It’s kind of scary how easily and quickly I felt comfortable and at home here. I didn’t think it would happen until sometime after I found my spot and permanently set my home roots. This is exactly why I wanted to retire here. The people are so friendly and everyone speaks English so there is absolutely no language barrier. That’s not to say that I won’t be learning Central American Spanish, or Cajun, or even Garfulo. All 3 are spoken here with Garfulo being the most common. That is a language that used to be spoken in West Africa but can only be found there now in very small pockets. There are Mayan Indians living here too and you can tell the women by their very beautifully colored skirts and the men by their distinctive hats. It’s such a culturally diverse population.
I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I was going to spend the day at Kismet in Hopkins watching the sun throughout the day so I could find the shadiest spot to park my home. I’ll head out there for a little while today but the sun isn’t cooperating. We had a cold front pass through during the night that brought a thunderstorm and some rain and this morning it’s mostly cloudy. It was 80 degrees when I woke up at 6:30 this morning.
For those of you in cold climates I’m sorry for poking you. Those of you who hate the heat…move to where it’s colder! (LOL) The high yesterday was 95. The norm all year is high 80s to high 90s, and it never goes below 60 even on the coldest of days. I’m one of those who loves the hottest of Florida summer days so this is perfect. Suffering through the 20-30 degree days and the light snow fall in Orlando (it melted as soon as it hit the ground) at Christmas/New Years and the week after made me more determined than ever to get far south and never have to deal with it again. Most of you know (as many of you reading this are my relatives) I grew up in a south Chicago suburb and lived for 12 years in New Jersey. What some of you may not know is that I was a member of the United States Antarctic Research Program in 1971-72, working for NOAA (National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration) while I was in the Navy and spent 8 months on the continent monitoring weather and launching/tracking weather balloons. So I’ve experienced cold weather at it's worst and I don’t want to deal with it anymore!!!
I spent the greater part of today at my new home site, Kismet, sans trailer, and had a splendid time. Tricia is a wonderful lady and a terrific chef. I spent the day with an Italian couple and an Aussie lady and her Italian male friend, who are all traveling Central and South America for 4 months, a Canadian couple who are staying at the resort next door but absolutely love the folks they met at Kismet so they spend their afternoons here, a couple form West Virginia who are on their last day of holiday in Belize, and a self proclaimed aging hippy named Craig, from Nebraska, who has been here for several months and may never go home says he. What a great bunch of people! Plenty of lively conversation about every subject you can imagine. We had a Belizean style dinner of lobster, chilled veggie salad, brown rice, and squash from Tricia’s small rooftop garden. Absolutely delicious! I won’t be eating like that every night after I move my trailer here but it sure was good. By the way, the winning name for my trailer is Casa Belize 13. Casa Belize was submitted by 2 people and since my lucky number is 13 and the address plate that I bought for it in Sedona AZ is 13 bordered by an Indian and a lizard, I added the 13. I got the scoop on where the best place to fish is from the guy who supplies Tricia with her fish. There is a very large lagoon to the left of the place as you face the Caribbean. He’s going to take me out next week and show me the hot spots. It has almost every non-lethal (no sharks) salt water fish you can think of in it. Tricia suggested I could make some money renting out my canoe on the lagoon too. She charges BZ$50 (US$25) a day for her kayak. Another suggestion, when I feel that I know the lagoon well enough is as a fishing guide. They charge BZ$150 (US$75) for 4 hours. One additional thing I can do is be the local Kismet taxi service into Dangriga for tourist banking and shopping. Thats BZ$50 trip for 2 for the 50 mile round trip drive and more for more than 2. I can take up to 4 passengers. So, while it won’t be an everyday thing, I may have a small source of income. Now I am not planning on working but few extra bucks goes a long way here. If I can earn at least US$75 a month, in any shape or form, that will cover my rent. Once my garden is producing I can basically live here for free. And from what I've experienced so far I know that I will be comfortable and engaged with people from all over the world there.
My only worry now is the tariff that Belize will charge on my car and trailer after 30 days. That may run into the thousands of dollars but I’ll worry about that when the time comes…
Now it’s time to head over to the Pelican Beach Resort, order my daily Belikan beer, and use their internet to collect my mail and post this to my blog. Then it’s back here to watch the next couple of installment of Two And A Half Men (I started watching the series from the pilot episode last week and have all of the episodes that have played up through 2 weeks ago, or 6 years worth of 24 episode years and 14 episodes of year 7) and then head for bed. I lead such a busy life now that I’m retired don’t I???
When I got here to the Pelican all the lobby lights were off. I asked one of the night guards what was happening and he said they close at 10pm. I had no idea how late it was. The nice thing was that he turned one one of the lobby lights so that I could use the internet. How cool is that!?!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Finding a home - Day 2 (Part 2)
Things are looking UP!!!
I’m officially living in Belize now and I now have an address!!!
Po Box 109
Dangriga, Belize
I’ll be staying where I am for a couple more days until I get the requirements for a bank account. I need to be near an internet connection so I can receive the documents that I need and forward them to the Scotia Bank here in town.
The generator is fixed and I have power in the trailer now. Not sure why the batteries were discharging but they are charging fine now. I plugged my trickle charger into the bar on the property where I’m living last night and I now have 4 full batteries.
Charlie, the guy I mentioned meeting the 1st day that we were here, took me to Hopkins today and I think I found a place to live! The property is owned by a retired lady, Tricia Wipfler, from Long Island and called kesmet Beach Apartments. She's charging me $1.50 a day and that includes water hook up and she has an outside shower that I can use too. She also has internet but I haven’t talked to her about that yet. She's right on the beach in Hopkins which is about 25 miles south of here. She told me to come spend the day tomorrow and watch the sun to see where my trailer will get the most shade. So I'm headed that way when I wake up tomorrow. I’ll bring a fishing pole and see what I can catch us for dinner tomorrow night. Here is her website: http://kismetinn.com/
The late afternoon was spent sitting in the Caribbean reading a book and smoking a cigar. Too relaxing! There’s no place to hang my hammock here but plenty in Hopkins and 2 in operation at the property. I guess my days of no hair are over. I keep forgetting to wear a hat and my head is sunburned now. I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later though… Maybe soon my hair will be back and my face clean shaven.
That’s it for now. I’m pretty tuckered out and my Belikan beer is going straight to my head. Oh, my 1st officially cooked meal tonight was taco spiced ground beef with mashed potatoes and corn all mixed together. It’s one of my favorite meals.
Till next time! Have a good one all!
I’m officially living in Belize now and I now have an address!!!
