Tulum and Punta Allen

The bluest water, ever.

"El Titanico"-our "hotel" in Punta Allen.

Male Frigate birds nesting. The chicks had just been born and the guide said this is how they scare other males away from the nests.

Gigantic lizard at the ruins in Tulum.

We found this incredible beach in between Tulum and Punta Allen and hung out there for the day. These birds were our only visitors.

The temple overlooking the water in Tulum.

We´re having a great time, even though I got a sun burn the first day and have to wear long sleeves on the beach! We spent two days in Tulum, where I met Matt. The beach there is beautiful, but it´s a little busy, so we headed about 42km away to a little fishing village called Punta Allen. It´s only about 25 miles, but it takes 3 hours on the worst road I´ve ever been on in my life. It was worth it though! The place is deserted and we stayed in some great places. I sat in a hammock all day. Literally, all day. It was amazing. Matt fished all day of course, and loved every minute of it. We are in a city called Vallalodid right now, and are staying here for a day trip to the major Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza tomorrow. I will definitely post more pictures when we get home!

Kristi

Winter and Holidays

Beer tasting in Bend


Cross Country skiiing and snowshoeing at Swampy Creek in Bend

The Sisters from our house in Bend

Thanksgiving at Doe Bay Resort on Orcas Island. Four inches of snow!

Summer 2010 so far...

A fantastic trip to Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument



Waterfall below Rachel Lake trail-near Cle Elem, WA.

Lake Kachees and North Bend, WA

Our very own Super Car.


Lake Kachees

Puerto Escondido

"Puerto" is a famous surfing spot about 200 miles south of Acapulco. I spent the remainder of my trip here, swimming and hanging out in the sun.



The most gorgeous sunset I've ever witnessed. The pictures don't capture the half of it.

Playa Zicatela, the Mexican "Pipeline"

VW bugs are amazingly popular in Mexico. This one was not the only one we saw tricked out, but it was the coolest.

Puerto Angel and Playa Zipolite

We are now on the Pacific Coast, west of Oaxaca city in small beach community called Playa Zipolite. We´re headed to Puerto Escondido tomorrow for some more beach time.


The view from our balcony on the beach.


Matt fishing in the surf.

Oaxaca City

Oaxaca City is a colonial city, the first place Cortez began a Spanish civilization. It reminded us in many ways of Antigua, Guatemala. We spent the majority of the day in the zocalo, or plaza taking in the sites and people.



This plant is everywhere in Mexico and Guatemala. It´s called bugambilia.

There are hundreds of vendors in the zocalo, selling everything from balloons to apples to handicrafts to ice cream.


We also walked around the mercado, which is always a fascinating place. Chocolate is a big deal here-it´s used to make mole, a sauce. People here also drink chocolate-it´s very delicious.

The carneceria in the mercado.

Teotihuacan-a pre Aztec civilization

These ruins are about 40 miles outside of Mexico City. The people here disappeared with no explanation, although experts now think it was starvation that destroyed their civilization. The Aztecs moved into the area after they were already gone and named it Teotihuacan, which means ¨place where the gods were born¨ and they believe it is where the universe was created.

The Temple of the Sun (now actually believed to be a place where the water god was worshiped, not the Sun God.)

View from the Temple of the Moon

Temple of the Moon