Earthquake this morning !

We woke up this morning just before 7:30 to rockin' and rollin'. Not the neighbours, but a 5.3 Earthquake centred 44 kilometres to the west, 25 kilometres below the Pacific.


































The Mexican Geophysical web site is http://www.ssn.unam.mx/

This will show the very frequent seismological activity in Mexico, most of which is going on all around us. This is the second one we have felt this year. Last month there was a 4.6 to the south. There was another near by a few days ago but we slept through it.

No damage reported anywhere.

Better than the snow at home!

We will have to keep an eye on this image as it will probably change when a new earthquake occurs.

Just had a closer look on the web page; 90 earthquakes is 2 weeks! This morning's was the biggest.

Hogar Infantil to Zihuatanejo

Thursday morning, (Nov 27th) we left the Hogar Infantil in Ocozocoautla an hour later than planned (surprise, surprise!) about 9:45. We were tentatively planning to stop at Tehuantepec, about 20 kilometers from the Pacific Coast. Yeah right! Plans?--in Mexico?

This stretch of highway crosses the narrow isthmus of Mexico where the winds between the Atlantic (or rather the Gulf of Mexico) and the Pacific blow almost continuously. Broadside winds at 50 km/h are common. There are a number of wind generators in the area; we suspect the first of many more to come.

Half an hour later we were stopped by the police who were stopping all traffic both ways for, as we later found out, an international bicycle race across the Chiapas in the south of Mexico from one end of the Guatemala border to the other. Fortunately we were very close to a Pemex and were able to pull into their parking lot where we could let the dogs out onto a bit of grass. The riders didn't appear for about half an hour! We later realised that this was the only bit of the highway that had shoulders wide enough to park all the traffic they stopped!!

The Mexicans are so patient with this sort of thing up (up to a point). There was lots of cheering for every team and each individual that went by. The Canadian team was apparently near the front though we didn't see them go by. Art visited with a van full of people, some of whom had relatives in Canada; some in Vancouver and a cousin in Nova Scotia. When asked where in Nova Scotia she replied that she couldn't remember the name of the town for sure, maybe Newfoundland! Art tried not to smile too much.

Several times during a gap in the riders vehicles, usually from the back of the pack, would pull out onto the highway to carry on up the road! The officials would wave and yell and eventually get them off the road again though not always before the next group of cyclists came through. During one such episode the State Police arrived and forced a bus driver to drive off the road down onto a very rough patch of rough bush. The bus met a semi crawling along the gravel who had been sent off the highway by city cop down the road! They managed to get past one another and clear of the road just as the next group came by. We don't know how the bus made out--the terrain was pretty bad, we wouldn't have wanted to take our rig into it. It was probably that or a trip to jail!!!! The police officers were pretty irate; there was a lot of yelling and gesturing going on.

When the last cyclist eventually passed by, the race officials and the police just left! No one made any attempt at traffic control to get things moving in an orderly fashion. We were fortunate that Art had moved up a few minutes earlier and had let a taxi and small truck get in front of us. When they reached the road there was just enough room for us to sneak up on their right and when the taxi and truck (now side by side with us a third on the inside) started to pull into the highway they left enough room for us to get our nose out so we were able to follow them out. It only took us a couple of minutes to get rolling but there was a mess behind us as everyone tried to pull into the road ahead of traffic coming up from behind! Time was now 11:30. We had been delayed about an hour and a quarter.The bus that the police sent off the road passed us about half an hour later.

This was on the main East West highway across Chiapas. Can you imagine the authorities in Canada or the USA closing a major highway for more than an hour each at many locations across the country?!

By 2:30 we were surprisingly well along on our route but again (still?) there was a serious lack of road signs and we almost ended up on a new un-mapped toll road to Oaxaca and/or back to the Gulf Coast!n (The double dashed red line on the map) Art managed to make a very sudden stop and pulled off hard to the right shoulder and when the traffic cleared made a very tight left turn across the lane and was just able to make the exit ramp that put us back on the right road. 20 minutes later we pulled into a Pemex to park for lunch and a break. We had also missed our turn off near Ventosa(top right of map) to the libre for Tehuantepec where we had planned to stop for the night. The guide book said that the campground couldn't be accessed from the Toll road, so since it was relatively early, we decided to carry on to the coast planning to stop at the first Pemex around 5PM . I gets dark at 6 here and there is almost no twilight.

By 3:PM we were on our way, and soon north bound on the Mex 200! This is the Pacific highway which runs from the Guatemalan border all the way to north of Puerto Vallarta. We were almost at our winter home!

As the kilometers wound by there seemed to be a dearth of Pemex's so watching the kilometer markers and the clock we pushed on. At 6:00 we pulled into Tongolunda Trailer Park in Bahia Huatulco. Art stopped the rig to look over the parking options and Gillian took the dogs out. Art found a site that would do without dragging past too many tree branches and was soon parked. Jacks down, slides out, engine off, 6:10 and it was dark.

Distance driven: 365 Km. Driving time: 6 1/2 hours.

We had checked out this park before when we came down by car 3 years ago, when we flew to Argentina, but Art didn't remember it at all until we were actually there! We stayed two nights, travelling around the area for a bit and had a good visit with some new found friends. They live in the Yukon and live full time in a Class C motorhome. Yes, even in the Yukon in the winter. They say they use a LOT of propane! When Margaret introduced herself Art said "Oh I can remember that, I have a sister named Margaret. I don't suppose your husband's name is Frank?" "No", replied the husband, "my name is Bill"! At which we both broke up laughing--Art also has a brother Bill!

Saturday morning we set off for a leisurely trip to Puerto Escondido, 120 Km, 2 1/2 hours . This is not a high speed highway! Puerto Escondido is undergoing major road works through town. South of the river, the centre of the highway is ripped up for the most part, traffic struggling along very rough dirt on each side. It appears that they are in the process of double laning the highway. At the moment it is a mess!.

In town itself, the main street (not the highway just mentioned) is being refurbished as well; new road surface, new sidewalks and all the stores are being spruced up. Looks promising. We also stocked up on a few groceries as there is a supermarket not far from the campground.

While relaxing at the campground a lady came over and said "I thought I recognised the dogs". We had met her El Manglar in Zihuatanejo last year! She had been travelling with her niece and their departure was delayed when the neice fell ill. It was later diagnosed as Dengue Fever for which there is no cure. She was hospitalised for several days when her temperature rose very high and the doctor didn't like the results of her blood tests. We were pleased to hear that her neice made a complete recovery and she was now treating anouther neice to a trip to Mexico. We noted that a young Mexican lad was hovering around and being very attentive!