Po Box 109
Dangriga, Belize
I’ll be staying where I am for a couple more days until I get the requirements for a bank account. I need to be near an internet connection so I can receive the documents that I need and forward them to the Scotia Bank here in town.
The generator is fixed and I have power in the trailer now. Not sure why the batteries were discharging but they are charging fine now. I plugged my trickle charger into the bar on the property where I’m living last night and I now have 4 full batteries.
Charlie, the guy I mentioned meeting the 1st day that we were here, took me to Hopkins today and I think I found a place to live! The property is owned by a retired lady, Tricia Wipfler, from Long Island and called kesmet Beach Apartments. She's charging me $1.50 a day and that includes water hook up and she has an outside shower that I can use too. She also has internet but I haven’t talked to her about that yet. She's right on the beach in Hopkins which is about 25 miles south of here. She told me to come spend the day tomorrow and watch the sun to see where my trailer will get the most shade. So I'm headed that way when I wake up tomorrow. I’ll bring a fishing pole and see what I can catch us for dinner tomorrow night. Here is her website: http://kismetinn.com/
The late afternoon was spent sitting in the Caribbean reading a book and smoking a cigar. Too relaxing! There’s no place to hang my hammock here but plenty in Hopkins and 2 in operation at the property. I guess my days of no hair are over. I keep forgetting to wear a hat and my head is sunburned now. I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later though… Maybe soon my hair will be back and my face clean shaven.
That’s it for now. I’m pretty tuckered out and my Belikan beer is going straight to my head. Oh, my 1st officially cooked meal tonight was taco spiced ground beef with mashed potatoes and corn all mixed together. It’s one of my favorite meals.
Till next time! Have a good one all!
Finding a home - Day 2 (Part 1)
Waking up this morning, without Kevin here, seemed normal. I guess his only being with me for 10 days may have had something to do with it. More like he was visiting me on holiday. Not that I don’t miss him but it more had the feeling of normal daily life. True I still have a lot to do to find that perfect spot but I feel so at home here that it’s almost scary. One of the things I’ve learned is that Dangriga is known by the locals as Griga. See I’m learning the local stuff!
Today will be the Post Office for a PO Box and the bank to get some local money in an account that I can draw through an ATM without the 3% foreign fee. Those steps too will help me to settle in to a normal life. I keep talking about “normal life” and what I mean by that is just back to life sort of as I knew it in the U.S. Normal daily activities versus what I’ve experienced over the past 6 months getting ready for this move.
Last night I went to sleep not long after the sun set, and after watching 3 episodes of “Two & a Half Men” (I have all 7 years downloaded and started with the pilot a few days ago). This morning I was up with the sun. That will probably be my daily routine from now on. Getting things done early before the heat sets in. It’s been in the high 80’s (sorry to you all in cold climates but that’s one of the reasons I’m here!) with humidity to match. The almost constant 20mph onshore wind tempers it a lot though unless you are in town and trapped by the buildings. That’s a bit oppressive as Kevin and I found out yesterday on his picture taking walkabout.
Today I’m waiting for the electrician to arrive around 9am to see why my batteries are draining so quickly, although the spare I hooked up last night seems to be working fine. As long as my fridge stays cold though I don’t need a lot of electricity. As I said earlier my life will revolve around the sun’s cycle. I do have battery and hand crank lights that I can use should I need them. My hand crank radio will also recharge my iPod and cell phone so that’s a plus.
In speaking with more of the locals my question is, “Where do the Americans live and hang out?” It seems they are south of here about 20 miles in a town called Hopkinsville. While researching possible places to plop myself I’d read that there is a pretty large (maybe as many as 200) retiree population but it didn’t mention the town. Only that it was near Dangriga. So tomorrow I’ll be taking a ride down that way to see what’s up. Today is laundry day though. I need to get rid of the pile of clothes that I wore while we were still in the road and from the few days here. I promised I would try to stay away from boring, mundane writing but while I’m still acclimating myself to life in Belize laundry day may be a big thing. You never know who you may meet and it could happen in the bizarrest of places.
It’s time to unlock my bicycle from the back of the trailer and become mobile. With Kevin here, and only 1 bike, it wasn’t possible until now. EVERYBODY says to carry a lock and never leave it even for a second without using it. It seems bike theft is a very big thing in all of Belize.
Today will be the Post Office for a PO Box and the bank to get some local money in an account that I can draw through an ATM without the 3% foreign fee. Those steps too will help me to settle in to a normal life. I keep talking about “normal life” and what I mean by that is just back to life sort of as I knew it in the U.S. Normal daily activities versus what I’ve experienced over the past 6 months getting ready for this move.
Last night I went to sleep not long after the sun set, and after watching 3 episodes of “Two & a Half Men” (I have all 7 years downloaded and started with the pilot a few days ago). This morning I was up with the sun. That will probably be my daily routine from now on. Getting things done early before the heat sets in. It’s been in the high 80’s (sorry to you all in cold climates but that’s one of the reasons I’m here!) with humidity to match. The almost constant 20mph onshore wind tempers it a lot though unless you are in town and trapped by the buildings. That’s a bit oppressive as Kevin and I found out yesterday on his picture taking walkabout.
Today I’m waiting for the electrician to arrive around 9am to see why my batteries are draining so quickly, although the spare I hooked up last night seems to be working fine. As long as my fridge stays cold though I don’t need a lot of electricity. As I said earlier my life will revolve around the sun’s cycle. I do have battery and hand crank lights that I can use should I need them. My hand crank radio will also recharge my iPod and cell phone so that’s a plus.
In speaking with more of the locals my question is, “Where do the Americans live and hang out?” It seems they are south of here about 20 miles in a town called Hopkinsville. While researching possible places to plop myself I’d read that there is a pretty large (maybe as many as 200) retiree population but it didn’t mention the town. Only that it was near Dangriga. So tomorrow I’ll be taking a ride down that way to see what’s up. Today is laundry day though. I need to get rid of the pile of clothes that I wore while we were still in the road and from the few days here. I promised I would try to stay away from boring, mundane writing but while I’m still acclimating myself to life in Belize laundry day may be a big thing. You never know who you may meet and it could happen in the bizarrest of places.
It’s time to unlock my bicycle from the back of the trailer and become mobile. With Kevin here, and only 1 bike, it wasn’t possible until now. EVERYBODY says to carry a lock and never leave it even for a second without using it. It seems bike theft is a very big thing in all of Belize.
Finding a home - Day 1
Waking up this morning, without Kevin here, seemed normal. I guess his only being with me for 10 days may have had something to do with it. More like he was visiting me on holiday. Not that I don’t miss him but it more had the feeling of normal daily life. True I still have a lot to do to find that perfect spot but I feel so at home here that it’s almost scary. One of the things I’ve learned is that Dangriga is known by the locals as Griga. See I’m learning the local stuff!
