I’m very happy to report that my sister woke from her coma after 8 days and is doing remarkably well. She has no telekinetic/telepathic powers from what we can tell although we might have her pick the next lotto numbers just in case. All her doctors are just amazed at her progress and really have no idea how her recovery is going to go because they were saying just 4 days ago that she might never wake back up. For the last 2 days she’s been chatting away, scolding her teenage son and just being Stephanie.

Thanks a million for all the supportive emails/calls/cards/posts. It really means a lot.

04/05 Day 1 post-sickness and I survived. I’m not really 100% yet but a little cough isn’t the end of the world. I did lose some weight from not eating very well for the last week so my energy reserves were low. The 60 miles wasn’t too bad and the only painful parts were the steep, but thankfully short, climbs that dominated the first 20 miles. The landscape changed a lot after leaving San Cristóbal. Rode through some really nice pine forest for a while and then started getting into some very green areas down in the valleys. No rivers or creeks which kind of surprised me. Traffic was pretty steady but even without a shoulder there was enough room for people to squeeze by. Had every kid in one of the small villages yell gringo when I rode by. It was kind of funny. They all waved so it wasn’t a mean-spirited thing.

The weather is very Florida-like here–clear and sunny in the morning and rain showers in the afternoon. This afternoon’s rain didn’t start until after I checked into the motel which worked out well. There’s a guy from Japan staying here (Ken) and we ended up drinking a beer outside. His English isn’t bad but I have to remember to slow down when I talk. It would be nice if when I spoke slower I didn’t end up talking louder too.

Tomorrow I’m going to check out some waterfalls (cascades). They are kind of close to Palenque so I’ll probably camp there. At least that’s the plan.

GPX Track