We were off and running early (yes, really) next morning, pulling out onto the highway at 6:30 where we took a couple of minutes to hook up the tow car and were on our way by full daylight. We stopped for fuel and breakfast at 8:30, taking about 40 minutes for the break. We were on our way to Acapulco on what we remembered from 3 years ago as a long trip in the car due to truck traffic and very twisty roads. This is why the early start, we didnt want to run into Acapulco evening traffic or darkness.

By 2:30 we were approaching Acapulco, always a traffic nightmare, and so decided to take the toll road towards Cuernavaca and Mexico City. We had come down this toll road from Cuernavaca 5 years ago and knew that there was a cut off back to the Mex 200 on the north side of Acaculco not too far up. At the toll both we confirmed with the attendant that the exit was in 14 KM. His estimate was right on!! The toll was 146 pesos, about $14.00 Canadian. We made the exit and the signage to the " libre" that took us another 30 Kilomerers to the Mex 200 north of Acapulco was for once adequate and accurate! We hit the 200 and turned south again for a short distance and easily found our turn to Pie de la Cuesta and our campground, the Acapulco Trailer Park, about 20 Km north of Acapulco proper.

We were parked and set up by 3:30, well ahead of our estimate, but were glad of the early start as we would not have wanted to do this trip in the dark!. We had time to visit the neighbours, have a swim in the pool, let Trekker run on the beach--he was in Doggy Heaven! We later took a stroll down the strip, found a restaurant overlooking the ocean and had our fill of fillet of fish in garlic and butter! Today's run was 450 kilometers, about 8 1/2 hours driving time. More than we really like to do, but we were nearly there and by being to the north of the city we wouldnt have to face the morning Acapulco traffic.

Next morning as we were getting ready to go we heard the long drawn out cry "boliiioooooos". Looking out the front of the motorhome we could see a woman with a basket balanced on her head and as there was no bread for Art's breakfast toast, he grabbed some change and went to the street, finding her a little distance up the sidewalk. He bought 4 fresh bolios (a Portuguese bun, a sort of elongated bread roll) and at the last minute added a cinnamon bun! (Which he generously shared with Gillian.

We were on the road to Zihuat shortly after 9:00. About an hour and a half later we were astounded to see a toll road signed for Zihuatanejo! The sign also indicated "Trafico Pesado Obligatorio" (Heavy Traffic Obligatory). We are considered heavy traffic--anything with dual wheels or pulling a trailer-- so off we went. We were at that instant happy to pay the toll of only 43 pesos, about $4.00 Canadian. But! 3 Kilometers later the toll road ended. It was just a bypass for the town of Tecpan! Has to be the most expensive toll road per kilometer!

Just south of Zihuatanejo, at the airport turnoff, we pulled into a Pemex where we un-hooked the car and fuelled both vehicles. Art and the dogs carried on in the motorhome and Gillian in the Tracker and by 1:30 we were parked in our spot at El Manglar. A quick run for the dogs and then down to the restaurant for lunch. It was nice that Memo, the restaurant owner, Rosa, the chef and Edmundo, the RV Park owner, were there to greet us by name and with big smiles.

We're "home" for the winter! Surprisingly, though we had a reservation for the 1st of December, (today) we never counted back to work out a travel schedule. We'd just say once in a while "we better move along if we want to be there somewhere around the first"!

We now have to get the camera repaired and over the next few days set up the site properly for a longer stay; Barbecue, Chairs, Lounge, Tables, Car-port, Starchoice satellite dish etc. etc. etc. It will probably take us a week, but whats the rush? Art remembers his mother piling 6 kids into a 2 door '53 Chevy, along with a coleman stove, bedding, clothes, towels, food, dishes and a 9x12 canvas tent for a week in Parksville! (Dad's vacation was to stay home alone to read and work in garden!)

Palenque, San Cristobal de las Casas, Hogar Infantil

November 22nd we left Villahermosa just before 10:00 AM for the trip to Palenque. We passed through the city without any problems and were soon on a nice wide highway heading east on Highway 186 for about 80 kilometers, when we turned south onto Highway 199 according to the road atlas. According to the highway signs we were on several other highways but not the 199! We were however on the only road to Palenque. Highway signs, when there are any, often have to be taken with a grain of salt.

The drive was quite pleasant, no untoward events and quite an easy drive. We arrived in Palenque around noon and found our way through to the road to the ruins where the campgrounds are all located. We made note of the turn we would need when leaving and soon arrived at the Hotel Los Leones. This hotel was mentioned in the Mexican Camping book as the best place for big rigs, the other parks only good to rigs up to 30'. Ours is 32. On arrival we were met by a staff member who told us the RV park was closed; the tourism department had revoked (or not granted) their permit! We were told we could carry on into the back where the park used to be in order to turn around, where we were met by another employee who told us in no uncertain terms that we could not stay there. Too bad, as the hotel looked nice and the restaurant had a good reputation.

We carried on up the road to the Mayabell campground where we managed to squeeze in. Fortunately the park was not full and we had no problem. We met a few campers that we had run into previously and when Tessa and the kids arrived it was like old home week! We had a great time there in the park. Food was good but quite expensive for Mexico and the area. There was music every evening, when young campers from many different parts of the world got together for jam sessions. Guitars, pipes, horns ,drums, all quite talented.

Late at night we were treated to the sound of howler monkeys. A weird sound, hard to describe; a sort of multi-tonal wailing, rising and falling in multipart harmony. Sort of like an audio version of the Northern Lights!

The Palenque ruins and museum were superb. Many of the the inscriptions and frescoes are intact and easy to view. We had a great time exploring, looking and just enjoying the lush tropical ambiance. Though not at any elevation (under 200 feet) the weather was great. Perfect T shirt weather.

Unfortunately someone (we won't mention his name) dropped the camera and damaged the lens mechanism so photos will be scarce from here on until we can get it repaired. It works very occasionally but is far from reliable.

9:00 AM Monday morning (the 24th) we were on our way to San Cristobal. We were glad we had made note of our turn, because we had yet another highway number! This time we were climbing; San Cristobal is at 6900 feet. We really would like to have had a working engine temperature gauge but we had no trouble. There was no room to pull off the very twisty road, though in a town halfway along the route there were two Pemex's (gas stations) where we could have stopped. We weren't desperate so we carried on, arriving at San Cristobal about 3PM.