Today will be the Post Office for a PO Box and the bank to get some local money in an account that I can draw through an ATM without the 3% foreign fee. Those steps too will help me to settle in to a normal life. I keep talking about “normal life” and what I mean by that is just back to life sort of as I knew it in the U.S. Normal daily activities versus what I’ve experienced over the past 6 months getting ready for this move.
Last night I went to sleep not long after the sun set, and after watching 3 episodes of “Two & a Half Men” (I have all 7 years downloaded and started with the pilot a few days ago). This morning I was up with the sun. That will probably be my daily routine from now on. Getting things done early before the heat sets in. It’s been in the high 80’s (sorry to you all in cold climates but that’s one of the reasons I’m here!) with humidity to match. The almost constant 20mph onshore wind tempers it a lot though unless you are in town and trapped by the buildings. That’s a bit oppressive as Kevin and I found out yesterday on his picture taking walkabout.
Today I’m waiting for the electrician to arrive around 9am to see why my batteries are draining so quickly, although the spare I hooked up last night seems to be working fine. As long as my fridge stays cold though I don’t need a lot of electricity. As I said earlier my life will revolve around the sun’s cycle. I do have battery and hand crank lights that I can use should I need them. My hand crank radio will also recharge my iPod and cell phone so that’s a plus.
In speaking with more of the locals my question is, “Where do the Americans live and hang out?” It seems they are south of here about 20 miles in a town called Hopkinsville. While researching possible places to plop myself I’d read that there is a pretty large (maybe as many as 200) retiree population but it didn’t mention the town. Only that it was near Dangriga. So tomorrow I’ll be taking a ride down that way to see what’s up. Today is laundry day though. I need to get rid of the pile of clothes that I wore while we were still in the road and from the few days here. I promised I would try to stay away from boring, mundane writing but while I’m still acclimating myself to life in Belize laundry day may be a big thing. You never know who you may meet and it could happen in the bizarrest of places.
It’s time to unlock my bicycle from the back of the trailer and become mobile. With Kevin here, and only 1 bike, it wasn’t possible until now. EVERYBODY says to carry a lock and never leave it even for a second without using it. It seems bike theft is a very big thing in all of Belize.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Driving to belize - Day 6
We were up at our usual time and got in a short walkabout before we left. I loved the drive because I was finally in Belize and nearing my journey after all my planning, buying, and misadventures.
We arrived in Dangriga around 2:30 and found the airport where Kevin booked a flight to Belize City tomorrow for his flight home. It will save me a 4 hour drive and some pretty expensive gas. Gas prices her are anywhere from $4-$5 a gallon. Sure is a lot more than the $1.93 in Mexico! One of the people at the airport told me who to talk about for a spot to park my trailer for a couple of days while I search for a permanent spot. It’s US$10 a day and right next to the Pelican Beach Resort where Kevin booked us a room right on the Caribbean. So after a shower and an email update to everyone about our arrival I headed down to the beach where Kevin was. I was looking for my 1st Belikan Beer that would prove to me that we were really here. As I walked through the patio bar I saw Kevin’s back pack at a table with a cold Belikan sitting on the table! So I drank it straight down and walked to find Kevin. We talked to the resort security guard and got info on a good restaurant for dinner. He headed for the table while I took a picture of 2. When I got back to the table he was mad thinking that someone there had drunk his beer. I started laughing and raised my hand saying I did it. He laughed too and ordered us more. A little while later we drove into town and found the restaurant. We both had whole fried snapper with a small salad and a huge pile of red beans and rice. While we were waiting for our food this guy walks up and welcomes me back. Back??? I told him I’d never been there and he said, “Oh you have the red vehicle with the canoe. I saw you drive into town with a trailer.” “Yep, that’s us.”, said I. So I told him what my plans were and he immediately offered a spot about 2 miles off the coast on his family’s farm right on the Sittee River. Hey it may be just the spot! You never know who you will meet that has the answer to your prayer. I told him I’d see him this week and take a look at it.
We finished dinner and took a walk around looking for a fridge magnet for Kevin to take home as a souvenir. No luck but I told him the Belize City airport stores had all that stuff and very reasonably priced. He has a 2 hour wait in the airport so he’ll have plenty of time to look.
So now we’re sitting on the same patio we started off at having more Belikans and fruit. Kevin bought a shot of Belizean Rum made from sugar cane to see how it tasted. We saw miles and mile of sugar cane both in Mexico and here in Belize and wondered how good the rum would be. It was very tasty! Kev may buy a bottle for home from the Duty Free.
I’m having a tough time uploading the arrival pictures to Facebook because the hotel internet is so weak. I’m multitasking the upload and writing this while while suffering through the long wait and frequent upload failures. Once they are done and published It’s off to bed. I’m feeling the effects of the Belikans and the relief of journeys end so I know I’ll be asleep quickly.
I’ll begin blogging tomorrow about my search for a home. Until then…
Driving to belize - Day 5 - We've arrived in Belize!!!
We exceeded our goal of getting to Chetumal Mexico today. We actually crossed over into Corozal Belize around 6pm!!! What a breeze the roads were today compared to the last couple of days. All of it was Autopista and while the road was 1 lane in a lot of places it was a very uneventful trip. We asked the whereabouts of a hotel so we could get in a shower but the one we were told about was closed Monday-Wednesday because of the slow economy. It was right next to a customs lot so we asked the guard if there was anlther. He said no but that the owner lived a few houses donw the road and suggested we go talk to her. Her house was gated and had a bunch of dogs so I yelled through the gate and the lady came out. That’s when we found out that the place was closed. She said she couldn’t open up but offered us her shower. Her name is Beverly and she has lives in Corozal for the past 20 years. She and her husband own the hotel. He’s a cardo surgeon in Massachusetts and spends his time there while she lives in Belize caring for the hotel. Kevin took his shower 1st so I asked her about living in Corozal. She recommended against it so I decided not to consider it. I’m glad because I immediately liked Dangriga when we drove into it. Before we left I gave her 2 Angel coins and put a prayer on her’s that business picked up. It actually brought tears to her eyes. While I hate to see a woman cry they were good tears and I felt that I had helped her in my small way.
On our way to the border we stopped at a Mayan ruin called Xpuhil and really enjoyed having the place to ourselves. I’ll post pictures later. It was a very beautiful place with some fantastic reliefs on it.
We slept in the trailer with the windows open and were so glad to spend a night not hearing very loud truck traffic noises. The temp was in the high 70’s and humid so the breeze through the windows was a delight.
