Troncones: Unforgettable, That’s What You Are

*So much pool time at our airbnb in Troncones.*

My favorite kind of unforgettable moment is one that sneaks up on you when you least expect it and has you saying “holy smokes, did that actually just happen?” The day we hopped out of our taxi onto the dirt road of the small surf town of Troncones, we didn't know what was in store for us in this little village on the sea...

After the most delightful first week in Zihua, we were itching for more Mexico. We were slightly reluctant to leave our current situation (because it seemed too good to be true) but agreed we were ready to continue on. Chip read about areas forty five minutes north called La Saladita and Troncones and after scoring another incredible airbnb in Troncones (complete with a pool, yard, and even a housekeeper) we couldn’t resist checking this place out.

We rolled up mid-morning, hopped out of the taxi and stepped onto the dusty dirt road. Mini grocery stores, surf shops, and small eating establishments lined the main drag. Everything felt and looked unfamiliar to me. I love that feeling when traveling, knowing that I’d soon orient myself and have my favorite restaurants, routes to the beach, and begin to see familiar faces. But for now I was taking it all in for the first time and my soul enjoyed soaking in that moment of unfamiliarity.

Straight ahead, I noticed restaurants conveniently lined the beach. The one closest would become one of our favorite in the near future, Siete Mares. Completely outside, floors made of sand, the aroma of cooked onions and grilled seafood filled the air, and all the plastic tables and chairs facing the main event: the ocean. I had an instant feeling that we were going to get along well with Troncones. But first order of business was to contact Sergio for the key to our rental. My Spanglish (or his perfect English) must have worked because twenty minutes after the phone call he came rolling up on his motorcycle, parked in front of his surf shop, and handed us the keys.

*So many options!!!! “Downtown” Troncones.*

*The jibs “BFF necklaces” they told us.*

*CANNONBALLLLL! THIS was the pool at our favorite restaurant.*

*Reid making friends with all the critters.*

Tortuguero Del Mar - Baby Sea Turtle Release!!

As I mentioned, many of my favorite moments in life are the unplanned, spontaneous ones. After checking in to our airbnb (aka dropping our bags, doing a quick somersault on our new beds, and dipping in the pool), we decided it was time to eat. We read about a sushi place and decided to give it a try.

Ten minutes later our directions had us standing in front of what appeared to be an unassuming concrete house. An attentive woman popped her head out from around the corner and noticed that we looked confused. No restaurant sign. No restaurant goers. I didn’t even notice a kitchen. She asked in Spanish what it was we were looking for. We said sushi and she said we had come to the right place. We chatted a bit while giving our order and the woman recommended we walk across the road to the beach while she prepared our food. "Go see the baby sea turtles" she said in Spanish. Intrigued, we took her advice, very excited at the possibility of witnessing baby sea turtles for the second time in our lives.

This time was different though - We were encouraged to enter one of the three large fenced off areas, where we were then invited to dig up the baby sea turtles with our bare hands! There happened to be three hatchling batches ready on this particular evening, and in each hole were over 100 hatched sea turtles. We quickly got to work, noticing the young turtles were as eager as us to get them out. We could not believe our eyes. It took nearly 25 minutes of digging and scooping deep into the cool sand to find all of our turtles. After, we walked toward the ocean with our heaping basin of turtles to prepare for the release. Squirming and clawing their way around the basin, we could see they were impatient.

*I can’t! Chip holding the cutest baby sea turtle!*

*Reid digging DEEP to scoop up more baby sea turtles.*

*Morning routine - adding the newly batches of eggs deep into the sand.*

*Instinctively making their way to the sea.*

*Reid making the starting line…And they’re off!*

Run for Your LIfe!

Finally, as the sun began to set they gave us the go-ahead to begin dumping out the turtles. A million words could describe this moment but plain and simple ADORABLE will do! We cheered them on as they instinctively pushed their way to the ocean. Determined, they finally made it to the sea and we bid them farewell and good luck. We were buzzing! On cloud 9. All the things. We haven’t stopped talking about this moment since it happened. It was truly unforgettable. So truly unforgettable that we became regulars that week at Roberto’s Bistro, where the turtle release happens almost nightly between June and November. Throughout our week in Troncones, we helped with several more evening releases. We even stopped by one morning when the team had just finished collecting hatchlings from along the beach the night before and were inserting the eggs into the ground for incubation. All of it was unreal. Check out these videos…

Prepare for automatic smile…You gotta watch these cuties.

Surf Lessons in La Saladita

One day as we were cruising the main drag by foot, we struck up a conversation with Juan, the friendly owner of a small surf shop. One thing led to another and we were booked for surf lessons the following morning.

Overnight a crazy storm struck. It had been the only time it rained our entire trip, but it was a marvelous show of lightning strike after lightning strike and thunder so loud it was as if the world’s largest bowling alley lived overhead. The next morning, with thick clouds still hanging low, I almost thought our lessons would be canceled. Much to Reid’s dismay, they were not. Reid had been telling us for over a year that he was never going to surf. Ever. Again. His two “incidents” in Hawaii had left him terrified. On this day though, he had a twinkle in his eye that made me think he might just give it another try.

Anyway, we made it to Juan’s shop, he loaded up the boards, and had us jump into his car then off we drove north to La Saladita. This tiny little town of Saladita boasts the best left around and I could immediately see the draw to this area. Bumpy dirt roads, a couple restaurants, a sprinkle of houses, and an incredible surf break. It was rugged, beautiful, and mostly untouched.