We decided to stop for fuel at a Pemex that was mentioned as a key point in finding our way to the Hotel RV Park that was supposed to be next door. It wasn't until we pulled back into the street that we could see the entrance,which was tight as promised in the book but soon got parked in the big grassy field behind the hotel. We were the only ones there so found the best site and by 3:30 were ready for lunch! We decide to delay lunch a bit so we let the dogs out for a bit of a run and play, then went into the Hotel restaurant Steak Bar for a late lunch / early dinner. The steaks were very good and done to our liking but we astounded to find that they were out of wine! We washed them down with Mexican beer instead and were quite satisfied.

Dinner done we went across the street to the supermarket for a few necessities, still no pastuerised milk available! Back to the rig for an early night.

Next day we were off to town for a day of exploring and just poking about. We had dinner in a restaurant near the square. Unfortunately at this late date I can't remember what we had except that it was something regional and was very good. We were surprised to see both Sopa Tortilla and Sopa Azteca on the menu. (Sopa=soup) We had always thought they were the same. The waiter explained that sopa tortilla is usually tomato flavored chicken broth frequently with avacado and cheese,and topped with julienned deep fried tortillas. Sopa Azteca has bits of chicken, cheese, avacado, sometimes onion and the deep fried tortilla strips. At least that was his description. Every time we find Sopa Azteca or Sopa Tortilla on the menu its different from all the others. Some are very spicy, a few are quite mild, all are always good.

San Cristobal has a population of about 125,000 people and is surrounded by Indigenous villages and is somewhat off the beaten track. Most of the tourists were Mexican or European. The city is also a National Historic Monument,and we had a great time just walking around. The artisan markets are full of hand embroidered brightly coloured items reminiscent of Guatemalan styles. Not surprising, as it's quite close by, just over 100 Km to the south and east.

On the way home we stopped at the supermarket for the heavier items (wine, whiskey, beer!) and were soon back at the rig. Out with the dogs again (who had accompanied us to town, but spent a lot of time in the car) for a run and play.

We left San Cristobal next morning having scouted out our exit route by car the previous day and were soon on the new toll road to Tuxtla Gutierrez, just 80 or so kilometers the the west. We were now WESTBOUND on our way to the Pacific Coast! This new freeway (actually built several years ago) had just reopened, having been closed soon after its opening due to structural problems with one of the bridges!

In Tuxtla itself, taking the libramiento sur (south freeway and bypass) not by any means a freeway, we missed a turn and ended many kilometers to the south on a rapidly deteriorating road. We stopped to ask directions and as Gillian got out to get specific instructions Art turned the rig around. Fortunately, the road we were on did eventually T into the main highway, several kilometers west of where we should have joined it.

We carried on to and around the next town called Ocozocoautla. At a military check point just after leaving Tuxtla we learned how to pronounce it, the officer very patiently having us repeating it until he was satisfied! He must have been a school teacher in his previous life. We wondered whether this was a move up or a move down!

This time we had no trouble finding the bypass and the turn back into the south part of the town, but didn't recognise the bus terminal where we were supposed to turn left and had to turn around in the village. We had thought it was a truck garage and junk yard!

We soon found the entrance to the "Hogar Infantil" (Children's Home) where we planned to stay the night. Gillian got out to ensure the branches wouldn't snag anything on the roof as Art carefully manouevred up the the narrow dirt road. As we approached we were met and welcomed by a young American student volunteering at the school. We were soon backed in and settled.

This wonderful place is maintained by an American charity, the Mexican on-site directors making all operational decisions while the directors in the USA are responsible for the fund raising. About 15% of the kids are orphans, the rest come from very poor families who can't afford to feed their kids. The children can stay until they complete university. This gives the young adults lots of "family" support, instead of being out on their own in their teens which usually happens to kids in this situation--even in Canada and the USA. The Mexican directora of the home in fact is a product of the home as is a local doctor who volunteers her time to the Hogar clinic. The home has a small computer lab, runs a farm where they grow their own corn, raise chickens, sheep, and a few cows. They grind their own corn meal and make their own tortillas. The children go to local schools, have all their meals at the Hogar and many take special English and computer classes there after school. They learn to run the farm, do maintenance, drive the tractors and generally get prepared for life the the Big Bad World. The interesting thing is that they do not charge for camping, and in fact refuse to accept anything. To do so they would have to have a business license from the tourism board and would be subject then to interference and regulation. This way they are just accommodating visitors! We did discover that bicycles would be very welcome as would tools and computers.

We had a great time chatting with the kids, were given a tour of the home, the dorms (dozens to a room!), and the farm. Each dorm has an adult resident, study areas, relaxation areas etc. They had no TV but were allowed a DVD player.

Later in the day a small motorhome arrived, driven by a delightful lady ( who Arts mother would have loved and probably joined) who was walking from San Diego to Guatemala!!!

Here is her story: http://www.walkwithearth.org/?page_id=68

We would have loved to have stayed longer; it is certainly on our list of places to return to.

Their web site is http://www.hogarinfantil.org

Xalapa, Catemaco, Villahermosa

Next morning, after 5 days in Poza Rica, we were ready to be off and running for Veracruz, a little less that 300 kilometers to the south-east. As Gillian took the dogs for a last stroll around Art moved the motorhome off to the side in front of the hotel chapel to hook up the car. While doing so he noticed that the large rubber stone guard under the rear of the motorhome had come loose at one end and was now fore and aft, rather than cross wise. A bit of crawling around underneath with pliers and hammer and he was able to re-attach it. Ready to roll: car hooked up, dogs and navigator at their stations, Art checked all the gauges prior to pulling out: oil pressure OK, both air gauges up to pressure, batteries charging, engine temperature not reading!!!!! What? Not Again! A quick check below to see if the guard had caught a plug or wiring harness, nothing obvious, so off we went. Some 2,000 Km later we still don't have an engine temperature gauge, relying on the Cummins engine computer to shut the engine down if it over heats!

About 1:30 we stopped for lunch at a road side restaurant in a small town, where we were tentatively approached by a small boy of about 8 or 9 years, carrying a filthy rag, a squeegee, and a bottle of water, offering to wash our windshield. He couldn't even reach the bottom of the window! Art got the step ladder off the back of the rig and put him to work. His eyes lit up and we got a very quiet "thank you" and a shy smile as Art handed him the princely sum of 20 pesos.