Driving to Belise - Day 4 (Part 2)
I’d like to start out by thanking all of you for your prayers and well wishes for our newest hiccup. We REALLY appreciate them!
We finally got back on the road at 1:30pm. Praise the Lord!!! The brakes work fine and we had absolutely no problems other than more normal crummy roads ahead of us. Because of our late start our target was Villahermosa, about 300 miles due east. We had fairly decent roads ahead between Veracruz and Minititlan, mainly Autopista (toll road). It did have several stretches of bad road interspersed with the good but for the most part we were able to drive 50mph. Many of the highways reminded me of Chicago highways after a particularly bad winter. Lots of pot holes and rough pavement and plenty of those god awful speed bumps. We decided that it will be too soon before we see another one but we know that we are in for plenty more of them tomorrow.
We were pleasantly surprised when we entered an Autopista just east of Villahermosa that wasn’t marked on the map. This was one of the nicest roads we’d encountered so far, with very little bouncing. It was well marked, with reflective markers on both sides of the road and the same reflective lane markings that you find on the American highways. Boy was that ever nice! Since we were on such good roads we decided to drive as long as we could into the night to make up for some of the time we’d lost this morning. So our new goal was Emiliano Zapata, about 80 miles further east of Villahermosa. We did encounter some light rain though. The 1st inclement weather on this trip. Today was the warmest temps we’ve seen. Until today the temp has been between 60-65 degrees. Today was 70-75 and finally shorts weather!
So here we sit at 10:30pm safely tucked away in a corner of a PEMEX station with the truckers who are also spending the night. Our goal tomorrow now is Chetumal which is right at the Belize border and a trip of approximately 350-400 miles. We can see the light at the end of the Mexican tunnel now and are getting excited! All in all we were making pretty good time. We did stop once, fairly early on, to check the wheel hubs to make sure that none of the brakes were locked and found everything working perfectly.
In this portion of the trip state signs alerted you when you entered the next state, much like in the U.S. We knew that Mexico was broken up into states but until now Kevin and I thought there were only 2…the state of confusion in which we most often found ourselves when we had made a wrong turn or found ourselves hopelessly lost and the state of panic, which was less often but more nerve wracking and happened when something was wrong with the trailer or the road was particularly bad and we were bouncing all over the place! And, as if the speed bumps aren’t enough to panic us, we hit stretches of road with absolutely no lane markers at all. Some in stretches where the highway was 1 lane in each direction too. The worst was when we experienced that at night and in the rain.
One of the things we had read about on a web page about driving in Mexico was that we would find ourselves at a military check point. Lots of soldiers on both sides of the road and all very heavily armed. The check points appeared after some toll booths and others were in the middle of nowhere. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason for their placement. We never felt frightened or intimidated though since I don’t have anything that I’m not supposed to. We found all of the soldiers to very pleasant and outgoing. At some check points we were simply questioned as to where we were coming from and going to, others where they checked our papers and did a walk thru of the trailer looking for contraband, and still others where they simply waved us through. It wasn’t a bad experience at all.
No internet tonight so I don’t know when I’ll get a chance to post this.
We finally got back on the road at 1:30pm. Praise the Lord!!! The brakes work fine and we had absolutely no problems other than more normal crummy roads ahead of us. Because of our late start our target was Villahermosa, about 300 miles due east. We had fairly decent roads ahead between Veracruz and Minititlan, mainly Autopista (toll road). It did have several stretches of bad road interspersed with the good but for the most part we were able to drive 50mph. Many of the highways reminded me of Chicago highways after a particularly bad winter. Lots of pot holes and rough pavement and plenty of those god awful speed bumps. We decided that it will be too soon before we see another one but we know that we are in for plenty more of them tomorrow.
We were pleasantly surprised when we entered an Autopista just east of Villahermosa that wasn’t marked on the map. This was one of the nicest roads we’d encountered so far, with very little bouncing. It was well marked, with reflective markers on both sides of the road and the same reflective lane markings that you find on the American highways. Boy was that ever nice! Since we were on such good roads we decided to drive as long as we could into the night to make up for some of the time we’d lost this morning. So our new goal was Emiliano Zapata, about 80 miles further east of Villahermosa. We did encounter some light rain though. The 1st inclement weather on this trip. Today was the warmest temps we’ve seen. Until today the temp has been between 60-65 degrees. Today was 70-75 and finally shorts weather!
So here we sit at 10:30pm safely tucked away in a corner of a PEMEX station with the truckers who are also spending the night. Our goal tomorrow now is Chetumal which is right at the Belize border and a trip of approximately 350-400 miles. We can see the light at the end of the Mexican tunnel now and are getting excited! All in all we were making pretty good time. We did stop once, fairly early on, to check the wheel hubs to make sure that none of the brakes were locked and found everything working perfectly.
In this portion of the trip state signs alerted you when you entered the next state, much like in the U.S. We knew that Mexico was broken up into states but until now Kevin and I thought there were only 2…the state of confusion in which we most often found ourselves when we had made a wrong turn or found ourselves hopelessly lost and the state of panic, which was less often but more nerve wracking and happened when something was wrong with the trailer or the road was particularly bad and we were bouncing all over the place! And, as if the speed bumps aren’t enough to panic us, we hit stretches of road with absolutely no lane markers at all. Some in stretches where the highway was 1 lane in each direction too. The worst was when we experienced that at night and in the rain.
One of the things we had read about on a web page about driving in Mexico was that we would find ourselves at a military check point. Lots of soldiers on both sides of the road and all very heavily armed. The check points appeared after some toll booths and others were in the middle of nowhere. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason for their placement. We never felt frightened or intimidated though since I don’t have anything that I’m not supposed to. We found all of the soldiers to very pleasant and outgoing. At some check points we were simply questioned as to where we were coming from and going to, others where they checked our papers and did a walk thru of the trailer looking for contraband, and still others where they simply waved us through. It wasn’t a bad experience at all.
No internet tonight so I don’t know when I’ll get a chance to post this.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Driving to Belize - Day 4 (Part 1)
Special note: The mechanics just pulled up. They said they would be here at 11am and it’s 11:09. Not a bad start. Let me stop for now and see what’s up.
Good news on the repairs! They have all but 1 of the parts and that one part is one of the 4 electric brake controllers. So we may only have 3 trailer brakes and might have to use the manual control. They don’t seem to be concerned about it. They are doing a very good job of cleaning and repacking the bearings on all 4 wheels which will be one less thing to worry about. We’re trying to contact my cousin Richard who’s wife grew up in MX for some translation help to insure that it is indeed the case. So we may be on our way in an hour or so! THANK YOU ANGELS!!!