With three boards on the sand, Reid decided he would partake in the first portion of the lesson on land with me and Bennett. Here, we stretched our bodies while sitting on the moist sand, practiced our paddle, and learned the timing for when to pop up on our surfboard. Chip hurried out to catch some waves before we began the sea portion of our lesson.

*Do we look ready?! Maybe a little nervous?!*

*Juan leading us in some pre-surfing stretches though I’m not sure that helped my surfing ability any.*

To Surf Or Not To Surf? That is the Question.

Finally, the moment came when we were instructed to strap our leash around an ankle. It was official. We were going in! Then without hesitation Reid picked up his board, along with the rest of us, and gently placed it on the water. I didn’t want to jinx him surfing, so I pretended not to notice and attempted to act cool (though you could tell from my crocodile smile that I was beyond excited - maybe a little nervous - for us all). With the help of Juan and his instructors, we paddled out for about five minutes into the surfable waves. Then faster than I could say “go, Reid, go” he was pointed back toward the beach, paddling his little heart out, and had caught hold of a wave. Not even a moment later he was up on his board, one arm stretching forward and the other back. His stance looked solid and I could tell a minute later as he bailed off at the end of his ride that he was beaming. Bennett and I were shouting words of encouragement. We were proud. But I think Reid was even more proud. He had conquered a major fear!

The rest of the morning we continued to surf, the boys making it look easy and getting up every ride while I struggled to get up every other ride. It was exhilarating and exhausting all the same! I’ve only surfed maybe six times in my life, but I’m humbled every time by how awkward I feel and how difficult it is to actually stand up on that damn board. But I have to admit the surge of water underneath the board just before popping up is a wild feeling! Near the end of the lesson, Reid, Chip, and I hung out on the beach while watching Bennett continue to surf. We could not stop talking about how proud we were that Reid gave surfing another go. I’m bummed I never caught a video of him surfing but it remains etched in my memory forever.

*B has surfed in some kick ass places - Hawaii, Tofino BC, Oregon Coast, California and now Mexico!*

The Perfect Vacation

Of the two weeks we were in Mexico, not a day went by that we weren’t counting our blessings for this vacation together. Numerous times a day one of us would comment on how grateful we were about a variety of things - from the extended family time, to the fun activity we just did, to missing school, to the food, the weather, the sights, the people. We found an incredible balance to life in Mexico. We realized that with less daily distractions we were communicating better as a family, putting one another first and making time for each other’s wants/needs, playing and joking more, and overall we just felt happier and at ease. I guess that is why they call it vacation. But I’ll never forget this one. It was as if we became perfectly in tune with one another while soaking in the simplicity of life in Troncones.

Most days in Troncones you could find us at Siete Mares or Mi Casa Su Casa - both with incredibly delicious Mexican food, ocean views, and a pool for swimming. I’m not lying when I say we would sometimes stay at these establishments half the day swapping the pool for food and food for the pool. We had everything we could possibly need. When we were ready to move on, we would mosey the few minutes walk back to our home to swim yet again in our own pool, concoct a tropical happy hour drink, and soak in the lush surroundings of our yard. We read books, wrote in our daily journals, basked in the company of each other, planned for the future as a family, spoke about our goals in life, bought goodies at our corner grocery store, and “washed our laundry” by throwing on our clothes and hopping in the pool. Like I said, it was the simple life and I was here for it. No distraction but the sun in our eyes. Troncones has the vibe of utter relaxation.

*This is Siete Mares - aka a heavenly restaurant.*

*The boys asked for a ‘Yes’ day so we said, well, YES! Yes to all things (within reason). Here they are drinking their second pop of the day at 7 Mares.*

*Siete Mares - our fave restaurant with food, ping pong, a pool, swings, hammocks, and sand for digging. Mexican hospitality at its finest.*

*Hello beautiful spider that was in our yard. I’m glad I did not run into you.*

*I want this chammock back (chair-hammock, that is)…Chilling outside our airbnb.*

*Our other favorite restaurant, Mi Casa Su Casa.*

*Watching my surfer boy while eating breakfast at Mi Casa Su Casa.*

Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow…

We have a hard time saying goodbye to such sweet places (especially me and Reid). It often takes us weeks, sometimes months, to fully digest a trip such as this that has in a way changed us. I’m still processing as I write this post three weeks later. Favorite memories still pop into our heads daily back home and often leave us saying ‘I wish we were back in Mexico.” It is almost hard to describe the feeling and inspiration we felt while we were there. But we came back with a sense of renewal.

Lastly, before boarding our plane back to the United States we each needed proof of a negative Covid test. The Zihua airport conveniently had a testing station with rapid tests available for travelers. With our fingers crossed, we took the tests and waited 45 minutes for the results. If Reid and I didn’t pass, we weren’t about to feel bad for ourselves if we had to stay in Mexico another week. But alas, all tests came back negative and were cleared for take off!

It still feels a bit odd to think about how much Covid has altered our lives. I think we are still coming to terms with it, and each month it can hold a different emotion. With regards to travel, I can barely recall how fancy and free it felt before Covid. Trips rarely got canceled (or did they ever?), we didn’t have to wear face masks, there weren’t really any travel restrictions in and out of destinations, negative covid results weren’t a thing, for the most part we could travel wherever we wanted whenever we wanted, and we never worried that a cold or cough meant you had a deathly illness that could spread to others on an airplane or in an airport. The past two years have been filled with a lot of ups and downs, are-we-doing-the-right-thing moments, overwhelming thoughts, underlying anxiety, and disappointments. Not just related to travel, of course, but overall life itself. While we have found our silver lining in some situations, others have been down right sucky. But this specific trip to Mexico felt like redemption. Like relief and pure contentedness. A true breath of fresh air. I will never forget it and how it made us feel.