Costa Maya, Mexico (1/6/2007)

From: Sherman Rootberg

Date: Jan 6, 2007 11:23 PM

Subject: Saturday, January 6, 2007

Saturday, January 6, 2007

Costa Maya, Mexico

This is one of the weirdest places in the Caribbean. We first came her four or five years ago. The only thing here at that time was a Mayan Pyramid about an hours drive away. The ship pier was brand new and still had some of the forms attached. Some ground work had been started for some stores and apartments for the help to stay in. There were roads being constructed but it was mostly dirt roads we had to travel on.

This Pyramid was one of the better preserved. It was first discovered in about 1972. It was deeply covered by jungle and had stayed hidden and well protected from the weather and thieves for that reason. It took a number of years to carefully uncover it without destroying anything. It had been on private property and it took the Mexican government a while to decide to make the farmers that owned it disappear when they refused to sell. The last part was a guess. It did take a while for the property to become owned by the government. It is very interesting to see. There are also the foundations from the homes of big shots. It is in a very green rain forest looking setting.

Now there is a good sized area of stores and huge bars in a very nicely planned area and dramatic looking area. There is also a large amphitheater where they say there performances daily. Today must not be a day in Mexico because there was no sign of any performance.

There is no way to get here other then by ship. It was developed strictly for cruise ship passengers and is not open to the general public. I think every other store is Diamonds International. Worlds highest priced jewelry. There must be an awful lot of suckers on cruise ships. There are also two pools. One huge one with fountains in it and another right on the beach. There are plenty of beach chairs and chases. Large permanent thatch umbrellas are all over the beaches. While the beach stretches for miles in both directions, there is just one small area, obviously dug out, that has sand. The rest is high rocks.

Funny thing. We are in a Mexican port again. The Internet, the ship to shore phones, and the Fox News station on TV does not work again. I wonder if they jam or it is a Mexican rule that they have to shut off communication with phones and Internet in their ports. They just tell us it is because the direction the ship is facing again. Yeah. And elephants can fly using their ears for wings. We are leaving abut 4:00 PM central time, so it is not a big problem today.

When we arrived at the dock this morning, the ocean was quite rough. This is obviously quite unusual. There are no break waters to protect the piers and you can see that much of this pounding by the waves will soon destroy the docks. Water was splashing onto the pier and the ship was moving a little. Many of the activities had to be stopped. Anything to do with the water was discontinued. Fishing, scuba, boat rides. Wave runners, etc. Someone had to loose a lot of money.

We took a shuttle into the little village and walked around for a while. Everything for sale was the usual junk. We have plenty usual junk. And after a while we walked back. The walk down the pier was a lot longer then it looked. I should have waited for the shuttle. I mean everybody has just so many steps they can take in a life time. I want to be careful not to use all mine up.

Tonight we received another email from Pam, I mean Spike. Here it is:

Hello Mom and Dad,

I am having a very good time here! I found a toy that I like. It's a bright yellow duckie. I walk from room to room with it and shake my head and wrestle with it.

Today we went to the dog park again after Rusty left this afternoon. Then we went over to Pam's Aunt's house so her Aunt could meet me. Zoie is very nice and let's me share her Snoozer Car Seat as we rode to the dog park and then to her Aunt Rhonda's house.

As for the dog park... it's fun! We took a nice ride over to Plantation, and go to the Happy Tails Dog Park. It's very clean and a nice class of people with their dogs go there. There are many areas to play in, but we stay in the smaller doggie area. It's a great place and I love seeing all the dogs that are my size and smaller. Pam, Zoie and I walked around the path two times. I like to walk around and check everything out!

Later on, after we left, I met Pam's aunt and she is a nice lady. We took another walk around her townhouse area in Coral Springs. On the way home, we went to Petco and Pam bought me a special bed, all my own for the car! It's a nice, big blue bed and she leaves it in the back seat for me. As soon as I got in it, I knew it was mine! I rolled around it and started scratching at it to get my scent all over it! Then, we were all hungry, so today we got a special treat and we stopped off for burgers! I ate mine in my new bed, and Zoie ate hers in her Snoozer Car Seat.

We had a very fun day and I'm tired. Off to bed now.

Love, Spike!

I’m glad to see Pam is crazy too. I knew I’d like her.