After lunch we inquired of the waiter and were told that we was one of the very poor of the village. We tipped the waiter well, with something extra to buy the boy a meal when he came past again. Hope the waiter has a conscience!

Without too much trouble we found the next campground on our list, Campamiento El Rey, just south of the city of Veracruz. We were greeted by a couple who were very glad to see someone else, as the place was quite isolated. We were separated from the beach by a row of straggly wind blown cedars and got parked and level. The wind was howling, salt spray and sand blowing over us. We dug out a couple of large plastic bags and a roll of duct tape and covered the air intakes.

Next day we met an interesting family; a 26 foot class C motorhome from Huston Texas; Mom Tessa, and 3 kids: a girl 9, boy 12 and the eldest girl 13. (and as they said "Daddy on a stick") They had a picture of daddy on a piece of wood up on the dash. Dad flew in to join them when he could.

They were on their way to Panama, having completed the North American part of their trek--to see as many World Heritage Sites as possible in a year! This spring they are off to Ireland where they will pick up a camper van to do Europe, then next fall fly to China for their youngest to see her country of birth. We met them later in Palenque and dinner with them and got to know them a bit better--an amazing family.

We spent a couple of days here, driving to various areas to see the sights, Veracruz city and its neighbour Boca Del Rio and a day trip to Xalapa, the state capital. Xalapa, sometimes spelled Jalapa, and pronounced "Halapa" is the home of the Jalapeno pepper.

In Xalapa, our first stop was for lunch. We found a very nice looking restaurant in a hotel and had an excellent meal. Gillian's salad was a little bigger than expected!

The museum there was excellent, the only thing wrong with it was that the directional signs just stopped and there were no exterior signs on the building. We finally asked, parked on a side street, and walked around the block. We found an open gate and wide path, there were still no signs anywhere but as we got closer we could see one sign on the side of the entrance way. Not visible from the street!

This museum has a huge collection of "Olmec Heads" from the area, some small, some immense. The amount of energy and skill required to carve and move these tons of rock is obvious. What is not obvious is why? No one seems to know, though of course theories abound.

Off next day (November 20) to the town of Catemaco, the RV park being part of an hotel, managed by an American, who's wife's (Mexican) family own the hotel as well as a restaurant in town. The main attraction of this stop was the washer and dryer!! Both were painfully slow due to very low water pressure and very low electric power but eventually got the job almost done. We went into the village for dinner, leaving the interior of the motorhome festooned with almost dry clothing!

One funny moment; Tia ran barking at a street dog that had dared to enter the campground, the stray turning and dashing into the street. Tia kept going and somehow came off the line and was gone through the gate after the trespasser. Gillian grabbed a leash and went out after her while Art got the car. (The dogs always come for the car--might miss a trip!) As Art got to the gate Gillian and Tia returned; Gillian had found her half a block away playing in the road with the dog she had just chased out!

Our next stop was just to the west of the city of Villahermosa. The drive was very scenic, climbing into the mountains from Laguna de Catemaco, then down the other side to the highway to Villahermosa. This was almost as far east as we would go, turning south soon after.

The campground, at a Balnearo, (Water Park and Pool) was as the end of a very narrow, bumpy dirt road, the RV Park sign pointing to a locked gate full of scrap cars and trucks. Just ahead of us an attendant came out and explained that we could park in the parking area, he wasn't sure if there was any water, sewer or power! The RV park would be cleaned out for December, we were too early.

We weren't the only ones here--a couple from El Rey were here, as well as a Quebec couple who had parked beside us in Poza Rica. Well after dark a couple arrived from Huatulco, on the Pacific coast, via a road that the guide books say "THIS IS NOT AN EASY DRIVE" although it is the shortest route in distance. A couple in Catemaco had told us it took them 10 hours of driving time on terrible roads.

There was an old wreck of a truck along side our parking place and chained underneath was a vary sad dog with a brood of very cute puppies. Poor Mama couldn't get after her pups if they wandered too far away; she looked so stressed and sad. We never saw anyone come near that evening or the next morning. We just wanted to cut the chain and take them all with us.

We took the opportunity of our proximity to a big city to drive in with the car for some grocery shopping and at the same time spied out our route through town for the next morning.

We had a bit of a visit with the others in the park and went to bed reasonable early, excited to be almost at the end of the eastward part of our journey; tomorrow we would turn south.

El Tajin and Papantla

The morning dawned a bit wet, and was raining seriously by the time we had our breakfast and Gillian had walked the dogs. It shortly moderated to a drizzle then tapered off to nothing. Being from the West ("wet") Coast, and Yorkshire, a bit of moisture wasn't going to keep us down long so off we went to see the Ruins of El Tajin south east of the city. Interesting and beautiful as they all are, yet each ruin is different from the next.

El Tajin was first occupied about 100 AD, though most of what has been excavated and restored is from 600 to 900 AD and was abandoned about 1200 AD. Not a bad lifespan for an American City--1100 years.

El Tajin is also notable in that the Rich Folk lived on the hill side, overlooking the ball courts! 17 ball courts have been located so far!

A bit too big for Art to scramble about on (10 sq Km!) and several kilometers of walking to see it all, after a short peek in the rain and drizzle and a visit to the museum, he retired to a cafe table to attempt the guide book in Spanish. He had mixed feelings about being told seniors didn't have to pay, but pulled out his drivers license as proof of age, and took the freebie! Outside there were dozens of stalls and cafes, and a display of the "Papantla Fliers" More on that in a minute. We found a restaurant near by for a late lunch/early dinner on our way home...Fish of course, and got back in time for happy hour, with a stop at a hardware store to find replacement brackets for the closet rod.

Next day we visited the town of Papantla, famous for the Voladores (Fliers). This is best described in "Lonely Planet" as "...a sort of slow motion bungee jump..." From the top of a very tall pole, four men sit on the edge of a wooden square and rotate the square to wind ropes around the pole. A fifth man sits, or stands, or dances, on the top the pole playing the chirimia, a small drum with an attached flute. Then the four men fall backwards (being sure they are attached to the ropes!) and as the ropes unwind, the men slowly spiral to the ground, hanging upside down, or horizontally, with their arms spread wide.

We were able to watch this performance several times; once in El Tajin and several more times in Papantla. For the first performance in Papantla we had a great view from a second floor restaurant balcony table overlooking the square while we had lunch. The flyers drop from a pole set up in front of the church behind above the square. We saw several more performances from various vantage points as we wandered about the town.

