The Housing Crisis may not be what you think…
Rental property may be your saving grace in today’s economy. Even though home prices are falling in most of the U.S, many people are finding that it is still cheaper to rent than to purchase and renting may be an only option for some.
As we see the difficulties more prevalent in securing mortgages for that special home that someone can call their own, we come to the realization that the market has taken a turn for the better. Better you say? Yes. For the Real Estate Investor.
Many people have been forced out of their homes by foreclosure because of job loss, increase interest rate or they've sold their home during a high season with the anticipation of purchasing again. The problem is, they cannot qualify for financing or cannot afford to shell out the 10 to 20% down payment that may be required. Outside of living with friends or family, the only other option is to rent a home, condo or apartment. Therefore, the need for long-term rental properties are beginning to increase and in some markets they are actually in high demand.
There are three basics elements in life that one must have in order to survive; food, water and shelter. It has been in my experience that the typical person, after going through a foreclosure or bankruptcy, generally make the best Tenants. These are usually people that have reached a desperate point in their lives because they no longer have the shelter needed to protect their families. It is also in my experience that if given an opportunity, they will care for the property in which they are renting and will do everything in their power to make sure that the rent is paid on time. Most will not risk eviction as the chances of getting another chance from a different Landlord would be minimal.
The Playa area is a little different than that of the US. Foreclosures have not been an issue, mortgages are just becoming main-stream and there has been no time for defaulted loans. However, the cost of housing, especially near or not too far from the beach, can sometimes be a little out of the typical local person’s financial reach. Therefore they rent.
And this is what I’ve been pondering over for awhile now…
What happens when we do not have a supply of good long-term rental housing for our locals? Where do they live? What happens to the growth of the area and the economy? Yes, the economy thrives on the tourists that visit but what happens when we can no longer build and manage the resorts, open the stores, restaurants and bars for the tourists because we cannot adequately house our workers?
The Riviera Maya is experiencing much growth from industrial, transportation, as well as in industries that support the resorts and many of the tourist activities. Because of this, tourism has increased, which causes a need for additional workers on all levels of the economic spectrum. These workers need housing. They cannot live in vacation rentals. Many cannot purchase. They need housing that will accommodate their families and housing that they can call home, even if it is only for moment instead of a life-time. They need someplace that they can begin building memories, setting goals for building their futures and reaching milestones in their lives. They are not the shunned. They are the typical person. They are just like you and me.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Blake's birthday and our family time
September 21, 2008
As you know, between Dave and I, we have three boys from previous marriages. Blaine-age 17, Dylan-age 14 and Blake-age 10.
With regards to our move to Mexico, Blaine will be staying with his Father to finish up high school then probably head to Playa del Carmen to be with us. Who knows...he's 17 and the world changes hourly!
Dylan and Blake live with their Mother in Dallas. They will visit as often as they can, especially on holidays and summers.
So Blake just turned 10 last week. Blake and Dylan came into my life only a little over 3 years ago but it seems like I've help raise them. As a blended and broken family, we have had our issues and we have worked very hard to overcome the obstacles in each of our paths. We work to show each other that we do love each other and that they are, and always will be, very important to us, regardless of where we live. So, on Blake's birthday, we celebrated his special day. Me, Dave and Blake's mother all put our differences aside and came together to celebrate Blake. It was a very good day and I hope that it was the inital stages of healing from a broken past. It was good. Wow...making me tear up now!
Anyhow...here's a few pictures of the big day; Blaine could not be with us on this day.
Blake and Dylan before the party. Dylan is
incredibly bored and Blake is anxious
Me, Blake and Dylan. Are you serious???
Dylan is THAT tall?
Me and Blake. He's my little sweet cheeks.
Dave, Blake and Dylan. Shhh, but I think Dylan
is taller than Dave, too!
Blake being goofy as normal.
Blake and Dylan on the go carts
Blake's cake
Arrived in Playa del Carmen-Temporarily
September 8, 2008
I know I'm a little late posting this but I am finally finding the time to sit down with my thoughts.
Yes, you read the title correctly. We were only in Playa del Carmen for a few days before having to head back to Dallas. Our goal for the trip was to get our car and the last of our material possessions to Mexico so that the cat and dog did not have to drive down with us; rather, we'd all fly down together. We had projects and committments to finish in Dallas. End Of October we will return for good...I need to go ahead and buy the plane tickets.
On the Monday night, we arrived in Playa. It was a feeling of utmost joy. It was surreal. Four long days in the car was making me delusional and I could not have been any happier to actually see areas that I was familiar with.
We checked into our hotel, Aventura Mexicana (ask me my opinion on this hotel if you ever are considering staying here), in Playa del Carmen, left the truck loaded and headed out for a MUCH needed drink. "I'm HERE", was all that I wanted to scream. Instead, I took my tired butt to...hmmm...I cannot remember where we actually went...but nonetheless, we had drinks.
Over the following days we kept saying that we would get to the beach or lay by the pool to relax but could never find the time to do so. Crap...is this what my life is going to be like? No time for anything???? Instead, we managed to sleep until 10am each day (we NEVER do that!!!), found storage for our stuff at a friends house in Playacar (Thanks Maureen!!!), bought cell phones (The employees at TelCel at Centro Maya speak English), was able to meet up with other Expats for a day riding ATV's and a cenote swim (Thanks John and Libby, owners of http://www.intheroo.com/) and then on to the Pet Shelter to wash the dogs on our last day (Saturday) http://www.playadelcarmenpets.com/.
Dave and I at the Beer Bucket pre-ATV riding
The Adventuresome Group ready to ride
The Cenote that we stopped to swim in halfway
through the ATV ride. The water was so clear
but it was cold.
Bathing the dogs...Aren't they so cute????
The above pictures were taken by John and Libby, owners of http://www.intheroo.com/
So we woke up Sunday, not really wanting to go back to Dallas but we knew it was only a matter of a very short time before we were back in Playa del Carmen. Hopped a taxi to the airport, $40, only to find out that our flight was cancelled and we would not be able to get a flight with this airline until Tuesday. You see, we booked a flight that had a connection in Houston because it was alot cheaper. However, Ike had just blown through a couple days prior. Hmmm...what are we to do? I called Expedia, bought two more airline tickets for Monday morning, hopped a cab and headed to the Hilton Cancun for one night. Dave and I decided that we were going to spend the entire day at the pool. Only thing was, I left my swimsuit in storage not realizing that I'd need it again before my move. So we hopped on a bus in the Hotel Zone, headed to the mall to find a swimsuit for me. I should have just wore a sweater to the pool! Let's just say...I'm not in the habit of wearing a bikini, I have not in years. But...it was a choice of a bikini or a grandma suite. A bikini it was. $120 bikini and we were off to the hotel pool. Now, I was not feeling so comfortable in my newfound attire, but I attempted to shrug it off. It was a day of relaxation, sun, pool, beach and nothing was going to ruin it for me...not even my new bikini. Well, 5 hours later it was time to go inside and grab some dinner, shower and go to bed. Early to rise in the morning to catch our 7am flight back to Dallas. Dinner...yum. Shower...OUCH!!!!! Holy crap where the hell did this sunburn come from?????? My poor belly, the one that has not seen the light of day in years, finally got some sun! Someone shoot me please...this hurts! A few Advil pm and I was soon okay.
Nite...see you tomorrow.
I know I'm a little late posting this but I am finally finding the time to sit down with my thoughts.
Yes, you read the title correctly. We were only in Playa del Carmen for a few days before having to head back to Dallas. Our goal for the trip was to get our car and the last of our material possessions to Mexico so that the cat and dog did not have to drive down with us; rather, we'd all fly down together. We had projects and committments to finish in Dallas. End Of October we will return for good...I need to go ahead and buy the plane tickets.
On the Monday night, we arrived in Playa. It was a feeling of utmost joy. It was surreal. Four long days in the car was making me delusional and I could not have been any happier to actually see areas that I was familiar with.
