Emerald Coast

It took us about five hours to get to the Emerald Coast and the Trailer Park Alba. No real reason, we just drove slow and stopped at a few places looking for a painted bowl to replace LindaLee’s that their cat broke. No luck, we are out of the area where they do that kind of pottery but we will keep looking.

We stopped for gas and a pickup full of Federalis polled up. Two in the cab and five in the back, one standing behind a very large mounted machine gun which he never left. The other four in the back all had smaller machine guns and got out of the truck. They saw me and came over to chat. Very nice guys. One spoke perfect English and had gone to school in Seattle. They were amazed that we drove all the way down to Mexico every year. They wanted to know where we had been in Mexico. The only one who could shake hands was the boss, the others were holding onto their guns. They told us to have a good trip and I thanked them for keeping us safe and secure. Like I said, nice guys in a very dangerous job.

The last time we parked here the place was half full. This time we are the only customers! No one is here. The pool is open and there are workers painting the wall. All the electrical outlets are new but ungrounded! We found a spot where someone had driven a metal rid into the ground and fastened a wire to it leading to the outlet. It was grounded. Norma went and asked the workers if they would wash the rig and they said they would do it tomorrow morning. It is just coated with salt!

The bad news is, we have no Internet. No WIFI (which they advertise) and no Banda Ancha. We are going to the nearby town of Nautla tomorrow to take in laundry so I will send this from there but other than that, I am going to be silent for a couple of days.