Mexico Trip–Valladid

Sunday we woke up early and left the property by 7:40.  The bumpy road was still bumpy and long.  50 minutes to be exact, but so much better in the light.  It was fun to see jungle on either side and at times, the ocean and the bay on either side.  We drove into Tulum and found the church building.  It was so neat to hear the congregation sing in Spanish.  It’s one of my very favorite parts of church in a different language. 

After church the Richins headed to the Coba Ruins and we followed the Jacksons to the city of Valladid – a Spanish colonial town an hour and a half away from Tulum (now two and a half hours from our Beach House).  We visited a church, wandered through the town square and ate lunch at a great restaurant with a cool courtyard. 

Valladid town center…

Lunch at El Meson Marques…

We walked down the street, found a corner store to grab cold water since we were melting in the hot sun, and continued on to the Monastery. 

We listened to a service for awhile and then wandered around the monastery. 

When we were ready to go we found we were locked in.  We joked about sleeping there overnight and finally found a big courtyard gate that we managed to pry open and escape through.  We were pretty exhausted by this point.  It’s amazing how much the heat can take out of you. 

On the bumpy road through the jungle, we stopped at the Jaguar sign for a picture, scared that we might actually see one. 

 

Emily and I weren’t feeling great by this point. When we reached the 50 minute bumpy jungle road then Emily had us pull over so she could throw up.  The poor girl threw up five more times that night before she finally got some good medicine to keep it down, and was able to sleep through the night.  We gave Luke some medicine and he went straight to bed and Megan headed straight to bed.  The Johnson kids were dropping like flies.  The rest of us went down to the pergola and had a Sunday night devotional about what we had learned about the gospel in our travels.  It was a great way to share some experiences and our testimony that the church is true wherever you go and that you learn so much from traveling.  We sat and chatted around the big table in the kitchen until late.  Katie and Maggie face-timed Ally Cook and we all said Hi and that we wished they were there with us.