016 cycling through Yucatan, Central and South America at: https://travellingfoxes68part2.wordpress.com

Amigos, Hasta Proxima Tiempo, Stay Safe
The Travellingfoxes – Ken & Jules

Epic Cycle Journey Chapter 243 Coba – Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico

A 3fer to help get you through the day

July 8, 2015  Day 433
Coba (Bushcamp) – Tulum (Q.ROO) Mexico
Distance:  63 km        Total  20113km

 

We hit the road a little later than planned (9am) but we had a short day ride today into Tulum.

Our route continued along the same highway from yesterday, however this morning it was much busier. (Lots of terrorist… Oops….tourist buses heading for Chichen Itza).

Almost!

We had a slight headwind all day so we just cruised along, not in any particular hurry. Now that we are getting much closer to Tulum there are a lot more tourist arts and craft stalls, as well small restaurants.

As we rode through Marcario Gomez, the aroma of BBQ pollo (chicken) made us do a U-turn and sit down to our second breakfast. Half a chicken, rice, cabbage, beans, tortillas for a bargain price $3.50 (total, not each). Delicious.

It wasn’t long after this stop we noticed some pretty dark clouds, and had a few drips of rain. Up in the distance it looked like a wall of water was coming towards us, so we ducked under a thick tree for protection but then were told to go under the Palapa being constructed.

Just as we did, down she came. It bucketed rain for about half an hour with lightening and some unbelievable loud cracking thunder. The 3 workers were pretty cool with us sitting there with them as we waited for the rain to pass.

The blue sky was out now and it got pretty steamy, the road had dried so quick in places you would never have known it rained at all.

It was around midday when we saw a sign down a dirt track to ‘Cenote Isla Alamos’ and we did go down about 1km, then found out it was another 2km. We didn’t know anything about it, the cost and then road was pretty bad……decided to give this one a miss. We stopped at the next one along the road, it was exactly like a swimming pool so gave that a miss to.

Here we met a lovely family (Jeff, Nancy, Isacc, & Sam – from California) on a six week holiday. They hired a car and have been exploring the Yucatan, Belize and Guatemala. It’s so great to see everyone out and about on different journeys. They had just been at the ‘Cenote Isla Alamos’, said it was a really neat one and free.

Free…..we like the sound of that. So we resupplied enough water in case we wanted to camp and we backtracked down the 3km dirt, rocky and potholed road. Heaps of puddles from the rain and the coolest thing about this was heaps of butterflies were attracted to the water, so when we rode by they took of in flight and fluttered all about…..it was neat.

Click here: for a little cool footage! https://youtu.be/v46TgFjCBNU

This road seemed to just go forever, but we Eventually made it to the cenote, and it looked pretty cool. It was like a large top section of cave had fallen straight down, creating an island, surrounded 360 with water.  Lots of trees, birds and……OMG mozzies.

We grabbed our gear, and went straight for a swim (beautiful and cold) explored around the entire ring of water around the Isla, really neat.

We set up a nice area to kick back, had a snack and read our books and enjoyed another swim.

The mozzies were really bad so had to set up our net to sit under,had  mixed ideas about camping here tonight.

Unfortunately then some locals turned up, told us it was a private property (no signs anyway – we actually did check cause we thought about camping) and they wanted us to pay 100 pesos, then 50, then they started making shit up. The guy was just being a dick. This helped us make up our mind, so we left.

Ken fixing a gear issue                  Fuel time!

A further 10km down the highway, assisted with nice tailwind, it was around 6pm when we peddled into Tulum – Woohoo! we are now on the East Coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, The Caribbean!! Bring on the Pirates!!

We spent a little time getting our bearing as to where the ruins where, enquired at a couple of hostels however as it was now later decided on a bushcamp……..but not in the “bush” as the mozzies were off the chart. Ken, with his talented eye for spotting great campsites found an abandoned building, with some nice evening breezes so this should work perfect (still mozzies about though – thankfully no malaria here!)

Bellies full of food, set up under our mozzie shelter we settled in for hopefully a good night sleep.

