Pax Gaea Human Rights World Post

Tampico, Mexico to San Luis Potosi, Mexico

I had every intention of posting this last night while it was fresh in my mind but I discovered how easy it is to lose everything youve just written in a blog with one accidental keystroke. Now, Im writing in word and pasting to my blogs, saving incessantly!

We woke yesterday a bit late and with a long list of things to do but the Hotel Miramar Inn and the staff were so great we just found ourselves moving in low gear. We enjoyed a great breakfast of Mexican eggs, frijoles and a big stack of corn tortilla and copious quantities of coffee. We finally headed out around 11:00, taking one more pass along Playa Miramar though, because we were behind schedule, I opted to snap a few more photos rather than take the much desired dip. Then it was back to the long, complicated route through Tampico to find an ATM, an Internet café and gas. I usually pride myself on my sense of direction and I tried to memorize landmarks that would take me back to the Zona Fiscal, or banking center but I kept making the wrong turn and stopped at the first roadside ATM I could find and drew out a few thousand pesos. Equal bad luck locating the dozen or so Internet Cafes I had seen coming into town so we planned to make a stop in Ciudad Valles to accomplish that goal. Next was finding a Pemex gas station to refuel. Now, say what you want about full service but thank Gaea for people who have the patience to withstand loco Americanos. My attendant, who knew absolutely no English, tried to communicate how to get back on Carretera 70 as clearly as he could, and having no success, a few other attendants jumped in to try to clarify until, finally, one resorted to drawing a map for me. I could see their chagrin in my rearview mirror when I turned right instead of left but they sent up a little cheer when I made a U-turn, honking as I passed that they had, indeed, communicated the message to me.

I decided to follow their advice even though each street I turned down felt wrong but, in just a few minutes we were on Avenida Hidalgo and there, looming ahead, was the sign reading Mexico 70 via Ciudad Valles. Now I have been impressed with the Mexican highways thus far but this next stretch confirmed every fear I had of driving in Mexico. The road leading out of Tampico was steep, pitched and rutted and, because of the on-going construction, narrowed to one way traffic. This created a bit of white knuckling on my part but this bad road made its way through beautiful ranch country.

Just as quickly as I had been swallowed in a miles long line of traffic, the sign indicating San Luis Potosi stretched wide open before me as the rest of the traffic diverted off to Ciudad Valles. As we were running behind we opted to roll on and see if we could find an Internet Café in San Luis Potosi instead but, strangely this road felt wrong and desolate as I turn onto what felt like an off ramp and was forced into a construction zone that made me feel like I had missed a sign as I passed by workmen and steamrollers, right through their work area. They seemed nonplussed but I felt a little weird about it and then suddenly a hard right and I were back on a two lane that very quickly began to ascend into very steep mountains. Now, I love driving mountain roads. I have absolute joy twisting along the Blue Ridge Parkway or the Angeles Crest Highway in California but this, this was a driving experience. Every few hundred meters was another sign reading "Curva Peligrosa" and these blind turns were simply that. But, punctuating the severity of the drive were little roadside memorials commemorating someone whom had died. Now, we may see these on roads in the U.S. but these things are elaborate, with permanent stone crosses and little chapels with saints and candles. It seems not only to commemorate the loss but, in this deeply Catholic nation, it seems a constant prayer for the safety of all drivers who pass. The girls made a sport of calling out each new monument and its elaborate accoutrements. I tried to be chipper and make the best of it but Abi, in true unfiltered fashion, finally asks, "Dad are we about to die?" I tried to laugh it off and tell her that, with so many blessing, we were as safe as we could be but I must confess the thought crossed my mind a time or two. I consider us fortunate in that we had virtually no traffic and the rain that seemed to fall on all sides of our mountains, stayed away from our road. In a few hours of seemingly endless switchbacks and twists and turns, we once again found ourselves in one way driving traffic as we proceeded around some of the more precarious of roads but, suddenly, these wide plateaus opened before us and we found ourselves doing 100 km/h across flat two lanes. Just as amazing, out of nowhere a sign pointed us to a sudden right an a "Super Carretera" which is some of the smoothest, flattest asphalt you can ask for and now we were cruising along at 110 and 120 km/h making up for much lost time on switchback mountain. This Super Carretera eventually dumped us onto an Autopista, the pride and joy of the Mexican Highway Department whose roads resemble American Interstates and in a few hours we were in San Luis Potosi.

We had been fortunate thus far to find dog friendly accommodations and I have my pitch wired to make the case for my poco perro mi amore. The first place I saw was a Holiday Inn Express and I began my loco Americano patter. They told me no and were about to send me on my way when a clerk and a manager took pity on me and began calling around to other hotels. We were left with one possibility. The Holiday Inn Quixote just a mile away would let us put Rommel in a kennel. While it had been rainy, it had an igloo, a big run and, yes, even a chill in the air at this altitude but, it seemed like the perfect option so we took it. This place is a lot more luxurious then we were banking on but it has yet another, kind and accommodating staff, great food and a toleration for Rommel who barked all night. Hes way too spoiled and needed to be reminded that, while family, he is a perro, and needs to be reminded of that occasionally. We just finished a huge breakfast buffet and the girls took a swim, were packing off and heading for Morelia but, as it is almost noon, well settle for Queretaro. We have a list of dog friendly accommodations and are motivated that we are almost to our destination.

Keep writing. We love your encouragement. Hasta Luego!

posted by Dave Carroll @ 8/10/2006 12:13:00 PM