We checked into our hotel, Aventura Mexicana (ask me my opinion on this hotel if you ever are considering staying here), in Playa del Carmen, left the truck loaded and headed out for a MUCH needed drink. "I'm HERE", was all that I wanted to scream. Instead, I took my tired butt to...hmmm...I cannot remember where we actually went...but nonetheless, we had drinks.
Over the following days we kept saying that we would get to the beach or lay by the pool to relax but could never find the time to do so. Crap...is this what my life is going to be like? No time for anything???? Instead, we managed to sleep until 10am each day (we NEVER do that!!!), found storage for our stuff at a friends house in Playacar (Thanks Maureen!!!), bought cell phones (The employees at TelCel at Centro Maya speak English), was able to meet up with other Expats for a day riding ATV's and a cenote swim (Thanks John and Libby, owners of http://www.intheroo.com/) and then on to the Pet Shelter to wash the dogs on our last day (Saturday) http://www.playadelcarmenpets.com/.
Dave and I at the Beer Bucket pre-ATV riding
The Adventuresome Group ready to ride
The Cenote that we stopped to swim in halfway
through the ATV ride. The water was so clear
but it was cold.
Bathing the dogs...Aren't they so cute????
The above pictures were taken by John and Libby, owners of http://www.intheroo.com/
So we woke up Sunday, not really wanting to go back to Dallas but we knew it was only a matter of a very short time before we were back in Playa del Carmen. Hopped a taxi to the airport, $40, only to find out that our flight was cancelled and we would not be able to get a flight with this airline until Tuesday. You see, we booked a flight that had a connection in Houston because it was alot cheaper. However, Ike had just blown through a couple days prior. Hmmm...what are we to do? I called Expedia, bought two more airline tickets for Monday morning, hopped a cab and headed to the Hilton Cancun for one night. Dave and I decided that we were going to spend the entire day at the pool. Only thing was, I left my swimsuit in storage not realizing that I'd need it again before my move. So we hopped on a bus in the Hotel Zone, headed to the mall to find a swimsuit for me. I should have just wore a sweater to the pool! Let's just say...I'm not in the habit of wearing a bikini, I have not in years. But...it was a choice of a bikini or a grandma suite. A bikini it was. $120 bikini and we were off to the hotel pool. Now, I was not feeling so comfortable in my newfound attire, but I attempted to shrug it off. It was a day of relaxation, sun, pool, beach and nothing was going to ruin it for me...not even my new bikini. Well, 5 hours later it was time to go inside and grab some dinner, shower and go to bed. Early to rise in the morning to catch our 7am flight back to Dallas. Dinner...yum. Shower...OUCH!!!!! Holy crap where the hell did this sunburn come from?????? My poor belly, the one that has not seen the light of day in years, finally got some sun! Someone shoot me please...this hurts! A few Advil pm and I was soon okay.
Nite...see you tomorrow.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Day 4 Coatzacoalcos to Playa del Carmen
Day 4 Rise and shine...4:38 am. Let’s go! I stumbled over to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, washed my face and holy cow....what are these black things under my eyes???? What do I do, I look like I’ve been beat up! I searched for some eye cream...I got nothing. No close up shots of me today! I threw on my blue jeans, a tee shirt, ball cap and flip flops, helped Dave load the truck and off we go. No coffee, no breakfast, no nothing. It’s going to be a great day! The drive this morning was pretty boring because it was still dark outside and there was not much to see. We did see a large big rig turned over on its side with so much fruit covering the highway. Everyone seemed okay. The sun did not come up until we reached Villahermosa. Filled up with gas, grabbed the worst coffee ever and on the road we went looking for hwy 186... Found it. By my calculations, we only have 611 km to reach Chetumal, which should put us there around 12 or 1:00 pm today. I’m starving. We’ve eaten nothing in 24+ hours except a pp&j sandwich that I made driving down the road. Maybe we will find something soon. Driving down 186 was really no different than some of what we’ve experienced over the last couple of days but maybe I really took notice this morning. It’s about 8am and we are still in the state of Tabasco; the children are off to school. Hwy 186 is a 2 lane hwy, a lot of which is under construction so the road in many places is very dangerous. What you see though is many open air shanties that these people call their home. I’d be very surprised if any of them had electricity. This sight made me realize why so many Mexican Nationals want to leave Mexico to seek a better life. The conditions were deplorable, the people looked sad and what concerned me the most was that the Mother’s would walk their children miles down this main hwy to go to school, cars exceeding 100km with many trying to play chicken while passing other drivers. I know that these are daily life tasks for these people and they may or may not think twice about it but as an outsider, my heart goes out to them because I know that there is danger there. Not intentional danger, just very high risk for a tragic accident. We have not experienced any rain today; I really hope that it stays clear. I haven’t been able to check the bed to see if it’s ruined or not and I will wait until I reach Playa to do so. Why put a cloud on my good day because there would be nothing I could do about it anyhow. Just north of Chetumal, about 400km, we come to a checkpoint. Took out the passports and visa expecting them to look over them but they didn’t. However, they wanted to see in the back of the Tahoe. Now I don’t remember if mentioned before or not but in order to get to the back of the Tahoe, you have to take the bikes off the rack; the bikes that are rigged to the rack. This is an ordeal and they did not care. There were at least five military and police watching in anticipation on what they were going to find. HA...you find nothing, I want to loudly say. Instead, I waited in the car like a good little wife in a culture where the man makes the rules. Besides, I did not want Dave to get into trouble because he could not control his wife from running her mouth. God I am such a thoughtful person. hehe. We finally find a Pemex to stop at and get a little snack...my belly has not forgotten that I’ve not eaten yet and it’s 9:30am. So the only thing that this whole in the wall Pemex station sells is coke, not diet coke but the real life, sugar-laden, make your teeth scream coke. Ok...I will have a coke. They also sell junk food such as chips, cookies and a couple of other things. Where are the nuts? They would hold me over until Chetumal when we find decent food. No nuts. Okay, I will take a coke and a bag of ruffles; not baked ruffles but the greasy ones. 3 chips, a drink of coke and I am on a sugar high for the day. Can’t do it; it was not good. I’ll wait for Chetumal. Three miles later, another check point. We stop. The military asks where are you going. Playa del Carmen we say. Okay...buh-bye. Much of Hwy 186 is under construction just past Escarcega. We were cruising along following a van and a Volkswagen was following us...we were making good time and it was quiet entertaining for the three cars to try to keep up with each other. But then we looked down at the gas gauge..1/4 tank left. Oh no!!! It’s exactly 157 km from Escarcega to the nearest Pemex. Then one appeared right before our eyes just south of Xpujil. Be careful here though, they are sneaky! The little boy washing my windshield was trying to distract me while the other two men were looking in the car, eyeballing what they wanted. UGH...no problems with this kind of thing until now. And there it was; hwy 307! My heart was pounding and everything just looked so differently than the rest of the country. It had the feel of the place I love and the smells that are all too familiar. STOP THE CAR!!! Right before my very eyes was the first sign of the sea.. Who cares if it was the lagoon in Bacalar; it was still Caribbean water. There were ribbons of deep blue against the teal; the colors that make the water so beautiful. I knew I had less than 3 hours to Playa. Once I arrive, I will check into our hotel, find a margarita somewhere and listen to the sounds of Playa. This has been a wonderful trip and I am thankful that I was able to do it. I’ve seen some of the most beautiful countryside and some of the worst, too and there is nothing that I would do differently. The way that I look at it; Total cost for the 3 nights hotel with tax.$374. Total cost of gas to get to Playa.$480. Driving through Mexico with my best friend. Priceless. So that’s my trip...My 2300 mile journey. Thank you for sharing it with me. If you ever have the desire to take a journey of your own, wherever that it might be, I hope that you will take the time to do it; I have a feeling that you will not regret it. A couple of must have items if you make this drive: Rainex for the windshield Windshield wiper fluid Windex and squeegee so that you can clean the bugs off the windshield Toliet paper, paper towels and hand wipes A compass if your vehicle does not have a built in one. This is probably the most important as you WILL get turned around. However, as long as you can see that you are going either in the south, east or southeast direction for 90% of the trip, you are heading in the right way. Pesos. Even OXXO does not take dollars until you get into a more of a tourist area. Here's a link to all of the pictures from our drive to Playa. I have not attached comments or tags to them yet but will do it soon. http://s236.photobucket.com/albums/ff31/macanded/Drive%20to%20Playa/
Monday, September 8, 2008
Day 3 Tampico to Coatzacoalcos.