Normally I do my blog write up at the end of the day but today is different as we may be stuck at the PEMEX station waiting for the mechanic to show, hopefully with parts. So I’ll be blogging as I get the chance.
I slept in this morning but Kevin was up around his normal time of 6:30 and went for his walkabout. There is an espresso shop right here at the gas station, which is nice. I’ve missed my regular 6 shot espresso. I don’t have them every day but do have them quite often. Where Kevin is on a caffeine high from his 1st and only coffee of the day I feel absolutely no effects. Sometimes I wish I did. I can go immediately to sleep after enjoying my brew. Along with the espresso I had a banana nut muffin. He had a croissant with egg and cheese. All were quite good. Much better than the crummy meal we had last night at the diner here. Maybe it was because they only served sandwiches after 7pm, maybe not. It was the 1st bad meal we’ve had.
In the past 3 blogs I have failed to mention something that is very scary to see on the road. Most Mexican semi trucks are pulling 2 full sized trailers. Not the shortened version that you see on American roads but the 50 foot versions. They seem to travel in packs and the wind flow around them as they pass by is easily felt by us and the trailer. Nothing dangerous but we have to keep our eyes open for them in the side mirrors just to be sure.
Since I have time today, and since I have my journal right next to me (I don’t normally for some unknown reason) let me tell you of some of the sights we’ve seen.
All through the mountains we’ve seen farm after farm after cattle ranch. It’s kind of funny to see the manner in which they plant their crops. For one some are on the steepest incline you can imagine. There is no way they can do anything with a tractor to make their farming chores easier. They have to walk it. From the steepness of the incline I can only imagine that their plowing, planting, and harvesting is done behind a horse or mule. Plus, something I’ve never seen but must have some agricultural significance is that they tend to plant corn in between the rows of citrus and banana trees. It could very well be that it’s just maximizing their crops.
I’m not sure when I’ll have internet access next but more later!
Good news on the repairs! They have all but 1 of the parts and that one part is one of the 4 electric brake controllers. So we may only have 3 trailer brakes and might have to use the manual control. They don’t seem to be concerned about it. They are doing a very good job of cleaning and repacking the bearings on all 4 wheels which will be one less thing to worry about. We’re trying to contact my cousin Richard who’s wife grew up in MX for some translation help to insure that it is indeed the case. So we may be on our way in an hour or so! THANK YOU ANGELS!!!
Normally I do my blog write up at the end of the day but today is different as we may be stuck at the PEMEX station waiting for the mechanic to show, hopefully with parts. So I’ll be blogging as I get the chance.
I slept in this morning but Kevin was up around his normal time of 6:30 and went for his walkabout. There is an espresso shop right here at the gas station, which is nice. I’ve missed my regular 6 shot espresso. I don’t have them every day but do have them quite often. Where Kevin is on a caffeine high from his 1st and only coffee of the day I feel absolutely no effects. Sometimes I wish I did. I can go immediately to sleep after enjoying my brew. Along with the espresso I had a banana nut muffin. He had a croissant with egg and cheese. All were quite good. Much better than the crummy meal we had last night at the diner here. Maybe it was because they only served sandwiches after 7pm, maybe not. It was the 1st bad meal we’ve had.
In the past 3 blogs I have failed to mention something that is very scary to see on the road. Most Mexican semi trucks are pulling 2 full sized trailers. Not the shortened version that you see on American roads but the 50 foot versions. They seem to travel in packs and the wind flow around them as they pass by is easily felt by us and the trailer. Nothing dangerous but we have to keep our eyes open for them in the side mirrors just to be sure.
Since I have time today, and since I have my journal right next to me (I don’t normally for some unknown reason) let me tell you of some of the sights we’ve seen.
All through the mountains we’ve seen farm after farm after cattle ranch. It’s kind of funny to see the manner in which they plant their crops. For one some are on the steepest incline you can imagine. There is no way they can do anything with a tractor to make their farming chores easier. They have to walk it. From the steepness of the incline I can only imagine that their plowing, planting, and harvesting is done behind a horse or mule. Plus, something I’ve never seen but must have some agricultural significance is that they tend to plant corn in between the rows of citrus and banana trees. It could very well be that it’s just maximizing their crops.
I’m not sure when I’ll have internet access next but more later!
Driving to Belize - Day 3
Kevin did all of the driving today. He says it keeps him busy. Me, I'm enjoying the scenery and trying to navigate as best I can but you win some, you lose some.
We're both pretty frustrated with things that happened today but Kevin more than me. I'm keeping a positive attitude and know that sooner or later I'll reach my destination. He's on a schedule though as he has a flight home on Thursday from Belize City and the trip is taking much longer and is tougher than we both imagined.
Today we hit the very worst roads imaginable, where we could only travel at 20 mph for very long stretches, and some that we could actually do 50 on for a short period of time. We found that driving in Mexico is not for the feint hearted because at times you find yourself driving in the left lane up hills or around curves because of the road conditions, never knowing what kind of traffic is coming at you. And you have no idea what speed bumps are until you drive in Mexico. They are EVERYWHERE and in great numbers and in the places you least expect to find them. Some are small and others nearly tear the under carriage of the car off. Sometimes there are 2 or 3 and sometimes there are as many as 10 spread over a half a mile. Of course that brings you almost to a stand still while you are trying to navigate over or around them.
The road signs are so bad too that we are constantly making wrong turns and having to back track to the direction that we should have taken in the 1st place. We've met so many very helpful truckers that have corrected the errors of our ways. It takes a while though because of the language barrier. Having a good map of Mexico would help but the best I could find was a Rand McNally folding map that does not have half of the cities / towns marked on it that the traffic signs list. So that's our major problem or was until tonight. More on that later though.
While we are making wrong turns we have been nowhere near as lost as we have been in Matamoros and Tampico. There we drove down streets that never seemed to bring us to where we wanted to go. At times we were sure we'd hit a dead end and have to back up a good distance. So we were always lookeing ahead to where we were going and judging street width and available turning room. Today it was just a matter of driving to the next exit. Sometimes quite a ways and sometimes not too far. It's just frustrating though as it adds time to an already long trip. According to an itinerary I’d been sent the entire drive should take 4 days. Well we’re on our 2nd and almost a half day and only ½ way there.
We stopped at a roadside stand in the morning and bought some fresh fruit and had them open a coconut for us to eat and drink. We also found a really good place for lunch. We drove through some beautiful mountains today but that was a bit disconcerting because at times we travelled all directions of the compass even though we should be driving mostly south and southeast. We also saw the Gulf a Mexico a few times. Now that we thought we'd see quite a lot because we're traveling so near the coast. But today was the 1st day for that.
