Mexico 6; Piedra Ancha; Playing By the Rules

There's more to caving than crawling through mud; there is bureaucratic mud to crawl through as well. In order to get permission to explore caves one has to first make their case to the commissrio, the head honcho of the town. In the past, the town has denied access to cavers that didn't respect the community and local laws in place so we were especially cautious in our interactions. After several meetings, a fee, a free optometry clinic and the promise of a calendar of local caves (no pressure haha), all was well. Success!

All in all, it was a great adventure and a treat to see my dad in his element. Not only to seeing his eyes light up in the cave (not just because I shined my headlamp on him) but he was a true leader. He didn't dictate, he listened and made decisions that took into consideration each person's strengths and desires. It was clear that everyone trusted his judgement and had a deep-found respect for him (I mean, they even tolerated his jokes ;) ). Instead of nagging me about every little thing he led by example and trusted me to figure out things in my own. I don't think I could have been prouder to call him my dad nor spent those 2 weeks doing anything more rewarding.