Day 3 Tampico to Coatzacoalcos.
9-7-08
6:30 am and it’s time to get up. My body just does not want anything to do with getting back into a car today. Can’t we just take a day off from driving and stay here today? If Tampico was nice or not so crowded and had a decent beach, I might entertain that thought but today is the day that we are going to try to push ourselves through to Villahermosa, 683 miles.
No breakfast for me, I was too tired to think about eating. Forget the vitamins, too! I just need a cup of coffee. I checked out of the hotel, paid my ridiculously over-priced bill of $182 which included the room, free happy hour from 6-7 pm, free internet, very bad Italian food and a couple of margaritas and hopped in the car for the day’s journey. A journey it was...at first. We were lost on how to get to 180 heading south and we drove for an hour trying to get out of this city, which I will be polite and call a hell hole. Finally we stopped to ask directions and found a Mexico Mapsco! A real life Mexico Mapsco! WOW! We hit the jackpot! Opened it up and there it was...all the directions that I would ever need to navigate my way around Mexico. http://www.guiaroji.com.mx/ (so that is what is printed on the book). It was raining pretty hard this morning, harder than I thought because many streets were flooded or completely under water. Maybe Tampico just does not have a good drainage system.
When finally finding the Hwy that we were supposed to be on, we came upon a toll. $28 pesos. Cool...must be a pretty good road ahead. WRONG! After about 5 miles, I began thinking, “I paid money to drive THIS road???” Not only did we have to contend with not knowing where we were going but also tons of potholes, enormous topes and flash flooding! It’s going to be a great day.
One thing that gets your attention going down the road south of Tampico is men hearding their goats to the roadside. Why, I wonder? Why does it seem as though all of Mexico’s goats, cows, pigs, horses and chickens eat at the roadside? Is this mere culture since there are so many roadside taco and pollo asado stands?
The 2nd checkpoint was about 1 ½ hours south of Tampico in Naranjos. We pulled over...we know the drill at this point but the Police did not ask us to see our papers. What? Don’t you want to check them out and ask where we are going and why there are two Gingos driving through Mexico? Well I was not going to force my papers upon anyone but what do they want? Word of caution...ALWAYS act like you do NOT know Spanish, even to say hello. After the Policeman spent 3+ minutes trying to tell us he wanted money and beer, he gave up because we kept saying that we did not understand. Whew...got out of that one.
Cerro Azul is a cute little town with a decent sized population. It’s a pretty remote town but everyone seems to be in a hurry. This can’t be Mexico! Where in the world are they rushing off to? Are they late herding their goats, have curfews or are they just anxious people? Regardless, the mountain views are spectacular and half of the town in located in a little valley. There’s a military camp on the south end of town off of 180 and this is one of the very few towns that post big yellow highway signs with arrows pointing to the over-sized topes. I bet this town would be a lot of fun during festivals but there is not any place here that I would want to stay for the night though.
I sure wished it would stop raining; it’s hindering my ability to take pictures.
There are tons of auto repair shops along hwy 180 between Tampico and Tuxpam. I am quiet surprised that the people of this town are not living like Kings, in large houses, each with a staff of eight! The roads are so terrible between Tampico and Tuxpam (which is a semi-large town), that I am certain that these shops do ALOT of business.
We are doing pretty well on gas considering the monster load we have in and on top of this truck and climbing all of these mountains; averaging about 16 miles per gallon with a fill up in Dallas, San Antonio, Matamoras and Veracruz. I did not realize that Mexico was so mountainous. I took a picture of a mountain that had clouds on top of it...we were at eye level to it and you can actually see the clouds right in front of us! It was amazing. I would literally say that I could reach the sky and touch the clouds. It was very cool.
On the south side of Tuxpam we took the toll road. $26 pesos. FINALLY, a concrete road with no issues!
Military check point (some are police check points and some are military) and toll #3. $30 pesos. There were tons of people pulled over at the military check but they did not ask us to pull over. Probably because they did not want to deal with two gringos from the US that would not understand anyhow what they were asking...better not to waste time on us. PERFECT...so we kept driving.
Toll #4 in Gutierez Zamora. $18 pesos.
We have been anticipating on getting to the point on our drive in which we could actually run alongside the coastline and see the Gulf of Mexico. I heard rumors that there are beaches and waves crashing and you could see this going down the road. I was excited to know that we finally arrived in Costa Esmeralda, the town that would begin our short drive along the coast. BUT...IT WILL NOT STOP RAINING ENOUGH FOR US TO SEE ANYTHING!!!! We can barely see 5 feet in front of us much less see the Gulf that is 50 yards to our left. UGH...Oh dear Lord please do something. Finally, the next adjacent town, Casitas. Lots of small hotels and restaurants on the beach. Some hotels are nice, some are rundown but there’s a Best Western and a new hotel under construction (I did not get the name). I’d stay here for a night if I’m passing through town.
Military check point...are you kidding me...these guys are not leaving covered shelter; it’s pouring down rain. So we keep driving.
All along the hwy of 180 south of Tampico you see banana groves with bananas hanging from the trees that the workers must have just picked. There are orange tree groves everywhere and many wild orange trees just growing randomly. Do banana peppers grow on trees? I swear I saw a tree, only one though, that had the biggest light green peppers that you have ever seen hanging from it. I could not get a picture since Dave was so cautiously passing a big truck at the same time as we are going down a two lane road. Oh, that’s not the only time that he has done this...He figured out that he should just closely follow this ADO bus that would just start passing big rigs on a mountainous two lane road...What was going to happen to us...the bus would take the impact of the oncoming car, he said. Needless to say, I thought my life was ending on numerous occasions today...I thought I’d better say more prayers for me and definitely needed to say more for that idiot bus driver. Just as I was beginning to feel sorry for the bus driver because I thought he was an idiot and he was probably just having a lapse in good judgment today, he pulled into a roadside bar! The last thing is IDIOT needed was a beer! Fine...he was on his own!
Toll #5 in Nautla. $18 pesos.
4 pm and finally a break in the clouds. Thank God because this rain is making me want to take a nap! Besides, this rain has worked its way to my headboard on the top of the truck that is not only wrapped in plastic but also moving blankets and secured with duck tape. Oh I hope it’s not ruined! We will have to lug it inside tonight, unwrap it and try to salvage it.
So we came upon a town called Santa Ana with an old Mexican guy standing in the middle of the road selling what appeared to be fruit. “Let’s buy some”, I say, “I think that they are yellow cherries”. Who knows how much they were so Dave gave him $50 pesos, knowing that should cover it and we drove off. I opened the bag in excitement as I LOVE fresh cherries and I don’t recall ever having a yellow one. I popped one in my mouth, anticipating the pit to be there when all of a sudden I grabbed the trash bag...spit, spit, spit. UGH, what is this???? These things taste like crap! Here, try one. Of course Dave was a chicken (he is not a fan of fruit anyhow) so now I am stuck with this bag of yellow balls of God knows what, trying to pass themselves off as cherries!
Just north of El Viajon, right on the coast, sits the CFE plant (Mexico’s electricity provider). What a view they have; one side mountains, one side the Gulf of Mexico
Toll #6. $30 pesos
Now we are coming up on Veracruz...should we stop and stay here tonight?
Toll #7. $37 pesos
Hello Veracruz. WOW, this city is flooded! Bad drainage I suppose. Goodbye Veracruz; let’s try to push through as far as we can.
Toll #8 $70 pesos.
