Saturday, February 21, 2009

Waiting for Carrie

2-20-09 No Name Campground, Tulum, Yuctan, Mexico: We call these four days “Waiting for Carrie,” just as our days in Alaska at Red Shirt Lake and Wasilla were called “Waiting for Annie.” In both cases the kids are very excited about the upcoming visit. Waiting, we are camped on a spit of white sand on the clear Carribbean: no electricity, not internet, to freshwater – only saltwater showers and the sea.

Lounging the afternoon way, strung between two coconut palms in a hammock as white as the sand; my toenails painted by Kim the same color as the sky and sea combined. Relaxed to the depth of my core, reading Mitchner’s “Mexico,” lulled by the rythmic waves. I haven’t paid a bill in nine months. Can the financial world really be collapsing around us? At the internet cafe this morning, Dave snuck a peek at the stock market.... Too dismal to dwell on, it’s below 7,200 points; half of what it was when we started this trip. Living frugally, we still spend too much money for the times... these time that we must always be thankful for, drenched in carefree freedom, open to exploration; how blessed to be one of the four Dixon-Jonah’s on-the-road!

Paid in advance, $1100 pesos ($18/night) for our four nights camping on this spit of white sand that extends out to the wave chopped, sun-drenched Carribbean. Breezes and the shade of sea grape and palms keep us comfortable even during the peak heat of mid-day. Either side, behind verticle stick fencing, rustice thatch-roof accommodations house foreign sun-worshipping tourists, drawn to this lovely spot for a few days of R&R Fernado, business mand and half owner of this sand strip, pland to be out of the beach camping business by July. “Too many hippies, too many hassles, not enough money...” Once his permits come through, a high-end boutique hotel is sltated for this slice of Carribbean paradis. “You come back, I’ll give you one night for free,” he tells Dave. The others will cost us $250 each once the pool, restaurant and art-deco rooms stand where we now relax in hammocks and camp chairs reading in the shade of coconut palms, waiting for Carrie!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds sublime! I feel those hammocks swaying and the breezes blowing.
I'm packing up for my trip, far less extensive, but much looked forward to.
I know you'll have a grand time with Carrie and will impress her with your Spanish. HAVE FUN!!!
Love, Mom/El/Grandma

mwittke said...

I call this time...waiting for Mom. She'll be in SLC for an hour and a half on Tuesday...long enough for us (Tom and me) to climb into the two seets next to her on the plane bound for Maui. I have a feeling we can find a remote place or two on Maui, but I think it will be a lot harder than in Mexico. Tom talked to a friend of ours who lives there and said there are LOTS of humpbacks there now!!! Yahoo. I want to swim with the whales and hear that whalesong. So, though I'm envious of your spit of white sand, I can't complain for what waits ahead for me. Miss you. Love, Mary