Summary
Weather: Cloudy sky, dark clouds, downpour of rain with thunder and lightening, lovely blue sky afternoon……Oh forgot to mention it’s hot and muggy, afternoon breezes…..and heaps of mozzies

Towns/Villages:  Coba (Bushcamp), Marcario Gomez, Tulum, (Bushcamp)
State/Country: Quintana Roo / Mexico

 

Feeling a little better already?

 

July 9, 2015  Day 434
Tulum (Q.ROO) Mexico
Distance:  21km       Total  20134km

 

It turned into a horrible sleep, the mozzies somehow just seemed to keep breaking our barrier and for the life of us couldn’t find out where. The evening breezes just stopped and even under the night sky it was like sleeping in a sauna.

BUT on a positive side of things by arriving in Tulum we had reached another milestone on this leg of our journey!!

Today we were up early to visit the Tulum Ruins: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulum, and with excellent planning we were first in line at the gate for opening at 8am. As we rode out of camp, which was literally 5mins from the entrance gate (so an early start was no big deal) the dark stormy clouds were already hovering overhead. Fingers crossed it doesn’t break just yet!

Wow, Tulum Ruins, once functioned as a fortress surrounded by walls with it’s fourth side being the ocean……

Not a bad view to start!

………literally right on the cliff edge overlooking a beautiful coastline of the Caribbean Sea.  A lovely strip of green and turquoise water, sandy beach (lots of seaweed) and cliffs along the shoreline – aahhh there is something about the aroma of salty sea air!

Because we were so organised (only seems to happen when we visit ruins) we were able to see the structures and get some nice photos before the workers started and without the many crowds that later appeared…..and when they did OMG it was in the masses.

Sara we took heed of your advice about the mozzies, and wore our long pants and shirts – you were right!  they were shockin!

The ruins here at Tulum were much smaller than the others sites we had visited, but they were really nice and once again had something different to offer, in this case the setting alongside the ocean.

We took the opportunity to walk the loop twice, and took our time to sit and admire all of the structures, the beach. etc.

To name a few of te structures where the: Casa del Cenote, with it’s murky mud, Templo del Dios del Viento (Temple of the Wind God), Estructura 25 with it’s many columns, platforms and carving of ‘The Diving God’, El Palacio, Templo de las Pinturas decorated with its elaborate carvings, masks and some remanant colours of murals on the inner walls, ….and last but not least, in the centre dominating the complex, a watchtower, El Castillo (The Castle).  Awesome!

Remember the Lion King!!!

RUN! it’s the paparazzi!!

….oh look a monkey…..nope, what is it??……and as we  tried to sneak after it through bush, it gave us a cheeky smirk and took off before we could get a photo. We later found out it was a Nasua, closely related to the raccoon family…..figures with it’s long striped tail, pointy nose and cheeky attitude.

Definitely worth a visit if your ever in the neighbourhood!

After spending 2hrs here and perfect timing as the crowds were growing, and gRoWiNg and GROWING, so……

..  we headed to the supermarket and kicked back in the air-con enjoying some lunch.

It was time for the business side of this type of lifestyle, so we had to check the emails regarding the nursing contract back in the USA. We informed them that from Tulum our choices are either to head East to Cancun and fly to the USA if they have a contract for us, OR we head West and cycle the 200miles into Belize and keep this Journey active and alive! and we have 2 days for them to work something out……..and yes its looking very promising….. though we need to check in again later to see what they have available.

Our afternoon was spent riding along a small section of the stretch of road, northern Boca-Paila looking for some camping……we didn’t find anything on the beach……only one mozzie infected bush campground that they wanted a kidney to stay there! It was miserably hot, the sun was literally scorching down so we head back to the internet cafe (ended up being 3hrs) sorted out contract options, offered 5 different jobs in California, then researched the necessary details. The biting insects are horrid here in Tulum even during the middle of the day.

We then headed off and found a backpackers called Hostel Chalupa. The best thing about this place is not the bed (queen sized bunks!), not the price, not the pillow, not the shower, not the fan, not the free breaky…….but the swimming pool AND as an added bonus we later found out that from 9pm-7am they provide Air-Con…OMG!.