Wait a minute...you have to pay to get into Veracruz AND pay to get out of it, too? And does it seem as though tolls are more prevalent the further south we drive? I wonder what it would take to own my own city?????
Toll #9...good gosh, maybe I should take more pesos out of the bank!
So we are traveling down 150, south of Veracruz and the roads are great but we are beginning to feel the effects of being in this car too long. I’m getting a bit grumpy and I am ready to find a place and call it a night. Our goal though to try to make it into Villahermosa tonight and on to Playa tomorrow...so I thought. We pulled over to top off the tank with gas and asked where hwy 145 was. In my attempt to understand the directions given to me in Spanish, we realized that we had past our exit by about 30 miles! YIKES! Okay...don’t get mad, it’s okay. We just turn around and head back..no problem. Back through toll and finally find the exit. perfect. Now we need to make up some lost time. Let’s get to Villahermosa as fast as we can. Fast was not the correct adjective for this road.
Toll # 10 $150 pesos!!!! Holy cow! This road better be fast and awesome to drive down. By this time it was dark and we were doing something that we said we wouldn’t; we were driving at night. Tip...learn target driving prior to driving in Mexico and be especially careful as the higher the toll fees, the worse the roads (so it seems). This one was bad. Now to their credit, they appeared to be working on them but I guess we are in Mexico and everything is in Mexico time.
Toll #11 $140 pesos! WOW, $39 usd on 30 miles of stretch. Oh well...we were on the expressway when we could have easily taken the scenic route again. No thanks. The expressway only allows you to exit in about 9 places from once you hop on to the time you reach Villahermosa.
By this time exhaustion has kicked in and we just want to find a place to stay. As much as we want to keep going, we’ve been on the road for 14 hours, of which three of those hours were because we were lost. We stop in Minatitlan because the Mapsco says that this is a city of 100K-500K people. Perfect, we should be able to find a hotel here. We drove around the city for about an hour and it was not much bigger than Playa. All I can say is that most of this city is very dirty so when we finally found the highway again, we headed to Coatzacoalcos, which is a city about the size of Cancun. When we first arrived in Coatzacoalcos, it looked very clean; it was almost midnight. At last, a Best Western; this should be okay. We pulled in, went inside and paid for a room...$70 usd. The security guard took us to our room and said not to worry about our car, the stuff on top or the bikes because he was going to be there all night and would watch it for us. Thank you, thank you, thank you was all that I could say.
We got into the room; very dated but appeared to be clean. No big deal. Dave went across the street to get water while I stayed behind to shower. I turned on the water on in the shower and guess what...No hot water! You’ve got to be kidding me! I still need a shower and I am not in the mood to attempt my very poor broken Spanish to the front desk to explain that I need another room. Cold shower it was and now time for bed. Off goes the bedspread (ugh...in a hotel like this, they probably do not wash them often), keep one light on just in case, and closed my eyes. I have to say...a little freaked out but when looking back on it, the room wasn’t THAT bad.
9-7-08
6:30 am and it’s time to get up. My body just does not want anything to do with getting back into a car today. Can’t we just take a day off from driving and stay here today? If Tampico was nice or not so crowded and had a decent beach, I might entertain that thought but today is the day that we are going to try to push ourselves through to Villahermosa, 683 miles.
No breakfast for me, I was too tired to think about eating. Forget the vitamins, too! I just need a cup of coffee. I checked out of the hotel, paid my ridiculously over-priced bill of $182 which included the room, free happy hour from 6-7 pm, free internet, very bad Italian food and a couple of margaritas and hopped in the car for the day’s journey. A journey it was...at first. We were lost on how to get to 180 heading south and we drove for an hour trying to get out of this city, which I will be polite and call a hell hole. Finally we stopped to ask directions and found a Mexico Mapsco! A real life Mexico Mapsco! WOW! We hit the jackpot! Opened it up and there it was...all the directions that I would ever need to navigate my way around Mexico. http://www.guiaroji.com.mx/ (so that is what is printed on the book). It was raining pretty hard this morning, harder than I thought because many streets were flooded or completely under water. Maybe Tampico just does not have a good drainage system.
When finally finding the Hwy that we were supposed to be on, we came upon a toll. $28 pesos. Cool...must be a pretty good road ahead. WRONG! After about 5 miles, I began thinking, “I paid money to drive THIS road???” Not only did we have to contend with not knowing where we were going but also tons of potholes, enormous topes and flash flooding! It’s going to be a great day.
One thing that gets your attention going down the road south of Tampico is men hearding their goats to the roadside. Why, I wonder? Why does it seem as though all of Mexico’s goats, cows, pigs, horses and chickens eat at the roadside? Is this mere culture since there are so many roadside taco and pollo asado stands?
The 2nd checkpoint was about 1 ½ hours south of Tampico in Naranjos. We pulled over...we know the drill at this point but the Police did not ask us to see our papers. What? Don’t you want to check them out and ask where we are going and why there are two Gingos driving through Mexico? Well I was not going to force my papers upon anyone but what do they want? Word of caution...ALWAYS act like you do NOT know Spanish, even to say hello. After the Policeman spent 3+ minutes trying to tell us he wanted money and beer, he gave up because we kept saying that we did not understand. Whew...got out of that one.
Cerro Azul is a cute little town with a decent sized population. It’s a pretty remote town but everyone seems to be in a hurry. This can’t be Mexico! Where in the world are they rushing off to? Are they late herding their goats, have curfews or are they just anxious people? Regardless, the mountain views are spectacular and half of the town in located in a little valley. There’s a military camp on the south end of town off of 180 and this is one of the very few towns that post big yellow highway signs with arrows pointing to the over-sized topes. I bet this town would be a lot of fun during festivals but there is not any place here that I would want to stay for the night though.
I sure wished it would stop raining; it’s hindering my ability to take pictures.
There are tons of auto repair shops along hwy 180 between Tampico and Tuxpam. I am quiet surprised that the people of this town are not living like Kings, in large houses, each with a staff of eight! The roads are so terrible between Tampico and Tuxpam (which is a semi-large town), that I am certain that these shops do ALOT of business.
We are doing pretty well on gas considering the monster load we have in and on top of this truck and climbing all of these mountains; averaging about 16 miles per gallon with a fill up in Dallas, San Antonio, Matamoras and Veracruz. I did not realize that Mexico was so mountainous. I took a picture of a mountain that had clouds on top of it...we were at eye level to it and you can actually see the clouds right in front of us! It was amazing. I would literally say that I could reach the sky and touch the clouds. It was very cool.
On the south side of Tuxpam we took the toll road. $26 pesos. FINALLY, a concrete road with no issues!
Military check point (some are police check points and some are military) and toll #3. $30 pesos. There were tons of people pulled over at the military check but they did not ask us to pull over. Probably because they did not want to deal with two gringos from the US that would not understand anyhow what they were asking...better not to waste time on us. PERFECT...so we kept driving.
Toll #4 in Gutierez Zamora. $18 pesos.
We have been anticipating on getting to the point on our drive in which we could actually run alongside the coastline and see the Gulf of Mexico. I heard rumors that there are beaches and waves crashing and you could see this going down the road. I was excited to know that we finally arrived in Costa Esmeralda, the town that would begin our short drive along the coast. BUT...IT WILL NOT STOP RAINING ENOUGH FOR US TO SEE ANYTHING!!!! We can barely see 5 feet in front of us much less see the Gulf that is 50 yards to our left. UGH...Oh dear Lord please do something. Finally, the next adjacent town, Casitas. Lots of small hotels and restaurants on the beach. Some hotels are nice, some are rundown but there’s a Best Western and a new hotel under construction (I did not get the name). I’d stay here for a night if I’m passing through town.
Military check point...are you kidding me...these guys are not leaving covered shelter; it’s pouring down rain. So we keep driving.