The square is described in Lonely Planet as being particularly pleasant. From what we could see it looked very nice but unfortunately it was under repair and closed to the public. Along one side was a row of shoe-shine stalls so Art got a good polish on his very dirty shoes! They should be good for several weeks now! Behind the square in front of the church a stage was set up where we watched demonstrations of regional dance. One in particular was very reminiscent of English Clog Dancing. Unfortunately I couldn't up load the video to the Blog. The other picture is the shoe-shine stalls.

On the way back to the Hotel RV Park, since it was early (before 5 PM) we went grocery shopping, trying the Soriana store, hoping to find pasteurised milk rather than the UHT or sterilised milk. Again, not available. Oh well, Gillian will just have to wait for the West Coast.

Art didn't like the Scotch selection at the Soriana, so decided to return to the RV via the Cheudraui store, just a few blocks out of our way. This was huge mistake--it was now almost 6PM, the traffic was so extreme, the traffic cop was only permitting the occasional vehicle into the Cheudraui parking lot. We were directed straight ahead (out of town!) and eventually made a U turn, but were again directed straight past the store entrance. We gave up at that point and carried on straight down the road to the hotel. The traffic eased a bit in half an hour or so and we got home about 7:00 PM having covered a distance of 4 Kilometers in about an hour!

Tampico to Poza Rica

shortly after 8:00AM were on the road to Poza Rica (Rich Pool) an oil rich area full of wells and I think a refinery.

Another 100 kilometers of terrible road--we will never go this way again. Again, this highway does not have the base to support the truck traffic, and all they do to "maintain" it is to rip 2" of the damaged asphalt up and repave it. We saw many areas of new pavement which still didn't have the centre line painted on but had patches already!!! Sections of this were being redone, which meant many delays, until finally we reached the bit that had been done, and made better time for most of the rest of the trip. Until we caught up to a parade of junkers!

There were dozens of slow vehicles, some filled with belongings, most towing other vehicles, some of which were towing yet another! The most impressive was a cube van with a car inside, the front wheels of the cube van being up on the deck of a flat bed truck! It must have taken us 20 or thirty kilometres to get past them all. We even saw a couple of policemen watching them all go by.

The last bit of "freeway" into Poza Rica was still being constructed, so again we detoured through villages and the outskirts of the city.

It was about here that Art realised that the engine temperature gauge was reading 0 degrees! We carried on to the the Poza Rica Inn Resort arriving at 1:PM, where we are now ensconsed in what now appears to be the staff parking lot. There is water and electricity, but the AC is not wired properly (no ground) and unfortunately, the power management system in this rig won't pass on the power if it isn't just right. (ie grounded and in phase).

Art crawled under the rig to see if he could see anything shaken loose, but accomplished nothing other that a divot in the back of his hand. After we cleaned up and walked the dogs we were off to the restaurant for lunch.

What a pleasant surprise. We had an excellent buffet, great salad bar, carrot soup, chicken, beef, veg, potatoes, pasta, and T-bone steak, grilled to your order as you watched(if you wished)--we passed on the steak, same on the dessert, (maybe next time!) Two beer each, 900.00 pesos. ($86.00 Canadian) And the food was excellent.

The hotel has pool, tennis court, hot showers available near the pool, wireless internet, and a "zoo". Camping fee? 180 pesos per night. ($17.00 Canadian)

The hotel appears to cater to, or at least attract, the oil patch crowd, lots of orange or white coveralls in the restaurant. We met a few Americans, from Dallas/Fort Worth, a Canadian from Edmonton, and another from Calgary, who spends 6 months here every year. He is about to buy a small condo in Veracruz.

Next morning before breakfast Art went into the lobby to try to find a diesel mechanic. As the bell boy and a manager poured through the yellow pages (not much used here--only one listed, and that one didn't answer the phone) and the news papers, one of the receptionists jumped into the conversation. "Diesel Mechanico? si!" and proceeded to dial without looking up the number.

"Be here when he finishes the job he is on", about an hour. Later that afternoon, two mechanics showed up, one of them the receptionist's brother! Art explained about the road conditions, and his theory that something had shaken loose. They crawled around under the rig (the ONLY access to the engine!) for quite a while, came in and started it up, looked at all the gauges, shut it off and climbed back under. A while later they emerged, and together they and Art unscrewed the console to access the back of the instrument panel. The gauge was removed and inspected, and after much discussion, decided they might be able to get one locally from the Mercedes dealer--Freightliner and Mercedes being one and the same in Mexico--part of Daimler-Benz apparently. Of course by now it was after 2PM and all the parts place would be closed until 4; They would let me know.

About 6PM another receptionist came by to say that they had had no luck, and would try again in the morning, about 10. As they hadn't arrived or called by noon, and our holding tanks were approaching "Critical Mass" we pulled in the slides, retracted the jacks, fired up and drove down into another parking lot, in front of some of the rooms, where the sewer dump was located!!! This is primarily for the use of the tour buses. Art left the engine running while dumping, returned to the "Camping" area when done and got parked again. Before switching off, he plugged in the temperature gauge and PRESTO we had a "normal" reading!

He "dashed" (ha!--picture it!) back to reception, and told "Sandra" to call her brother, and tell him not to order the part, and to come by and we would pay them for their time. Later this afternoon he came around, and after some thought, asked for 600 pesos ($57.00 Canadian) Probably a bit too much, but he paid without argument.

So here we sit, everything working EXCEPT the electric. Art has mentioned it every day, every day he is told they asked maintenance to get on it. OK. We have a good battery charger which works on the shaky power, we are doing OK and have not had to resort to the generator.

We should mention that when we arrived there was another rig here, with French plates. On a Landcruiser frame, it was a specially built motorhome, somewhere between a class C and a van. He does various projects for the World Wild Life Federation, and is just finishing his world tour. Africa previously, this year South America, Far East, Alaska, BC, Canada, Mexico then Central America, the USA then home. Neat guy. His girlfriend just flew from Rumania to meet him and spend a couple of months.

Rio Verde to Tampico November 11

We left Hotel Media Luna next morning about 9:40, continuing East along Mex 70 through Ciudad Valles to Tampico, on the Gulf Coast, there to turn south on the Mex 180.