While passing through Tuxpan we made our usual wrong turn. Driving along the highway we looked for a likely place to start a series of right turns to get us back in the right direction. We didn’t find one so started looking for a place to make a u-turn. We saw a couple that were marked no u-turn and kept looking. We finally found one and Kevin made it without disturbing traffic. As he straightened out a cop walked out into the street and was saying something about the illegal turn we made. Of course we knew we didn’t and the stories we’d heard of cops looking for a payoff came storming into our minds. Kevin asked how much the fine was and the cop, in his almost non-existant English said US$100. “You gotta be kidding!” came flying out of Kevin’s mouth. “No kidding” said the cop in whatever language he was speaking. It sure didn’t sound Spanish to us! I was trying to get Kevin to calm down because it was Sunday and I sure didn’t want to spend the night in jail until court opened on Monday. Kevin pulled some bills out of his pocket but didn’t realize that there were 2 $20’s stuck together. Me I’m telling him we had “no mas dinero”. He kept insisting it was $100 bucks. There was no way we were giving him the hundred. He finally settled for the $40 and we were on our way much the worse for wear. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen again. If it does we’ll be sure that we know exactly how much is in our pockets and it won’t be more than $20.
Tonight, as were found ourselves headed in the right direction after a wrong turn, we pulled into a PEMEX station for gas. PEMEX is the national gas station in Mexico and the price is always $ 1.93 a gallon. While we still had over ½ a tank I like to fill up whenever we have a long stretch of highway ahead of us. We have not had any trouble finding gas stations but better safe than sorry! Anyway after pulling up to the pump and asking the attendant to fill it up (all gas stations are full service which is nice) the attendant pointed to the trailer. Kevin got out and noticed that there was smoke pouring out from the left rear wheel of the trailer. I noticed that the paint was bubbled on the hub. He started pouring water on it to cool it off. Boy did it sizzle! I had him pull forward a bit and turned a hose on it. We were lucky it did not catch fire while we were driving! God only knows how long it was heating up but, once again, our Angels were protecting us. Had we driven much farther it very well could have burst into flame and everything in the trailer would have been lost. That would have been terrible.
Along the highway I'd seen signs for first aid and auto repair that said to call 047. So out came the cell phone. One of the attendants sort of knew what was going on so I asked him to talk to whoever answered and tell them where we were. It actually got more involved than that but he took care of it, giving them my car information and the like. He hung up and said someone would be here in a few minutes. Well a car pulled in and came over and 2 guys hopped out. I had looked up the words "brakes" and "smoke" (as in “Where there is smoke there is fire”) and was waiting for them. They understood and started pulling the rear wheel off. I immediately thought that the bearings were the cause. Kevin thought brakes. When they started pulling apart the wheel tons of brake pad dust came pouring out. Well it turned out that we were both right ... The mechanic said that he could not get parts until tomorrow and was hoping that he can even find the parts here in Mexico. So who knows how long we may be camped here waiting for replacements. We're talking full time to our Angels and know that they will come through for us because they have so far. Thankfully this station has free Wi-Fi so we can give you all an update. While we were sitting here eating a rather terrible dinner a small group of Americans walked in and we started talking. The main guy is in the Army Infantry and stationed at Ft Sam Houston TX. I mentioned our mechanical problems and he made a call for us. He's fluent in Spanish, and that's a definitely plus here in Mexico! He's trying to help us locate parts and a back up mechanic. Funny thing is that he and his party are also headed to Belize to deliver a car.
We certainly have to keep our spirits up and know that we will prevail!!! Sometimes it's a little hard to do though. Maybe more tonight because it's been such an exhausting day and we're so punch drunk. Maybe all we need is a good night’s sleep. Let’s hope so...
We're both pretty frustrated with things that happened today but Kevin more than me. I'm keeping a positive attitude and know that sooner or later I'll reach my destination. He's on a schedule though as he has a flight home on Thursday from Belize City and the trip is taking much longer and is tougher than we both imagined.
Today we hit the very worst roads imaginable, where we could only travel at 20 mph for very long stretches, and some that we could actually do 50 on for a short period of time. We found that driving in Mexico is not for the feint hearted because at times you find yourself driving in the left lane up hills or around curves because of the road conditions, never knowing what kind of traffic is coming at you. And you have no idea what speed bumps are until you drive in Mexico. They are EVERYWHERE and in great numbers and in the places you least expect to find them. Some are small and others nearly tear the under carriage of the car off. Sometimes there are 2 or 3 and sometimes there are as many as 10 spread over a half a mile. Of course that brings you almost to a stand still while you are trying to navigate over or around them.
The road signs are so bad too that we are constantly making wrong turns and having to back track to the direction that we should have taken in the 1st place. We've met so many very helpful truckers that have corrected the errors of our ways. It takes a while though because of the language barrier. Having a good map of Mexico would help but the best I could find was a Rand McNally folding map that does not have half of the cities / towns marked on it that the traffic signs list. So that's our major problem or was until tonight. More on that later though.
While we are making wrong turns we have been nowhere near as lost as we have been in Matamoros and Tampico. There we drove down streets that never seemed to bring us to where we wanted to go. At times we were sure we'd hit a dead end and have to back up a good distance. So we were always lookeing ahead to where we were going and judging street width and available turning room. Today it was just a matter of driving to the next exit. Sometimes quite a ways and sometimes not too far. It's just frustrating though as it adds time to an already long trip. According to an itinerary I’d been sent the entire drive should take 4 days. Well we’re on our 2nd and almost a half day and only ½ way there.
We stopped at a roadside stand in the morning and bought some fresh fruit and had them open a coconut for us to eat and drink. We also found a really good place for lunch. We drove through some beautiful mountains today but that was a bit disconcerting because at times we travelled all directions of the compass even though we should be driving mostly south and southeast. We also saw the Gulf a Mexico a few times. Now that we thought we'd see quite a lot because we're traveling so near the coast. But today was the 1st day for that.
While passing through Tuxpan we made our usual wrong turn. Driving along the highway we looked for a likely place to start a series of right turns to get us back in the right direction. We didn’t find one so started looking for a place to make a u-turn. We saw a couple that were marked no u-turn and kept looking. We finally found one and Kevin made it without disturbing traffic. As he straightened out a cop walked out into the street and was saying something about the illegal turn we made. Of course we knew we didn’t and the stories we’d heard of cops looking for a payoff came storming into our minds. Kevin asked how much the fine was and the cop, in his almost non-existant English said US$100. “You gotta be kidding!” came flying out of Kevin’s mouth. “No kidding” said the cop in whatever language he was speaking. It sure didn’t sound Spanish to us! I was trying to get Kevin to calm down because it was Sunday and I sure didn’t want to spend the night in jail until court opened on Monday. Kevin pulled some bills out of his pocket but didn’t realize that there were 2 $20’s stuck together. Me I’m telling him we had “no mas dinero”. He kept insisting it was $100 bucks. There was no way we were giving him the hundred. He finally settled for the $40 and we were on our way much the worse for wear. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen again. If it does we’ll be sure that we know exactly how much is in our pockets and it won’t be more than $20.