All along the hwy of 180 south of Tampico you see banana groves with bananas hanging from the trees that the workers must have just picked. There are orange tree groves everywhere and many wild orange trees just growing randomly. Do banana peppers grow on trees? I swear I saw a tree, only one though, that had the biggest light green peppers that you have ever seen hanging from it. I could not get a picture since Dave was so cautiously passing a big truck at the same time as we are going down a two lane road. Oh, that’s not the only time that he has done this...He figured out that he should just closely follow this ADO bus that would just start passing big rigs on a mountainous two lane road...What was going to happen to us...the bus would take the impact of the oncoming car, he said. Needless to say, I thought my life was ending on numerous occasions today...I thought I’d better say more prayers for me and definitely needed to say more for that idiot bus driver. Just as I was beginning to feel sorry for the bus driver because I thought he was an idiot and he was probably just having a lapse in good judgment today, he pulled into a roadside bar! The last thing is IDIOT needed was a beer! Fine...he was on his own!
Toll #5 in Nautla. $18 pesos.
4 pm and finally a break in the clouds. Thank God because this rain is making me want to take a nap! Besides, this rain has worked its way to my headboard on the top of the truck that is not only wrapped in plastic but also moving blankets and secured with duck tape. Oh I hope it’s not ruined! We will have to lug it inside tonight, unwrap it and try to salvage it.
So we came upon a town called Santa Ana with an old Mexican guy standing in the middle of the road selling what appeared to be fruit. “Let’s buy some”, I say, “I think that they are yellow cherries”. Who knows how much they were so Dave gave him $50 pesos, knowing that should cover it and we drove off. I opened the bag in excitement as I LOVE fresh cherries and I don’t recall ever having a yellow one. I popped one in my mouth, anticipating the pit to be there when all of a sudden I grabbed the trash bag...spit, spit, spit. UGH, what is this???? These things taste like crap! Here, try one. Of course Dave was a chicken (he is not a fan of fruit anyhow) so now I am stuck with this bag of yellow balls of God knows what, trying to pass themselves off as cherries!
Just north of El Viajon, right on the coast, sits the CFE plant (Mexico’s electricity provider). What a view they have; one side mountains, one side the Gulf of Mexico
Toll #6. $30 pesos
Now we are coming up on Veracruz...should we stop and stay here tonight?
Toll #7. $37 pesos
Hello Veracruz. WOW, this city is flooded! Bad drainage I suppose. Goodbye Veracruz; let’s try to push through as far as we can.
Toll #8 $70 pesos.
Wait a minute...you have to pay to get into Veracruz AND pay to get out of it, too? And does it seem as though tolls are more prevalent the further south we drive? I wonder what it would take to own my own city?????
Toll #9...good gosh, maybe I should take more pesos out of the bank!
So we are traveling down 150, south of Veracruz and the roads are great but we are beginning to feel the effects of being in this car too long. I’m getting a bit grumpy and I am ready to find a place and call it a night. Our goal though to try to make it into Villahermosa tonight and on to Playa tomorrow...so I thought. We pulled over to top off the tank with gas and asked where hwy 145 was. In my attempt to understand the directions given to me in Spanish, we realized that we had past our exit by about 30 miles! YIKES! Okay...don’t get mad, it’s okay. We just turn around and head back..no problem. Back through toll and finally find the exit. perfect. Now we need to make up some lost time. Let’s get to Villahermosa as fast as we can. Fast was not the correct adjective for this road.
Toll # 10 $150 pesos!!!! Holy cow! This road better be fast and awesome to drive down. By this time it was dark and we were doing something that we said we wouldn’t; we were driving at night. Tip...learn target driving prior to driving in Mexico and be especially careful as the higher the toll fees, the worse the roads (so it seems). This one was bad. Now to their credit, they appeared to be working on them but I guess we are in Mexico and everything is in Mexico time.
Toll #11 $140 pesos! WOW, $39 usd on 30 miles of stretch. Oh well...we were on the expressway when we could have easily taken the scenic route again. No thanks. The expressway only allows you to exit in about 9 places from once you hop on to the time you reach Villahermosa.
By this time exhaustion has kicked in and we just want to find a place to stay. As much as we want to keep going, we’ve been on the road for 14 hours, of which three of those hours were because we were lost. We stop in Minatitlan because the Mapsco says that this is a city of 100K-500K people. Perfect, we should be able to find a hotel here. We drove around the city for about an hour and it was not much bigger than Playa. All I can say is that most of this city is very dirty so when we finally found the highway again, we headed to Coatzacoalcos, which is a city about the size of Cancun. When we first arrived in Coatzacoalcos, it looked very clean; it was almost midnight. At last, a Best Western; this should be okay. We pulled in, went inside and paid for a room...$70 usd. The security guard took us to our room and said not to worry about our car, the stuff on top or the bikes because he was going to be there all night and would watch it for us. Thank you, thank you, thank you was all that I could say.
We got into the room; very dated but appeared to be clean. No big deal. Dave went across the street to get water while I stayed behind to shower. I turned on the water on in the shower and guess what...No hot water! You’ve got to be kidding me! I still need a shower and I am not in the mood to attempt my very poor broken Spanish to the front desk to explain that I need another room. Cold shower it was and now time for bed. Off goes the bedspread (ugh...in a hotel like this, they probably do not wash them often), keep one light on just in case, and closed my eyes. I have to say...a little freaked out but when looking back on it, the room wasn’t THAT bad.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Drive to Playa day 2 Brownsville to Tampico
Brownsville to Tampico 9-6-08
5:30 am came very early this morning but the alarm was set for 6am...I slept like a rock (highly recommend the Hampton Inn), the amenities were great, free breakfast and free internet. I was excited to cross the border. Today I get to see Mexico in a way I've never seen but have only dreamed about for the last 15 months. Today is the day that will test my level of emotional strength; I know whatever happens is meant to happen. I believe that I have a purpose in life and if I was not meant to go to Mexico then I think that I would have run into obstacles that I could not overcome much sooner than this. Therefore, I feel on top of the world today.
So at 7 am, we walk to eat breakfast...better fill up because we are not stopping. Toast with peanut butter and a 1/2 banana sliced on top for me and Lord only knows what my dear hubby was eating...something that resembled sausage. Ok, hurry I say...eat fast...we have to get there before customs open at 8am. 7:36 we hop in the truck. All bags...check. Visas, passports and all other important docs...check. Coffee...check. We're ready!!!:dance_banana: Oh God...there's that pit in my belly again. What is it???Am I nervous? Why should I be because we are taking very little so the border should be a breeze right? So I keep telling myself it's gonna be okay.