Out of Rio Verde the road climbs the Sierra Madre Occidental and is extremely twisty and fairly narrow, no shoulders-- about 6" separated our mirror from the on coming semi's. This was not at high speed however as a new highway is being built roughly parallel the current one, and there is a constant parade of trucks entering and exiting into construction areas. Some places single lane which as you can imagine slowed things down considerably. At one point we got behind an overloaded and under powered truck, and spent the next 20 or 30 kilometers at 5 to 10 Km/H for the most part, occasionally reaching the heady speed of 25 on the downhills, and there weren't many of those. We eventually passed the truck (thanks to the 300TD Diesel engine) and things picked up a little but not too much. Note the forward tire in the picture. (Click to enlarge any picture.)

We stopped for lunch on the bypass around Cd Valles and carried on, the road improving and straightening out a bit later, then followed the river valley along (and sometimes through the middle of) Rio Tamesi to Tampico.

Much of the road was built on causeways, the river widening into very large broad shallow lakes.

Sounds OK so far?

We had been given directions for the bypass around Tampico, and were glad we had. Entering the city we crossed under the bypass overpass (why there wasn't a right turn exit, missing the bridge altogether, we cannot understand). We saw the sign that said Tuxpan Left Lane, so we got in the left lane and carried on. By the time we reached the third "retorno" (U-Turn) we realised that there was NOT going to be a sign telling us to turn so we did anyway, through an enormous hole in the pavement--a sign of things to come. We approached the bridge and took the completely unmarked exit which took us up and over the bridge, crossing the highway we had just come down.

The engineers who built the bridge obviously had no communication with the engineers who built the approach to it, as they were misaligned vertically by several feet, and an obviously ad-hoc and too short ramp had been added. The motorhome dragged the hitch going over.

Then things got rough.

The bypass goes through the outskirts of Tampico, and all its topes. This road was never designed for truck traffic, and as heavy vehicles are not permitted on the main streets of Tampico, (except on the laterals) it is now suffering for it.

Where the pavement has not come completely apart, leaving potholes pedestrians would need a ladder to climb out of, it is severely rutted, and sagged. This was the first time we had ever seen semi's doing a slalom course, and it as turned out, it wasn't to be the last! We weren't as skilled as the professionals, but felt we would rate at least a 6.8 from the Russian Judge. The worst was over by the time we thought to take a few pictures.

We eventually reached the Mex 180which was no better, and after a mercifully few more kilometers, at 4:40, we reached Restaurant Pardo Alpino to stay the night. Gillian went over to inquire of the workmen putting in what looked like posts and supports for a vineyard, and arranged for us to park along side the restaurant for 50 pesos.

There were no services and the restaurant appeared closed, but later that evening the outside lights came on and someone was in the kitchen and later in the lounge watching music videos!

There were 4 or 5 very friendly but shy dogs hanging around, but they ran off when we took Tia and Trekker out for their walk. As the sun set in the west a full moon rose in the east. It was a beautiful and tranquil night, which was very welcome! 300 kilometers in 6 hours of driving time!

Click on the photos to enlarge

Saltillo to Rio Verde

We knew where we were going, but decided to test the new Mexico chip we had purchased for our new GPS, a Garmin Nuvi 650. We were pleased to see that upcoming street names were appearing on the screen. If we had known the name of the cross street it would have been a big help! We had entered the latitude and longitude of the park as given in “Mexican Camping” into the GPS but it wanted us to turn half a block early. The coordinates were for the park itself, which is located to the rear of the hotel grounds, and not for the entrance.

When we arrived at the RV Park we were the only ones there. By the time we left there were 4 rigs. We soon got to know an interesting couple from France who have pretty much travelled the world in their little van, including South America.

This year they are doing Central and North America. We hope to meet them again this spring/summer when they come to the Island, on their way to Northern BC and Alaska (via the ferry from Port Hardy)

In Saltillo we were unable to re connect with Jesus and Marta, a Mexican couple we met last year so we thought we would remain here a few days, hoping that they would return. On our last day we went to the restaurant, where we first met Jesus and Marta, for Gillian's birthday. We were pleasantly surprised to find we no longer had to walk through a cloud of smoke to get to the Non-Smoking Section; the entire restaurant was non smoking! The waiter said that the law had recently changed. We didn’t ask if it was a City or State law, but have not yet found another smoke free restaurant in Mexico.

We passed the time sight seeing, relaxing, shopping and getting the laundry done. We learned something here--Don't have the hotel do your laundry--it cost 300 pesos! (almost $25.00 Canadian) We also decided test the GPS, and had it search for an ATM. It indicated that the nearest HSBC ATM was some 60 kilometres away--while we were standing in front of one! The GPS has all the streets in the data base but lists business only for a few select cities.

We left Saltillo November 10th, as usual about an hour later that planned, on what was to prove to be an interesting day. Our destination was San Luis Potosi, a fairly easy run down good roads about 6 hours to the south.

Just leaving town, distracted by trying to read road signs, we both noticed the red traffic light at the last minute! Thank God for air brakes!! The old rig wouldn't have stopped short of the intersection. Other than the package of coffee exiting the kitchen cupboard and arriving between our seats, it appeared uneventful!

About an hour before San Luis Potosi we changed our minds and turned east onto a new toll road. This would save us at least 2 hours travel the next day as we had planned to backtrack about an hour to the “libre” to the east.

30 Kilometres later we arrived the toll booth, paid the requested toll and carried on. About 12 Km later a white van passed us, (we were doing about the speed limit) tooted the horn, put on their 4 way flashers and slowed down to about 40 Km/H (on a 100Km/H highway). About a kilometre later when it was safe to pull off they did so, signalling us to stop. We pulled up along side and Art queried "Que Pasa?" The van was from the toll booth; the young lady had not noticed the car we were towing and had not charged us for it!!!!

We gave her 100 pesos and asked for a receipt. She said she would be back in a minute and drove back a little way to one of the exit toll booths. She promptly returned with our receipt and 5 pesos change. Art thanked her and said that this was the most amusing thing that had happened all day. We laughed for the rest of the day.

Along the way we spotted several large "dust devils" and Gillian managed to snap a picture of one through the bug splattered windshield.

We arrived in Rio Verde just a bit before dusk. We were looking for a hotel mentioned in the “Church” book. We asked a few times for directions to the Media Luna Hotel, described as near Rio Verde. At the last place we checked, a Pemex (gas station) west of Rio Verde, we were assured that it was about 20 minutes further down the road. As we pulled back onto the highway we both immediately spotted the large sign on the other side of the street, not 100 metres away; "Hotel Media Luna!

We pulled in and Gillian checked us in (200 pesos)--they could give us electricity and water but had no sewer, though if we had a box to put it in they could get rid of it for us.!!!!??