Tonight, as were found ourselves headed in the right direction after a wrong turn, we pulled into a PEMEX station for gas. PEMEX is the national gas station in Mexico and the price is always $ 1.93 a gallon. While we still had over ½ a tank I like to fill up whenever we have a long stretch of highway ahead of us. We have not had any trouble finding gas stations but better safe than sorry! Anyway after pulling up to the pump and asking the attendant to fill it up (all gas stations are full service which is nice) the attendant pointed to the trailer. Kevin got out and noticed that there was smoke pouring out from the left rear wheel of the trailer. I noticed that the paint was bubbled on the hub. He started pouring water on it to cool it off. Boy did it sizzle! I had him pull forward a bit and turned a hose on it. We were lucky it did not catch fire while we were driving! God only knows how long it was heating up but, once again, our Angels were protecting us. Had we driven much farther it very well could have burst into flame and everything in the trailer would have been lost. That would have been terrible.
Along the highway I'd seen signs for first aid and auto repair that said to call 047. So out came the cell phone. One of the attendants sort of knew what was going on so I asked him to talk to whoever answered and tell them where we were. It actually got more involved than that but he took care of it, giving them my car information and the like. He hung up and said someone would be here in a few minutes. Well a car pulled in and came over and 2 guys hopped out. I had looked up the words "brakes" and "smoke" (as in “Where there is smoke there is fire”) and was waiting for them. They understood and started pulling the rear wheel off. I immediately thought that the bearings were the cause. Kevin thought brakes. When they started pulling apart the wheel tons of brake pad dust came pouring out. Well it turned out that we were both right ... The mechanic said that he could not get parts until tomorrow and was hoping that he can even find the parts here in Mexico. So who knows how long we may be camped here waiting for replacements. We're talking full time to our Angels and know that they will come through for us because they have so far. Thankfully this station has free Wi-Fi so we can give you all an update. While we were sitting here eating a rather terrible dinner a small group of Americans walked in and we started talking. The main guy is in the Army Infantry and stationed at Ft Sam Houston TX. I mentioned our mechanical problems and he made a call for us. He's fluent in Spanish, and that's a definitely plus here in Mexico! He's trying to help us locate parts and a back up mechanic. Funny thing is that he and his party are also headed to Belize to deliver a car.
We certainly have to keep our spirits up and know that we will prevail!!! Sometimes it's a little hard to do though. Maybe more tonight because it's been such an exhausting day and we're so punch drunk. Maybe all we need is a good night’s sleep. Let’s hope so...
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Driving to Belize - Day 2
More terrible roads, possibly even more ambiguous signage, and more terrible drivers. Our plan was to drive as far as possible past Tampico before daylight ended our driving day. Tampico was approximately 300 miles and we figured to make it by around 2pm. Kevin offered to drive because i could not keep my eyes open. As soon as we started off I was in dream land. I slept for about 20 minutes and was thankfully wide awake. Again, as in Matamoros, the signage in Tampico was terrible and we got hopelessly lost for about an hour. Kevin stopped at a cab stand and I could see lots of confused looks due to the language barrier. Finally Kevin thought he had the directions to put us headed back south. One of the cab driver ran over and offered to lead us for 100 pesos (approximately $ 8). It was the best we've spent 100 pesos so far! We were finally crossing over the river and out of Tampico. Around 5pm We decided we better find our safe spot to spend the night before the sun went down. We landed in Ozuluama and Kevin negotiated us a spot behind a small motel and shower privileges and right near a rather good restaurant.
After showering we headed down the road a bit to eat. We were told by someone in a shop on the way that the restaurant had free internet so we dragged out laptops with us. Their window said that they did too but it was not working. The menu consisted of 70 pictures of dinners, much like many Chinese takeout restaurants around home. With dinner ordered and more beer in front of Kevin we sat looking around the place at all the religious decorations. They had some very nice unique wooden crosses as well as still having their Christmas decorations still up. The food was good and we were stuffed when we left the restaurant.
Off to sleep now. He's in the trailer and I'm sleeping in the bed at a -1 star motel ...
After showering we headed down the road a bit to eat. We were told by someone in a shop on the way that the restaurant had free internet so we dragged out laptops with us. Their window said that they did too but it was not working. The menu consisted of 70 pictures of dinners, much like many Chinese takeout restaurants around home. With dinner ordered and more beer in front of Kevin we sat looking around the place at all the religious decorations. They had some very nice unique wooden crosses as well as still having their Christmas decorations still up. The food was good and we were stuffed when we left the restaurant.
Off to sleep now. He's in the trailer and I'm sleeping in the bed at a -1 star motel ...
Driving to Belize - Day 1
My trailer axle was finally repaired by about 1:30 and we were on our way. Finally! We both felt that today was going to be lucky for us and we'd actually cross into Mexico. For me it's been a long time in coming what with all the other hiccups and my step mother dying. We headed to the border To obtain my temporary vehicle paperwork. After spending almost four hours getting the paperwork, and going through a very cursory search trailer, we were finally on our way. We left the U.S., entering Matamoros MX, via the Veteran's International Bridge at about 6:15 pm central time.
Their highway signage leaves a lot to be desired. We are light years ahead of Mexico highway for easy navigation. After a few wrong turns, and some initial frustration, we finally found our way onto Mex101 and some very bumpy highway, if you can call it a highway. You have to be very Cognizant Because of the road surface there are many pot holes and you have to be equally aware of the traffic around you in the cities Because the drivers will force their way into the smallest spot, seeking a quick ride to where ever they are going. Of course in Mexico, as in the U.S., no matter how fast you drive, the traffic lights keep you within a few car lengths of where you were in the pack. Interestingly their traffic lights work a bit differently than ours. When the light is about to change network the green light flashes several times before the amber light comes on for about 5 seconds. So you have to beware of the age of the light and be ready for it to change quickly for the highway As they have this very narrow right lane separating it from a normal sized left lane by a dotted line same as in the U.S. You are supposed to keep as far to the right as possible, but there is no way to put a normal sized car in that lane let alone a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a nine foot wide travel trailer. Cars that pass you want to use the left lane traveling at breakneck speeds. Very unnerving to us Americans.
