From El Norte to Cozumel (and back)

My pal, Carla, has traveled to Cozumel many times in the past via flights from San Antonio. I’ve made the same trip with her on a half-dozen occasions over the years since moving to San Antonio from New England in 2000, always to enjoy the spectacular scuba diving for which this destination is famous.
For me, the journey has always been about the enjoyment of getting there, and the adventures one can experience along the way. Travel via airplane is easy, but you miss out on ever seeing any part of the countryside. Most of my voyages of discovery have been made in the past by way of sailing my C&C yacht, Vamp, to various tropical locales. In December of 2012, I began researching online resources available for a road trip via private automobile from El Norte to Cozumel (and back). I'd been asking my pal, Carla, for days if she wanted to take this trip with me, letting her know that if she declined, I was going to fly into either Cancun or Mexico city to see the parts of Mexico I wanted to visit by bus. Finally, at the last minute before I was about to book a flight, she said "Yes, I'll go." Much of the information which I could find on the Internet was at best confusing, and at worst, rife with dire warnings about safety, and the prevalence of drug trafficking in Mexico. Read on to discover that what we encountered on our trip completely contradicted those erroneous warnings, and find out for yourself what a joy traveling the back roads, or “blue highways”, can be. It is my hope that our short account of our trip down the Gulf Coast might inspire the reader to explore that marvelous country just south of the border.