As Gillian walked the dogs Art got us parked and set up. For some reason he opened the bedroom closet to find that the clothes rod had fallen to the floor of the closet, the cheap plastic supports having broken at both ends!!!

We were parked in front of the restaurant so we went in, ordered a couple of cold beer from the owner behind the bar which we carried over to a table. Since there was a wireless connection, we had brought the lap top and took the opportunity to catch up on e-mail. The waiter kindly supplied an extension cord as the battery on this old clunker is only good for 20 minutes or so.

The sign did say that the restaurant was open; a waiter was folding table cloths, there seemed to be one or two people wandering in and out of the kitchen area, but there was no indication of food preparation, no menus offered or in sight, no one asked if we wanted anything, and the owner soon disappeared into his office. We later asked what hours the restaurant was open and he said until 11:00 PM!!!

We strolled around the Hotel grounds with the dogs, admiring the empty pool (after all, it's winter!) and the gardens which were a bit run down. There was also a dive shop on the property, though Rio Verde is no where near the ocean, diving in the lake at the Media Luna Park is quite popular.

We made a simple supper in the motorhome and had a reasonably early night, preparing for tomorrow's drive through the mountains to the Gulf Coast.

Crossing the border; Eagle Pass/Piedras Negras to Saltillo

We usually plan ahead to avoid weekend border crossings, but here we were on a Friday morning. We had used this crossing last year, but had got a bit lost, and had to ask a city works crew for directions. This year we were well prepared; last years experience AND the GPS.

At twenty minutes past eight we pulled out of the WalMart parking lot for the ten minute drive to the border. We knew from last years touring of the city that we should turn left, but the GPS wanted us to turn right. Well, we did. At the end of that road, we were sure we should again turn left, but again the GPS sent us right. By the time we were almost out of town, and north bound, we realised that for some reason, our GPS didn’t want us to cross at Eagle Pass, but was sending us about 60 miles back the way we had come yesterday to the city of Del Rio!

A check with a gas station attendant and we turned around. We soon knew we were on the right track, there were signs for the border! As we crossed a bridge in town, we say a sign saying Trucks Left Lane. We moved left, the next sign said Mexican Border straight ahead. Within a couple of blocks we saw the border crossing, and a sign saying "Border Crossing. CARS ONLY". It looked a little low and narrow, so we immediately pulled off into another gas station. There was a city works truck (another one!) filling up, so Gillian went to as the driver for directions to the Truck Crossing, also known and the “second” bridge. He told us he was going that way, and to follow him.

We managed to get out of everyone’s way while we waited, and ten minutes later we were following him down the road. We soon recognised the route from last year, as he signalled us to turn left. We saw the tiny sign that said “Mexico” which we remembered from last year, and carried confidently on. Within half a block we didn’t recognise anything, and soon the border check point was on our left, a high chain link fence separating it from the road! Where was the entrance??? A few moments later we were driving under the bridge we should have been driving over, the border point on out left, the Rio Grande on our right. Within a couple of minutes we caught up to a semi truck creeping along. We pulled up beside him for help, he was lost too!!

He was following his GPS instructions! We drove past and eventually, having made almost a complete circle, came upon an un-marked exit lane that at the last minute we recognised as the entrance to the border point and the bridge. We realised that when back in town once we had crossed the bridge and moved to the left lane we should have turned left immediately, not carried on straight to the car crossing. We hadn't seen any other signs though.

We crossed the border at about nine, and on entering the Mexican side, we pulled up behind a semi trailer who was stopped in front of a chain across the road. About five minutes later an official arrived to open the padlock ....with a set of bolt cutters!

An attendant waved us around to the other side, looked at our passports, and asked where we were going, and waved us on. This was not our main stop. We knew that about 20 kilometres down the road we had to stop for immigration and to get our vehicle permits from customs, so we were not surprised at the cursory check. As we turned the corner we heard a whistle, and on looking in the side mirror, Art could see an official running after us and waving his arms.

We stopped and Gillian opened the door as he came up, quite angry with us, and telling us that we didn’t stop for the customs check. When Art told him that we had been waved on back at the building we had just passed, he got on his radio and began querying someone on the other end. “Did you pass them on?, Yes. Did you examine the vehicle? No.” Then there was a bunch of rapid Spanish that we couldn’t follow, but we could certainly understand that the unfortunate guy on the other end was in trouble! The customs official came in, asked us a few questions (the first being “does he bite?” as Trekker tried to lick him to death). A quick peek into the fridge and he was gone with a polite “Buen Viaje”. We were rolling at twenty after nine.

The road ran straight ahead, though there was a road going off from the right signed for Piedras Negras, (the border town) but it looked like the main road went straight ahead. Some kilometres later we came to a T, with no signs. After a bit of discussion we turned right, and were soon driving into Piedras Negras, and within a few blocks saw the big sign Saltillo, Left. The road that came in from the right at thet point we are sure was where we should have been coming from. Next time we’ll turn right earlier and hope it doesn’t take us through the middle of the town over hundreds of topes (speed bumps).

Our next meeting with officialdom was for our tourist cards and vehicle permits. There was almost no line up, so having ‘been there done that’ many times we knew the drill and were through easily and relatively quickly. There was one poor older lady, probably a Mexican national, trying to get the paperwork arranged for her truck and trailer which we had seen out side, piled with belongings. Near as we could tell, the vehicle was not in her name, being part of an estate she had inherited. She had letters from lawyers and notarised documents, but the clerk was having none of it. She was still patiently, explaining over again, when we left.

Outside, a Mexican came over and pointed out the lane we should take as we left. Art realised he was selling something out of a plastic pail covered by a towel. He went over to investigate and bought a couple of tacos for lunch. The man’s companion was selling cold drinks from a pail full of ice water.

We still had to run the last gauntlet–we could be inspected once again. Uniformed and armed officials waved us to a stop, checked our windshield holograms and the attendant paperwork, and unsmilingly waved us on.

Twenty past eleven, we were rolling down the road, watching the GPS with interest. It now seemed to know where we were and where we were going! We remembered from last year all the main highway construction which ran through the centre of the city of Monclova, and were hoping it would be completed. No such luck, though things were much better than last year, there were still several sections of very narrow dirt lanes and heavy traffic. We have seen a lot worse, and were soon out of the city back on the Mex 57 for Saltillo.