We sat back, decided on the contract that we wanted, forwarded through our request, the high tailed it across the road to purchase some brewski’s and then we spent a couple hours in the pool……ahh!

We were ready for snoozeland early tonight but we kept ourselves up until 9pm so we could turn on that A/C for a special treat!

Summary
Weather: Early dark clouds, cleared to a blue sky, hot and humid.
Towns/Villages: Tulum
State/Country: Quintana Roo / Mexico

 

Remember deep breaths, and picture people that annoy you naked! (well……some of them …..definitely not everyone!…thats just punishing yourself!)

 

July 10, 2015  Day 435
Tulum (Q.ROO) Mexico
Distance:  0km     Total  20134km

Well the A/con was a treat and we were actually able to cuddle side by side during the night……had almost forgotten what that’s like. It was a very lazy start to the morning.

Today was BUSINESS day!!

Ken had a choice of either Vermont or California for his contract; our hearts would have dearly loved to pick Vermont.  However the purpose for this small break at this point is for a little ‘Cash, Money, Dinero, Moola’……so California it is.

Also…..For Ken to ‘maintain’ his nursing skills.

After 21mths of not working he might be a bit rusty to start, but, it’s time to get back on that horse. For as much as we don’t want to do this, the benefits of working significantly way out weigh not.…..money, experience, professional growth, we will escape most of the wet season..the heat, mozzie’s…..and we could get an affordable return flight from Cancun and Ms Lorraine, you hit the nail on the head-  yes we want to attempt to combine a working /cycle touring lifestyle for a couple of years.

So…..today was all about “business”!

We finalised Ken’s contract details, completed a couple of an on-line exams, a little more paperwork, and the all important interview (which, as crazy as it sounds, Ken had to request it as the hospital initially gave him the contract off his resume alone!!!)

Now a little side info: Anyone that REALLY knows Ken, they are aware that he has done every telephone interview (except for one – and that was because he was sitting in a car with Barry aka ‘Monkey Boy’ when we were at the Sunshine Coast once) sitting naked on a bed!!! WHY you may ask!! ………..simple……..….Its Ken!

SOOOO, as per tradition, this interview was successfully completed sitting naked on the bed…… we know!……not such a pretty image for you all! We do actually have a photo but thought we’d refrain from putting it on the blog!

We then madly:

-Organising flights back in California,
-Details for storage of our bikes and gear (A huge shout out to Kundry for being a lifesaver for tis part and baby sitting our steeds for us in Cancun!)
-Starting the research for accommodation etc .

 

WOW!! 24 hrs, job offered, accepted, contracted, interviewed, flights booked and storage for our bikes and gear! AND Keith has offered to pick us up from the airport! Now THAT’S what you call ‘Stars Aligning’! I must give ‘dibs’ to Ted at ‘Medical Solutions’ as he talked the talk and walked the walked and pulled everything off as promised in a very short period of time AND we start the contract in 17 days HOLY CRAP!! That is efficient!

Throughout the day we had a number of conversations with Amy (from Oakland), who visits Mexico a couple of times per year. The poor bugger almost had a melt down when she tried to get her head around what we do!!

Can you HEAR ME NOW!! Jules talking with her Mum.

By the late afternoon with heads about to spin off the shoulders (especially Ken’s), we shut down the computers, purchased a couple of beers and sat in the pool……..It will be good! There were alot of new arrivals to the hostel today, so we yapped with various people over the afternoon, and into rather late night. David from San Fran, who is travelling on through to Belize, Dirk and Sune, from South Africa, on an extended trip until November through Central America. (Dirk is a computer programmer and works on the road as they travel).

It sounds crazy, but we haven’t even been for a swim in the ocean yet!
All is good though as we plan to leave tomorrow, heading North and swim with the turtles.

Summary
Weather: Overcast most of the day, hot.
Towns/Villages: Tulum
State/Country: Quintana Roo / Mexico

 

Amigos, Hasta Proxima Tiempo, Stay Safe
The Travellingfoxes – Ken & Jules