We are driving along Hwy 77 for about all of 2 miles, exit International Parkway, hang a right and there it is!!! I think that I could hear the Angles beginning to sing! It was so majestical but yet at the same time, it was so much smaller than I thought it would be. This didn't seem so bad. We pulled up to pay our toll (couple of bucks) and asked the tollman where to get our auto permit (I procrastinated and did not get this before we left Dallas!) and he pointed us in the right direction. He said begin crossing the bridge and we will turn to the right just up the road. We pulled in and walked inside of this building that resembled a place in the states to get your drivers license. We were greeted by a guy that wanted to sell us auto insurance. "Sorry...we already have it but can you please tell me where to get the auto permit?" Without hesitation or disappointment, he told us to proceed to Customs first. Customs was through a small door about 100 feet in front of me...no lines. Yippee. Visas and passports are stamped (the only stamps I have in my passport are from Mexico...I'm nearly a Mexican; I'd like to think ;)). Next stop the Banjcrito for our auto permit. One copy of the registration, one copy of the drivers license, 1 copy of both visas and passports and 1 copy of....wait...she did NOT ask me for the notarized letter from GMAC!!! What??? I shed tears almost over that letter! please, please, please ask me for it please...nope, she didn't. I'm guessing that it may be better to not tell her she may have forgotten something!:whistle:After 10 minutes of her checking and scrutinizing our docs she said that it would be ready in 5 minutes. PERFECT!!! This could not get any easier! Well, I must have had a memory laspe or maybe a moment of denial but we are in Mexico. 5 minutes actually means 20. No problem. I have until Sunday Sept 14 to hop on a plane to Dallas so that I can again hop back on a plane to Cancun 6 weeks later for my OFFICIAL move. Finally...got the permit. Not the friendliest of souls but it all worked out and I had in my hands a hot little commodity. So with perpetual grins on our faces and feeling oh so fabulous we were heading to our truck. Permit goes next to rear-view mirror. done. hop in and let's go!!!! WAIT Senior WAIT we heard someone say. Oh God...what is it??? Did I drop something, did someone try to jack with our car while we were inside and you want to tell us about it??? "What do you want", I thought to myself. But we politely said, "yes?". You have too much stuff, you should go ahead and go back inside to talk to Customs and arrange for a broker now instead of going through the actual hassle of having them MAKE you do it. "WHAT????" I only have a truck load of stuff...this is crazy. Why in the world would they make me get a broker for such a small amount???". Needless to say, better to deal with the issue now than to have to get back in the car and have them dictate to me what I can or cannot take across the border. So we walk back inside, almost feeling defeated, opened up the door leading to Customs and stood in front of his desk. He looked at us like we were flipping nuts for interrupting his morning at 8:30 am. Oh God...this is not going to be good. I proceeded to explain to him, in my feable attempt to speak Spanish because his English was ten times worse than my Tex-Mex broken Spanish could ever be, that we have a menaje de casa approved from the Mexican Consulant in Dallas. As I was trying to tell him we did not bring all that was approved he demanded us to show him our vehicle and all of the contents. I have to say that I was having an Oh Sh** moment. As we were walking outside, two ladies asked if they could help translate...there's those Angles singing again.:angel: She explained the situation to the Customs officer that we did not bring everything approved and he looked at her and even though I could not understand verbatium what he said, the point was that we were to hide, burn, destory or eat the menaje de casa and never, ever show anyone that document. We were then to write on any piece of paper that we could find, the actual articles within our possession along with the value. Okay...easy enough. I'll just copy the menaje de casa but only with the things that we have...garage sale...better yet...charity sale value...$321.00. That sounded fair. Even the Customs officer thought that was reasonable. $32 duty tax please. Oh heck yes...anyday I would gladly pay the tax versus having to unload all of this crap for all to see on a rainy day. Life is flipping awesome right now!!!!
Back out of the building we go. The two nice ladies, sisters, were standing outside as they were having troubles of their own. Apparently their credit card to get back into Mexico was no good so they were waiting for someone to bring a good one. I walked up to them, handed them a $20 bill for helping us, which they tried hard to refuse, and gave them a big hug. Maybe the Angels that I heard singing were them? Hmmm...not sure but I did know that they were an absolute Godsend to us this morning. We started talking for a few minutes and low and behold...they live in Tampico!!! We are going to Tampico. They invited us to stay at their home tonight and to spend the day with them tomorrow at the beach drinking beer. Oh man..that sounds so tempting! Can you believe this...someone wants us, complete strangers, to stay with them and spend time with them. I politely and apologetically declined as we needed to get back on the road and head to Playa just as soon as possible. They gave us their name, cell phone # and address...I think that I will keep in touch with them. They were so sweet and so caring. We take pictures and say our sad goodbyes and we hopped back into the truck, only spending a little over an hour at the border, once again smiling from ear to ear and eager to experience more. I love Mexico.
Just follow the signs to Cd Victoria I say as we navigate our way through Matamoros. While Dave is driving, I am taking in as much as possible. The scenery is amazing, yet shocking and beautiful all at the same time. It was weird to see, just past Matamoras, cows and goats roaming around but there was not fences. Wait...they are chained to trees!!! ooooo; now I am a little saddened.
60 km mark...the 2nd check point where we have to go through Customs. We pulled over, handed him our visas, passports and pointed to the auto permit. "Where are you going?" he asked in English. "Playa del Carmen, Q-Roo", we say. We'll I think he said have a good trip or good luck in your trip but I am not 100% positive as he had said it in Spanish. Regardless...we were clear!!!!! YAY!!!! Where's my champagne???
Just past the second check point is the most beautiful, undisturbed land. Pastures and mountains. FYI...if you see a sign that indicates somehow that you should reduce your speed, you should. Chances are there are topes. It only took once to realize this!
Driving along minding our own business, happy as two larks, when all of a sudden we come upon a 2nd checkpoint. UGH. We pull over, get out of the vehicle and hand him the requested list approved by the Customs officer. "Where's the printer" he asks in spanish. huh? please slow down on your pronunciation on what you are asking because we cannot figure out what you are asking. PRINTER he says. Oh...okay...you want to see the printer. Welllll....it's in the bottom box in the back of the Tahoe. We can get it out but it will require a few minutes as we have to disassemble the bike rack that we have rigged on the back. "I want to see the printer". okay...we will get the printer for you. As Dave begins dismantling the bikes so that we can open the back Tahoe door, I think that the Police Man realizes how much work is involved in this ordeal. Without a smile OR any show of emotion, he tells us to forget it. WHEW!!!! That would have taken at least an hour to unload and reload this truck to show him a stupid $89 printer! We hop back into the truck and are back on our way. I sure hope that these checkpoints are not common.
As we are driving out of nowhere pops up a little town, no bigger than probably the size of my thumb, with food vendors that line both sides of the road. The vendors run out into the streets as cars pass by trying to get them to purchase their goods. Dave just keeps driving. I didn't care if I was not hungry, I just wanted to talk to them so that I could practice my spanish. We kept driving when all of a sudden to my eyes appear...a drive through beer barn!!!! Holy crap...are we still in Texas???? Dave drives right past it but I demanded:hammer: that he turn around. I needed batteries for my camera and maybe a red bull. Bought 4 batteries. Good thing that I am smart enough to test them out first, since they did not hand them to us in the packaging, because all four were dead!!!:mad: Did they really think that we'd get so far down the road to realize that they gave us their batteries that they probably dug from the trash and we would not care? WRONG my friend. This gringa is not always that naive.
Finally find Hwy 180. Oh God please be careful on this road! When you first enter onto it, it appears to be freshly paved and in excellent condition. BAM!!! Holy crap...did we just fall off the side of this mountain and now I'm being punished because I did not die instantly???? About 2 or 3 miles into the newly paved road was a quasi-paved road that was barely a one lane one. Holy cow...this is terrible!!! 4 miles of this. It did not get much better though...2 lane road winding through mountains. Scary at times! Please NEVER drive this stretch of hwy at night. This is dangerous even during the day.
The flippin birds have given me the most anxiety throughout this trip though. My theory that so many bugs decide to fly north, and we, as drivers of the road, try to help them out by allowing them access to our windshield to splatter all over is really panning out to be a good theory. Because there are so many bugs alongside the road playing chicken with the cars that drive by, the birds hang out on the side of the road eating the bugs that committ sucide, or shall I say insecticide:devil: . However these stupid birds come within inches of your car! You constantly worry going down the road when you are going to hit a bird. We did not hit one today.
Okay...so now I've seen it all. Driving down hwy 180, in the middle of the most remote, desolate place ever, pops a sign that says "Hotel Yolanda". Next to the sign is an open air tent (roof only) with a bed under the tent! AND...there is someone sleeping in the bed!!!! :jaw-dropping:
Las Palmas...a nice little town, slighly larger than Puerto Moralas but with the same look and feel. Nothing too exciting except that I must say....If pictures are worth a thousand words then smells are worth double that. There are just some spots that you would prefer to be downwind from a pig farm in the middle of August in Texas. What is up with this smell???? Don't think I will stop to smelll the sewage, uh, I mean roses, today. Will try again tomorrow.
