From El Tajin, we headed to the coast at Nautla, onto Maracaibo Beach.
Rolling surf kept families at the edge of the water. Not many people here.
We parked on a new paving brick waterfront.
When we left we realized there were ruins right across the highway, so we went.
The only sign we saw to indicate there were ruins here.
The ruins have a name that would make Scrabble blush.
A huge core of a volcano, like the one in California, the Devil's Post Pile.
Many of the ruins were on a plateau that we could walk up to.
Tiny temples acted as graves for people who lived here hundreds of years ago.
We climbed as far as possible for us, but had to turn back as the trail got too rough.
Karen between two graves/temples. Small people.
Jason kneeling next to some of the tiny temples.
The structures are showing signs of decay with piles of rocks collapsing.
This clay head was one of the artifacts just sitting out on a rocktable. Other implements recovered were on and under the table.
A view of the peak from part of the ruins.
A close-up of the peak. Getting too close for a picture meant we lost the perspective.
We stayed on the beach just left of where the river flows into the ocean.
A last view of the ruins.
We drove to Chachalacas Beach next and found a spot on a beach access road.
The wind was blowing and the dune in the distance seemed to be blowing away at us.
Some unusual blue orb alongside the road as we drove to Veracruz.
This food truck is just a prop; it couldn't move. The DoubleTree hotel in the background is where we watched the Superbowl.
Fishing boats along the shore in Veracruz.
Jason next to an anchor at the Naval Institute.
Our Superbowl seats at the Hilton Doubletree hotel, the only place in town we could find that was showing the game. Modelo Negro was our beer of choice this time.
One of the old forts in Veracruz. The town defended itself successfully against four takeover attempts in history.
The old Colonial architecture is a major part of this city's charm.
Many of the old buildings have been restored and are in good shape.
The Naval Museum was closed and the navy personnel were outside cleaning the grounds and buildings but one guy let me in the gate just to take this photo.
Concrete laundry tubs used to be the way people washed their clothes here.
Guns, helicopters and statues of armed men were some of the things in the open area of the Naval Museum.
Veracruz is the largest port in Mexico and the east coast city handles most of the imported goods from around the world. The huge auto carrier behind me at the big letters was one of more than 25 ships we could see to count.
A cutout of a lady with a stringless harp is a statue on one of the streets we walked.
A pretty, old church in Veracruz.
These fluffy pink blooms were soft and falling all over town.
Men just start fires along the road to clear the brush and weeds instead of mowing.
If you look carefully, you can see Pico do Orizaba, the 3rd highest peak in North America. It's where the clouds start. Through the haze it was sometimes hard to notice if you didn't know to look for it.
We happened onto a toboggan ride along the road and stopped to take the ride. Karen is strapped in and ready to go, but had to turn the hat around and secure the camera before taking off.
Jason was in his own car behind me.
Going up the hill, like on a roller coaster.
Karen heading down. You control the brakes yourself as you head down the spiral track.
Spiraling down at Orizabo Toboggan ride.
Jason never hit his brakes so he came flying into the last turn.
The big letters of Orizabo with the toboggan run in the background.
We drove up towards the peak of 18,000 feet, but the road only went as far as the town of La Perla. We walked around to try to get a better picture of the peak
Interesting lamp post in La Perla.
As good a picture as we could get of the high peak. With no trees on the top, it almost blended in with the sky.
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