Deer season is near. Believe it or not, yesterday, while driving from Buffalo, New York to Merida, Yucatan, we went thru a town named Bucksnort, Tennessee. And if you consider the rack atop our vehicle, it’s a miracle we weren’t shot at by bow hunters! What you’re seeing is a hayfork from our barn, inverted on the roof of our van. (If you’re confused, there are two items on the roof.) I’ll explain the second item in a followup post, eventually. A third item is a light pole which is not on the roof. Pay no attention to those boards which are merely cushioning the fork so as not to damage the roof.
Why would anyone bring a hayfork to Mexico? (Glad you asked.) As this hayfork was no longer being used, I had repurposed it as a spider. It hung from a cord for several years on a limb of a giant maple tree in our front yard, looming over a stone bench where it bounced gently in the breeze. I had painted and attached a pair of conjoined plastic bottles as a body. Yeah, spiders are supposed to have eight legs. But wait >>>
My wife, Mary, and her sister on the bench beneath Spider Fork.
In Merida, Spider Fork will enter a witness protection program to become an anatomically correct six-legged insect: Ant Farmer. (I’m sure there will be pictures on this blog. Stay tuned!)
Can’t wait to see it AND you!
Hi,
I found this blog while reading another blog – Los Colores de Merida. My girlfriend and I are leaving on Weds. Nov. 20th to drive from Chicago Il to Merida. I thought it was great to find not one but two current blogs of people driving to Merida. We will be crossing at Piedras Negras. I’ve done a lot of research re: driving in Mexico. I would love any UPDATED travel info you would care to share about you drive down. We will b e traveling with our cat. We are going to be staying for 4 months from Dec.-Mar., we are also both retired. Hope your trip down is safe and uneventful.
George and Ellen
Hi George, Ellen,
Our transit was interesting. We crossed at Columbia Bridge, a few miles east of Piedras Negras, after overnighting in Laredo. This is a very friendly place to cross. But I’m told it doesn’t open until 8am. We stayed at Midway Inn (good) in Matehuala our first night; at City Express in Puebla (good), and then at City Express in Villahermosa (ok, but no decent restaurants nearby). ¶ Be alert about Topes (speed bumps), also called Vibradores, etc. We only encountered a few in alto plano. But once you get to Chiapas, Campeche, and Yucatan, they are everywhere. Shortly after crossing into Chiapas we hit one (unmarked!) on a highway marked 110 kilometers/hr! It bent our alloy rim, which I didn’t discover until we were stopped at a police checkpoint in Campeche. Fortunately it did not go flat. But we saw a new BMW suv wiz past us at a high rate of speed, only to be spotted an hour later after an encounter with a huge pothole. He was putting a donut spare on to replace his shredded tire. ¶ Be prepared for tow bouts of road construction shortly after descending from the high plains, lasting five miles each, and taking maybe a half hour apiece. ¶ Perhaps our paths will cross. I volunteer at Merida English Library once a week.
Thanks for your reply. You have given us some good info. Were any of the places you stayed at on the way down “pet friendly”? We are bringing our cat with us.
We go by the library often and have a friend who lives right around the corner from there. We’ll have to stop in and introduce ourselves. Thanks again.
George and Ellen