Saltillo to Mexquitic near San Luis Potosi

Thursday Nov 3rd

Saltillo to Mexquitic (near San Luis Potosi)

Exhausted from our tour yesterday (and there hadn't even been a wine tasting!) we had been early to bed without beginning to pack up in preparation for our departure this morning. Art was up shortly after seven and Gillian not far behind.

After breakfast the breaking camp procedure was going well and surprisingly enough it was beginning to look like we would be on our way by nine. Until the last chore prior to hooking up the jeep—dumping the holding tanks, normally just a five or ten minute job.

Due to the placement of the sewer dump site—over a curb and behind the rig Art decided to move the motorhome alongside several spaces and he would be able to us the short 5' hose without dragging out the 15 footer and the 5 foot extension.

All went as planned until he pulled the lever to dump the black tank. As the stuff ran out the hose and down the drain Art heard the gurgling sound increasing in pitch—this meant that the sewage was rising in the drain. He was able to close the valve in time to prevent a messy and smelly spill.

After waiting several minutes the level went down enough to dump a little more. This went on, and on, and on. Eventually the black tank was empty. Now for the gray water—the waste from the shower, bathroom basin and kitchen sink. There was a lot more volume to dispose of! Art let several batches to flow at a high rate to clear any solids and sludge from the bottom of the tank then closed the valve and reopened it to just a trickle, so that the drain was able to keep up.

This was going to take a while! Finally Art decided to take a short cut: The black tank never gets completely filled, so raising the discharge hose above the level of the the waste tanks he opened both valves so the gray water would flow into the black tank. When the water stopped flowing he knew (or at least hoped) that each tank had half the remaining waste. Closing the black tank valve he drained the hose and returned to the slow draining of the gray tank. After a bit more of that Art decided that enough was enough, closed the valve and began to clean the hose and pack things up.

Meanwhile Gillian had told one of the gardeners that the drain was blocked and was assured that he would advise maintenance. Before Art was done maintenance showed up in the form of a three man crew equipped with a garden hose, a toilet plunger and one pair of rubber gloves!

Within a few minutes the jeep was hooked up and we were ready to go. As we pulled out of the parking area (at 9:40) the workers were bringing in a fire hose! It was almost tempting to stay and watch the proceedings.

We have been through Saltillo and around the ring road several times so had no trouble finding our way, though the exit to San Luis Potosi was new to us. We usually went further around a to the Zacatecas exit.

Some time later as we were approaching the ramp to the Quota (toll road) we noticed two police vehicles (pickup trucks) parked in an open gravel area along side, the officers chatting. As we went past Art saw them pull into the road behind us. Their lights were flashing, though this is common when they are just driving in traffic but Art moved over to the shoulder and they pulled along side and waved us over Art stopped and an officer approached the drivers window as the other pickup pulled in as well. Art, speaking only English said good morning, is there a problem. The officer said that we had been exceeding the "limite de velocidad". Art said it is 60, no? Which the officer confirmed. Art insisted that he was not going faster that that, and the driver asked for his drivers license. As he got up out of the drivers seat to reach for his wallet he said to Gillian to get the phone and call Jesus.

As Art offered the officer his license he told the officer that he didn't speak very much Spanish and that he was phoning his friend to help him understand. The officer immediately refused the license and wave us on saying no, no you go, I no speak English, you go, is OK! They all got in their vehicles and drove away.

Art put his license back in his wallet and we hit the road again, while Gillian called Jesus to let him know what happened. He asked Gillian to descrive the pickup—we had made note of it's number, and Gillian had noted the Municipality name on the truck. Jesus said that we would call the city and report what was probably an extortion attempt, what is called here La Mordida, or The Little Bite. Jesus told her that he knew the city clerk, who had been a student of his! Nothing like a Mexican cell phone and a Mexican friend!

The rest of the trip was uneventful, the terrain primarily flat dry dessert with some farming. Further down the highway we were puzzled as to why the road had a 80 Km/H speed limit posted when it was as wide and in as good or better condition as other sections posted at speeds of up to 110. It wasn't until we had passed several small herds of goats, a couple herds of cows several horses and donkeys, and once a mixed group of all of the above, grazing sometimes unattended in the median or on the verges of a two lane divided highway, that we began to see that there might be logic behind it after all!

After a bit we began to encounter a few hills, some with steep but short passes through then we were back on level ground. Though much of the road was in pretty good shape a lot was pretty bad. In many cases even the 80 Km/H limit was pushing it with things rattling around and the motorhome vibrating on the rough surface. Trekker was not impressed.

We stopped at a Pemex for fuel, ourselves as well the rig, and after taking on 2,000 pesos worth of diesel we parked on the side of the station to make sandwiches and walk the dogs. Here we noted and Art investigated an old tanker truck on display. The licence plates were dated 53-54.

The approach to San Luis Potosi led to even worse road condition especially once we got onto the north perifico. The speed limit was between 40 and 60 Km/H but we were hard pressed to maintain 40. We found our way without difficulty and soon turned off for the RV Park.

It too was where we expected it to be but the access was pretty tight. We parked on the street, blocking half the lane, to unhook the jeep and entered the park separately, Art in the motorhome first. Dead ahead was the lighthouse with the driveway going around it, which he followed to the right. Behind the lighthouse, the view blocked by the lighthouse, was a broken down water truck blocking the road! Thanks to the short wheel base and the sharp front wheel cut of the Freightliner chassis Art was able to do a 13 point turn and drive out the way he came!

The owner's wife came out to meet us and told us we could park anywhere we liked so we backed in to a handy spot and we were soon settled in except for the electric. There were outlets connected with two wires but there was no ground connection, and the inverter checks incoming A.C. and if it doesn't like what it sees it won't let it into the coach. Ah well, we have the generator.

Pedro, the owner showed up in the morning; He had used a large bare wire as the neutral, a heavy black as the hot (standard North American practice) but the ground had just been cut off where if fed the system. Art showed him the problem which he seemed to understand and said we would correct it. Art didn't mention the seriously undersized wire feed.