Finally we land on a nice 4 lane road but the signs says Cd Victoria the other way that we were traveling!!! Did we take the scenic route??? Holy crap...I bet we did! Darn maps...I will not ever buy one online again! I am not certain that we did but my map did say that hwy 180 was a 4 lane road when it was barely two! OH Dear Lord...where are we at???? Finally saw signs to Tampico. Whew. We're there. Let's drive into town and see what other hotels we can find. Let's just say an hour and half of driving in traffic that resembled NYC was enough for me. We headed back near the edge of town and settled into another Hampton Inn. Very nice. $118 per night but includes internet, free drinks for happy hour and breakfast. So that is where I sit right now...enjoying my maragarita and taking advantage of the internet while staring at my husband on the other side of this table hoping he knows how thankful I am to him for getting us here safely.
5:30 am came very early this morning but the alarm was set for 6am...I slept like a rock (highly recommend the Hampton Inn), the amenities were great, free breakfast and free internet. I was excited to cross the border. Today I get to see Mexico in a way I've never seen but have only dreamed about for the last 15 months. Today is the day that will test my level of emotional strength; I know whatever happens is meant to happen. I believe that I have a purpose in life and if I was not meant to go to Mexico then I think that I would have run into obstacles that I could not overcome much sooner than this. Therefore, I feel on top of the world today.
So at 7 am, we walk to eat breakfast...better fill up because we are not stopping. Toast with peanut butter and a 1/2 banana sliced on top for me and Lord only knows what my dear hubby was eating...something that resembled sausage. Ok, hurry I say...eat fast...we have to get there before customs open at 8am. 7:36 we hop in the truck. All bags...check. Visas, passports and all other important docs...check. Coffee...check. We're ready!!!:dance_banana: Oh God...there's that pit in my belly again. What is it???Am I nervous? Why should I be because we are taking very little so the border should be a breeze right? So I keep telling myself it's gonna be okay.
We are driving along Hwy 77 for about all of 2 miles, exit International Parkway, hang a right and there it is!!! I think that I could hear the Angles beginning to sing! It was so majestical but yet at the same time, it was so much smaller than I thought it would be. This didn't seem so bad. We pulled up to pay our toll (couple of bucks) and asked the tollman where to get our auto permit (I procrastinated and did not get this before we left Dallas!) and he pointed us in the right direction. He said begin crossing the bridge and we will turn to the right just up the road. We pulled in and walked inside of this building that resembled a place in the states to get your drivers license. We were greeted by a guy that wanted to sell us auto insurance. "Sorry...we already have it but can you please tell me where to get the auto permit?" Without hesitation or disappointment, he told us to proceed to Customs first. Customs was through a small door about 100 feet in front of me...no lines. Yippee. Visas and passports are stamped (the only stamps I have in my passport are from Mexico...I'm nearly a Mexican; I'd like to think ;)). Next stop the Banjcrito for our auto permit. One copy of the registration, one copy of the drivers license, 1 copy of both visas and passports and 1 copy of....wait...she did NOT ask me for the notarized letter from GMAC!!! What??? I shed tears almost over that letter! please, please, please ask me for it please...nope, she didn't. I'm guessing that it may be better to not tell her she may have forgotten something!:whistle:After 10 minutes of her checking and scrutinizing our docs she said that it would be ready in 5 minutes. PERFECT!!! This could not get any easier! Well, I must have had a memory laspe or maybe a moment of denial but we are in Mexico. 5 minutes actually means 20. No problem. I have until Sunday Sept 14 to hop on a plane to Dallas so that I can again hop back on a plane to Cancun 6 weeks later for my OFFICIAL move. Finally...got the permit. Not the friendliest of souls but it all worked out and I had in my hands a hot little commodity. So with perpetual grins on our faces and feeling oh so fabulous we were heading to our truck. Permit goes next to rear-view mirror. done. hop in and let's go!!!! WAIT Senior WAIT we heard someone say. Oh God...what is it??? Did I drop something, did someone try to jack with our car while we were inside and you want to tell us about it??? "What do you want", I thought to myself. But we politely said, "yes?". You have too much stuff, you should go ahead and go back inside to talk to Customs and arrange for a broker now instead of going through the actual hassle of having them MAKE you do it. "WHAT????" I only have a truck load of stuff...this is crazy. Why in the world would they make me get a broker for such a small amount???". Needless to say, better to deal with the issue now than to have to get back in the car and have them dictate to me what I can or cannot take across the border. So we walk back inside, almost feeling defeated, opened up the door leading to Customs and stood in front of his desk. He looked at us like we were flipping nuts for interrupting his morning at 8:30 am. Oh God...this is not going to be good. I proceeded to explain to him, in my feable attempt to speak Spanish because his English was ten times worse than my Tex-Mex broken Spanish could ever be, that we have a menaje de casa approved from the Mexican Consulant in Dallas. As I was trying to tell him we did not bring all that was approved he demanded us to show him our vehicle and all of the contents. I have to say that I was having an Oh Sh** moment. As we were walking outside, two ladies asked if they could help translate...there's those Angles singing again.:angel: She explained the situation to the Customs officer that we did not bring everything approved and he looked at her and even though I could not understand verbatium what he said, the point was that we were to hide, burn, destory or eat the menaje de casa and never, ever show anyone that document. We were then to write on any piece of paper that we could find, the actual articles within our possession along with the value. Okay...easy enough. I'll just copy the menaje de casa but only with the things that we have...garage sale...better yet...charity sale value...$321.00. That sounded fair. Even the Customs officer thought that was reasonable. $32 duty tax please. Oh heck yes...anyday I would gladly pay the tax versus having to unload all of this crap for all to see on a rainy day. Life is flipping awesome right now!!!!
Back out of the building we go. The two nice ladies, sisters, were standing outside as they were having troubles of their own. Apparently their credit card to get back into Mexico was no good so they were waiting for someone to bring a good one. I walked up to them, handed them a $20 bill for helping us, which they tried hard to refuse, and gave them a big hug. Maybe the Angels that I heard singing were them? Hmmm...not sure but I did know that they were an absolute Godsend to us this morning. We started talking for a few minutes and low and behold...they live in Tampico!!! We are going to Tampico. They invited us to stay at their home tonight and to spend the day with them tomorrow at the beach drinking beer. Oh man..that sounds so tempting! Can you believe this...someone wants us, complete strangers, to stay with them and spend time with them. I politely and apologetically declined as we needed to get back on the road and head to Playa just as soon as possible. They gave us their name, cell phone # and address...I think that I will keep in touch with them. They were so sweet and so caring. We take pictures and say our sad goodbyes and we hopped back into the truck, only spending a little over an hour at the border, once again smiling from ear to ear and eager to experience more. I love Mexico.
Just follow the signs to Cd Victoria I say as we navigate our way through Matamoros. While Dave is driving, I am taking in as much as possible. The scenery is amazing, yet shocking and beautiful all at the same time. It was weird to see, just past Matamoras, cows and goats roaming around but there was not fences. Wait...they are chained to trees!!! ooooo; now I am a little saddened.
60 km mark...the 2nd check point where we have to go through Customs. We pulled over, handed him our visas, passports and pointed to the auto permit. "Where are you going?" he asked in English. "Playa del Carmen, Q-Roo", we say. We'll I think he said have a good trip or good luck in your trip but I am not 100% positive as he had said it in Spanish. Regardless...we were clear!!!!! YAY!!!! Where's my champagne???
Just past the second check point is the most beautiful, undisturbed land. Pastures and mountains. FYI...if you see a sign that indicates somehow that you should reduce your speed, you should. Chances are there are topes. It only took once to realize this!
Driving along minding our own business, happy as two larks, when all of a sudden we come upon a 2nd checkpoint. UGH. We pull over, get out of the vehicle and hand him the requested list approved by the Customs officer. "Where's the printer" he asks in spanish. huh? please slow down on your pronunciation on what you are asking because we cannot figure out what you are asking. PRINTER he says. Oh...okay...you want to see the printer. Welllll....it's in the bottom box in the back of the Tahoe. We can get it out but it will require a few minutes as we have to disassemble the bike rack that we have rigged on the back. "I want to see the printer". okay...we will get the printer for you. As Dave begins dismantling the bikes so that we can open the back Tahoe door, I think that the Police Man realizes how much work is involved in this ordeal. Without a smile OR any show of emotion, he tells us to forget it. WHEW!!!! That would have taken at least an hour to unload and reload this truck to show him a stupid $89 printer! We hop back into the truck and are back on our way. I sure hope that these checkpoints are not common.
