After making our way around the Yucatán Peninsula without the RV, we’re back in the village of Canicab where our RV has been parked for the past 18 days.
Canicab doesn’t exactly have the same level of offerings as Merida, Holbox, Valladolid, or even Izamal. But it’s good to be back, in no small part due to Xbalche RV Park and owner Benjamin’s hospitality.
In our 2.5 weeks combined stay in Canicab, we never stumbled upon a comedor or food stall that was actually open. But we got more than our fair share of opportunities to eat out on our Yucatan outing prior to returning to Canicab, so no big deal.
Our Mexico-USA RV Journey 2024-25
It was nice to lay low for a time to catch up on work, school, and projects, enjoy the hotel’s huge pool, and plot our route moving forward, which is proving more challenging than we thought given the new uncertainty we find ourselves plotting a course through.
Lots of unanswered questions about what the next four years have in store for us, for Mexico, the U.S., the economy/finances, Lori’s job, etc., but we’re far from alone in that respect.
It’s nice to be tucked in to this quiet and sort of random corner of Mexico, thousands of miles away from Washington, DC and the 24-hour news cycle.
There’s a soccer field and basketball courts down the street from the RV Park, where a gaggle of kids gather most evenings for a pick-up game of this and that. The kind of thing you’d be hard-pressed to find in most towns in the U.S. these days.
Noe’s evening race to beat the 5:30p express from Merida. The bus somehow keeps winning, but Noe remains undeterred.
They drained the pool at Xbalche to give it a good scrub. The boys had a blast splashing around while it was being refilled. It’s a sizable pool, fed entirely by an underground spring.
A few rigs came and went during our time at Xbalche. When we returned, they were totally full to our surprise. Luckily, one rig was pulling out that afternoon, so we were able to take their spot.
Xbalche is a great place, particularly for the Yucatan. Full hookups, pool, and a 45-minute trip into Merida—all for a reasonable rate.
But it’s also less than a year old, and the owner is still working a few of the kinks out. The sewage pipe access for grey/black water was about a foot of the ground, which is a bit of a challenge for most RVs, as this means the sludge has to somehow make its way uphill. Ours never did, so the four of us ended up having to lift the hose up and down several times to empty our tanks.
When the people next to us left, the owner took the opportunity to redo the access. We moved over into that spot and things have been flowing fine ever since.
In the U.S., it probably would have been a big deal to get someone out here to punch a hole in a concrete box, shorten and reattach a PVC pipe. But in Mexico, it was done in about an hour by one of the workers onsite.
All set for bedtime.
Riley’s independent school time, on the other side of daddy’s “desk”.
Around Canicab. Never much happening midday. We’re out and about looking to see how many things we can cross off our grocery list. It’s not much, but we can usually get the bare essentials like eggs, bread, milk, and of course, tortillas and beans.
If we get lucky, we can snag the produce truck, which comes around a few times per week. It’s usually not too difficult, since he plays a little jingle that can be heard from a half a mile away.
Noe’s been having a rough time at night with something in the air. It’s usually sniffles and a bit of coughing, but last night, his cough was more asthmatic. Fortunately, we had an inhaler and antihistamine on hand, which eventually seemed to do the trick. If not, we probably would’ve had to bum a ride with Benjamin to the outskirts of Merida for a pharmacy.
We have a number of check-ups scheduled for all of us when we get to Veracruz City. Still, for good measure, I took it upon myself to tear out the boys’ sleeping quarters, clean, dust, vacuum, and disinfect.
Given Noe’s strange and sudden coughing spell (and his accumulation of “treasures”), I expected to find something out of the ordinary (mold or a ton of dust, perhaps)? But no dice. The boys’ bunks were cleaner than two RV kids’ “rooms” ought to be. And so it remains a mystery.
Drinking water refill day. Fortunately, the nearest place in Canicab is just around the corner from the RV Park. I still have to carry these monsters the length of a couple of football fields, but I’ve had to do much worse.
Riley likes to help daddy with the empties. All too soon, he’ll be helping me with the full ones, I’m sure.
Benjamin pointed out during our first stay that the earth in these parts is largely made up of fossilized remains of this and that. All one has to do is look down and you’ll easily spot a dozen.
The boys are fascinated by the fact that where we are right now is the epicenter of the asteroid impact site that killed off the dinosaurs. There are reminders everywhere.
The water pump at the RV Park automatically turns off every four minutes. It takes 8-10 minutes to fill our fresh water tank. I gave Noe a walkie talkie and enlisted his help in pushing the button for me. Being the voracious reader he is, he took the e-reader with him to fill the time.
Riley’s version of solo soccer.
Eventually, he convinced his brother to join him.
Tomorrow, it’s finally time to pack up and head on to the next place where flamingos and Gulf beaches await.