Shortly after two, we made a lunch stop along side the highway which was signed as a picnic area. There was a wide gravel shoulder, a shade tree and an overflowing garbage can. A nice view to the east, where in the distance we could see the traffic on Mex 53, the highway to Monterrey. 40 kilometres further down the road, as we climbed into the mountains, we came across a very pretty rest area, over looking the river, at Puente Ojo de Agua. We missed it last year too!!! We tried for a picture but we were too slow. Gillian managed to get a few pictures as we passed through the mountains.

Our GPS was marking our position, showing Saltillo getting closer and closer. We had enjoyed (mostly!) our travels through the States, but we were really looking forward to our first night in Mexico.

Bluff to the Border

Before we left Bluff we stopped into the Trading Post below the Navajo Twin Rocks where Art popped in to buy Birthday and Christmas presents for Gillian. We had both browsed the Post the day before, and Art had noticed her very interested in a few items. We also found a new novel by Tony Hellerman who wrote detective novels set in the area, and including much of the Navajo culture. We had been introduced to his novels by a New Mexican lady we had met in Zihuatanejo some years ago. We also sadly discovered that the author had very recently died.

In a short while we were back on the road en route to Albuquerque, New Mexico. We had an uneventful drive over what could be charitably called a pretty poor road surface, via the northeast corner of Arizona, into northwest New Mexico. This area on all sides of the “4 Corners” area is mostly Navajo Nation Indian Reservation, with Ute Reservations occupying the northeast in New Mexico and Colorado. This was the setting of most of the Kellerman novels. The scenery is quite stark, relieved occasionally by some geological anomaly.


We watched Shiprock approach, pass us by to the right, and disappear behind us. Though it appeared close, it was actually about 10 Kilometers away. We would have liked to get a bit closer, but access is somewhat restricted, as Shiprock figures prominently in the Navajo Nation culture and has significant spiritual significance. A favourite nephew was disappointed to hear this as he would have loved to climb it!

We carried on east, through the towns of Shiprock and Kirkland, stopping for some grocery shopping and lunch in Farmington, where we turned south on highway 550 to Albuquerque. We drove through the city as rush-hour was winding down, then west again on the I-40 for a few miles to the Enchanted Trails Campground, where we were settled in by about 6:45.

In the morning, (4th of November) while Art hooked up the car and re-tightened the bikes on the bike rack mounted on the back of the motorhome, Gillian took the dogs for a walk. On her return, she settled the dogs in the motorhome and wandered next door to CampingWorld while Art took the opportunity to fill up with propane at the park. With the propane topped up, nothing we couldn't live without at CampingWorld (this time!) we were on the road again.

Ten minutes down the highway we pulled into a Flying J Truck Stop to fill with diesel, 850 km since our last fill. We took 58 US gallons, so about 9.1 MPG (US) or 11 MPG in Imperial measure. Not only does this rig have a bigger fuel tank, it gets better mileage than the old rig! (Notice we don't use the expression "fuel economy"!) Back in Albuquerque, we turned south on the I-25 which would take us to our appointment in Anthony, Texas on the New Mexico / Texas border. We stopped at a Rest Area for lunch just after noon--probably our earliest ever lunch stop and by 3:30 we were in Anthony at CampingWorld.

We checked in to confirm our appointment in the morning, the mechanic checking that the solenoid they had ordered for us was in fact the right one! It was. We also checked that the Bar B Que we were picking up for our friends in Mexico was waiting for us. Paul and Linda had bought a condo and were now traveling by car, not truck and 5th wheel, and had no room for their new cooker so we had agreed to take it to Zihuatanejo for them. So far so good.

HA! Knew things were too good to last!

Art went out to check the bikes on the bike rack (checked daily to ensure they had not worked loose) but couldn't find the keys! After looking everywhere, he remembered where he had put them down--on the hood of the car back at the campground in Albuquerque! A quick word with the service manager who was able to recommend a locksmith. Art made the call and arranged for the locksmith to come around in the morning.

We jumped into the car to find some dinner, but there seemed to be a severe shortage of good eating places, so we "ate in" that evening and had an early night.

The locksmith arrived early, shortly after 8:00 AM and soon had cut off a couple of locks and picked a couple more, for which he made keys. Unfortunately, it was the expensive locks the couldn't pick or re-key!!!! However, $60.00 later the bikes were unchained, and $20.00 in CampingWorld bought a couple more locks. We would buy good bike locks later at a bike shop or department store.

The moment the locksmith was done the motorhome went into the shop. The new solenoid was installed and a few other minor items attended to and we picked up the Barbecue. Now the problem was, where could we carry it? There was no room in the bins underneath, we had 3 20KG bags of Trekker's food in there along with chairs, boxes of parts and spares, sunshades, tables, etc etc. After several attempts, we finally figured where we would put it, and we were off by early afternoon:




We just followed I-10 passing through El Paso well before rush hour, covering 420 kilometres with one short rest stop, stopping for the night at WalMart in Fort Stockton about 7:30. We weren't in sightseeing mode anymore, we just wanted to get to Mexico. We went out looking for dinner, hoping to find a "Texas Barbecue" restaurant. We found one but it was closed, apparently permanently, so carried on looking around. One Chinese place, and one Mexican place. We opted for the Mexican. It was mediocre at best, did not have a liquor licence (not even beer and wine) so we washed it down with lemonade. Not impressed. Should have eaten in again, but neither of us felt like cooking.

In the morning we turned south on highway 285 to intersect highway 90, heading for the border town of Eagle Pass for out last night in the US. Once we got to where the Pecos River joins the Rio Grande the drive became quite scenic.


The Amistad Dam near the town of Del Rio has created a large lake which is now part of the Amistad Recreational Area. "Amistad" means friendship, and this dam which straddles the US Mexico border is a joint US/Mexican project. It's main purpose is flood control and water conservation, and it also supports a hydroelectric generation plant. The picture is of the bridge over one of the many flooded canyons.

Mid afternoon we arrived at yet another WalMart, in Eagle Pass on the Rio Grande, ready to cross the river into Mexico in the morning. We checked in with security and after the dogs were walked we set off to find an ATM as we were almost out of US dollars. Then up the street to a "Fuddruckers" (a Burger Chain) where we ordered a couple of large burgers and a couple of Coronas--Mexican beer as we were getting into Mexico Mode!

The food arrived and was, what can we say, OK. Not much better than that. We have not been impressed with the food in Texas so far, I mean you would think that Mexican food and Burgers and Beer in Texas would be great! We both decided that in future we will plan to eat in the motorhome while in Texas. It will take something special to get our attention next time.