We drove south for approximately one and a half hours, headed for Tampico, and hit an immigration check point where your passport, visa, and temporary vehicle permit are checked. My paperwork was fine but poor Kevin did not have a visa. Having traveled in Mexico numerous time he's never been anywhere that required one. In the section of the country we were in it's required to have a visa when you plan to travel more than 70 kilometers from the border. In our halting Spanish we asked where we could get one for Kevin. The answer you ask? Back at the border crossing in Matamoros. Yes one and a half hours back the way we came and as close to the border as we could get without crossing back into the U.S. Kevin was understandably upset! Me I took it as just one more hiccup in our trip. So back to Matamoros where we started. We had plenty of time to get back before the office closed at 9pm. We did have one almost disastrous mishap on the way back. I pulled as far over to the right as possible to allow traffic to pass and failed to see a steep drop off. The right wheels of the Jeep and trailer dropped down and I, in my moment of panic, jerked the steering wheel hard to the left. Obviously not the right thing to do but I was tired. The trailer jack knifing began but I was able to get it under control and off the highway in a safer spot. We both jumped out to see what damage I may have done, and wondered if it would necessitate being towed back to Brownsville for repairs. But my Angels have been working overtime these past few weeks and successfully pulled my butt out of the fire eleven o'clock with no damage. Within minutes we were on our way and I drove more slowly and carefully so that we could get back to our original starting point.
Back at the border I was sure there was parking on the Mexican side that would allow us to go into the office and get back on the road without any trouble. I was right. But I did manage to make a HUGE mistake gringo before we got to the office. I stopped at a group of soldiers looking to see if any of them spoke so I could ask Español directions. What came out of my mouth though was, "You speak Spanish?" (Do you speak Spanisch?) Of course they all started laughing even though I tried to correct myself. I think they were still laughing 20 minutes later when we were headed back on our way.
So back over the same crappy roads but with a bit less traffic. Our plan was to return to a spot just before the check point and find a safe spot to spend the night. Just yards before the checkpoint was a restaurant where it looked like we could find a good meal. I almost said a "Mexican" restaurant but here they are all Mexican. Another gringo mistake I would think. So we ordered bisteak with potatoes, refried beans and salad. Since Kevin had been beating himself up the entire trip back to the border and back to the check point I was ready for a beer to calm himself. Needless to say they had a quart bottle that really did the trick! Kevin asked the restaurant owner if it was ok to leave the car and trailer on the shoulder of the road for the night. He offered us a spot in his parking lot, nicely and safely out of the way of any traffic. We finally went to bed about 11:30
The highway noise was pretty loud though but did quiet some during the night. Kevin wears ear plugs so was bothered a bit less than I but I was out within a few minutes. We both got up about 6:30 and were back on the road by 7:05.
Their highway signage leaves a lot to be desired. We are light years ahead of Mexico highway for easy navigation. After a few wrong turns, and some initial frustration, we finally found our way onto Mex101 and some very bumpy highway, if you can call it a highway. You have to be very Cognizant Because of the road surface there are many pot holes and you have to be equally aware of the traffic around you in the cities Because the drivers will force their way into the smallest spot, seeking a quick ride to where ever they are going. Of course in Mexico, as in the U.S., no matter how fast you drive, the traffic lights keep you within a few car lengths of where you were in the pack. Interestingly their traffic lights work a bit differently than ours. When the light is about to change network the green light flashes several times before the amber light comes on for about 5 seconds. So you have to beware of the age of the light and be ready for it to change quickly for the highway As they have this very narrow right lane separating it from a normal sized left lane by a dotted line same as in the U.S. You are supposed to keep as far to the right as possible, but there is no way to put a normal sized car in that lane let alone a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a nine foot wide travel trailer. Cars that pass you want to use the left lane traveling at breakneck speeds. Very unnerving to us Americans.
We drove south for approximately one and a half hours, headed for Tampico, and hit an immigration check point where your passport, visa, and temporary vehicle permit are checked. My paperwork was fine but poor Kevin did not have a visa. Having traveled in Mexico numerous time he's never been anywhere that required one. In the section of the country we were in it's required to have a visa when you plan to travel more than 70 kilometers from the border. In our halting Spanish we asked where we could get one for Kevin. The answer you ask? Back at the border crossing in Matamoros. Yes one and a half hours back the way we came and as close to the border as we could get without crossing back into the U.S. Kevin was understandably upset! Me I took it as just one more hiccup in our trip. So back to Matamoros where we started. We had plenty of time to get back before the office closed at 9pm. We did have one almost disastrous mishap on the way back. I pulled as far over to the right as possible to allow traffic to pass and failed to see a steep drop off. The right wheels of the Jeep and trailer dropped down and I, in my moment of panic, jerked the steering wheel hard to the left. Obviously not the right thing to do but I was tired. The trailer jack knifing began but I was able to get it under control and off the highway in a safer spot. We both jumped out to see what damage I may have done, and wondered if it would necessitate being towed back to Brownsville for repairs. But my Angels have been working overtime these past few weeks and successfully pulled my butt out of the fire eleven o'clock with no damage. Within minutes we were on our way and I drove more slowly and carefully so that we could get back to our original starting point.
Back at the border I was sure there was parking on the Mexican side that would allow us to go into the office and get back on the road without any trouble. I was right. But I did manage to make a HUGE mistake gringo before we got to the office. I stopped at a group of soldiers looking to see if any of them spoke so I could ask Español directions. What came out of my mouth though was, "You speak Spanish?" (Do you speak Spanisch?) Of course they all started laughing even though I tried to correct myself. I think they were still laughing 20 minutes later when we were headed back on our way.
So back over the same crappy roads but with a bit less traffic. Our plan was to return to a spot just before the check point and find a safe spot to spend the night. Just yards before the checkpoint was a restaurant where it looked like we could find a good meal. I almost said a "Mexican" restaurant but here they are all Mexican. Another gringo mistake I would think. So we ordered bisteak with potatoes, refried beans and salad. Since Kevin had been beating himself up the entire trip back to the border and back to the check point I was ready for a beer to calm himself. Needless to say they had a quart bottle that really did the trick! Kevin asked the restaurant owner if it was ok to leave the car and trailer on the shoulder of the road for the night. He offered us a spot in his parking lot, nicely and safely out of the way of any traffic. We finally went to bed about 11:30
The highway noise was pretty loud though but did quiet some during the night. Kevin wears ear plugs so was bothered a bit less than I but I was out within a few minutes. We both got up about 6:30 and were back on the road by 7:05.