As we are driving out of nowhere pops up a little town, no bigger than probably the size of my thumb, with food vendors that line both sides of the road. The vendors run out into the streets as cars pass by trying to get them to purchase their goods. Dave just keeps driving. I didn't care if I was not hungry, I just wanted to talk to them so that I could practice my spanish. We kept driving when all of a sudden to my eyes appear...a drive through beer barn!!!! Holy crap...are we still in Texas???? Dave drives right past it but I demanded:hammer: that he turn around. I needed batteries for my camera and maybe a red bull. Bought 4 batteries. Good thing that I am smart enough to test them out first, since they did not hand them to us in the packaging, because all four were dead!!!:mad: Did they really think that we'd get so far down the road to realize that they gave us their batteries that they probably dug from the trash and we would not care? WRONG my friend. This gringa is not always that naive.
Finally find Hwy 180. Oh God please be careful on this road! When you first enter onto it, it appears to be freshly paved and in excellent condition. BAM!!! Holy crap...did we just fall off the side of this mountain and now I'm being punished because I did not die instantly???? About 2 or 3 miles into the newly paved road was a quasi-paved road that was barely a one lane one. Holy cow...this is terrible!!! 4 miles of this. It did not get much better though...2 lane road winding through mountains. Scary at times! Please NEVER drive this stretch of hwy at night. This is dangerous even during the day.
The flippin birds have given me the most anxiety throughout this trip though. My theory that so many bugs decide to fly north, and we, as drivers of the road, try to help them out by allowing them access to our windshield to splatter all over is really panning out to be a good theory. Because there are so many bugs alongside the road playing chicken with the cars that drive by, the birds hang out on the side of the road eating the bugs that committ sucide, or shall I say insecticide:devil: . However these stupid birds come within inches of your car! You constantly worry going down the road when you are going to hit a bird. We did not hit one today.
Okay...so now I've seen it all. Driving down hwy 180, in the middle of the most remote, desolate place ever, pops a sign that says "Hotel Yolanda". Next to the sign is an open air tent (roof only) with a bed under the tent! AND...there is someone sleeping in the bed!!!! :jaw-dropping:
Las Palmas...a nice little town, slighly larger than Puerto Moralas but with the same look and feel. Nothing too exciting except that I must say....If pictures are worth a thousand words then smells are worth double that. There are just some spots that you would prefer to be downwind from a pig farm in the middle of August in Texas. What is up with this smell???? Don't think I will stop to smelll the sewage, uh, I mean roses, today. Will try again tomorrow.
Finally we land on a nice 4 lane road but the signs says Cd Victoria the other way that we were traveling!!! Did we take the scenic route??? Holy crap...I bet we did! Darn maps...I will not ever buy one online again! I am not certain that we did but my map did say that hwy 180 was a 4 lane road when it was barely two! OH Dear Lord...where are we at???? Finally saw signs to Tampico. Whew. We're there. Let's drive into town and see what other hotels we can find. Let's just say an hour and half of driving in traffic that resembled NYC was enough for me. We headed back near the edge of town and settled into another Hampton Inn. Very nice. $118 per night but includes internet, free drinks for happy hour and breakfast. So that is where I sit right now...enjoying my maragarita and taking advantage of the internet while staring at my husband on the other side of this table hoping he knows how thankful I am to him for getting us here safely.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Our drive to Playa- DAY 1
Noon...right on time. This is the time that we anticipated to leave Dallas.This is a very large accomplishment for us since we are the couple that you see running to their flight, yelling down the corridor to please hold the plane! I think that we were right on time because we were truly excited about starting this journey. We had a countdown...3 days and a wake up, 2 days and a wake up. Well last night we only had a wake up left to go and we were completely ready. No last minute, oh my God stuff to do today other than go into work for a few hours. It was nice to be prepared before this morning. Everything was done. The Tahoe was loaded including the tightly wrapped headboard for our bed and the black rooftop cargo bag that was to ride on top. Lets just say plastic wrap and duck tape are great things to have laying around the house! Okay...we looked like the Clampits but who cares...we were ready to get on the road (coming from someone that cannot stand to be locked in a car for more than 3 hours). We measured the top of the truck to the ground just in case we came upon a bridge we had to go under. 2.5 meters. So we hopped into the Redneck mobile, of course the Redneck himself was behind the wheel (Dave), we said our little prayer that we always say right before a trip then headed off to the Freeway.
What a great trip this is going to be. Dave did such a fantastic job loading and packing and securing that I had the utmost confidence that I was going to worry about nothing today. But then we got on the freeway, we could only go 65 mpg or the Tahoe would get squirrley since it was so heavily loaded. The truck sounded like it was going to fall apart! What was that noise and is it going to stop? Dave assured me that it was just the plastic that wrapped the headboard flapping in the wind. Was the headboard and the rooftop cargo bag going to fly off the truck? What about the bikes hanging from the back? After debating on whether or not to stop and check...the noise FINALLY went away and all was good. (Sigh).
We are driving down the road, enjoying the silence with our thoughts bouncing through our heads, not really believing that we are finally doing this when all of a sudden, my uptopia was interrupted. Why was there so much traffic at noon???? Why are we in a traffic jam??? I don't care if it is Dallas and it's to be expected; don't these people know I need to get to Mexico?
After what seemed like eternity, we were in San Marcus. If you know nothing about San Marcus, just remember that it has, what appears to be, miles of outlet shopping just off of the freeway. Every store imaginable including some of my favorites. If only I could just stop for a moment...I could save alot of money here. But the inevitable happened...Dave said no way! Damn the luck!
By 5 pm we were in San Antonio. God I need out of this truck and I need a drink. We got to stop at a gas station and get diet cokes. That's okay...Susango said she was drinking two for me anyhow.
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff31/macanded/Drive%20to%20Playa/Redneckmobile.jpg
So we are driving down I-37, almost to Corpus, which by the way is the LONGEST, MOST BORING stretch of hwy that was ever built with nothing but mesquite trees to look at, when all of a sudden a small SUV with a rooftop cargo box and a man-made trailer came zipping by. I wonder if they are moving to Mexico, I asked. 2 seconds later, a minivan with the same cargo load on top and the exact same man-made trailer behind it passed us by, too. Confirmed...they MUST be moving to Mexico! I said, "let's keep up with them" but they were hauling butt. Us...well we are still stuck at 65 mpg! Future friends gone forever.
Still driving, I come to the realization that bugs must migrate north at night. Maybe they are migrating north because they instictively know that it is their duty to go north, to the colder states, to die off. I'm okay with that thought. I don't like bugs. However, I really wished they would have picked another day to go north because I am traveling south...perhaps I should think of it as my good deed for the day because I prevented a gazillion bugs from taking the time and energy to fly such a long way and allowed them all to splat all over my windshield! We determined that everyone that was pulled over on the side of the hwy with their hazzards flashing had also allowed them to utilize their windshields to expedite the dying process. Gosh we are such nice people for doing them that favor!
Finally made it to Brownsville. We had no idea where we were going to stay despite that I printed off a list of hotels in every major town/city that we could stay in all the way to Playa. We settled on a Hampton Inn. We were lucky to find this place. The room was $109 with free internet and breakfast but the best thing about it was the reservation guy at the front desk. He saw that we had two bikes on the back of the truck and insisted that we park up under the entrace way (the covered driveway area into the hotel where you drive right by the front door). That way he could keep an eye on our bikes for us while we slept. He sounded geunine enough and regardless of what happens, I still deeply appreciate the kind gesture.
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff31/macanded/Drive%20to%20Playa/parkingspotfortruck.jpg
Bud Light in hand I think that at the end of this very long drive so far, I can say that I saw parts of Texas that I've never seen and I didn't bestow my vast knowledge of driving skills upon my dear husband. All in all, I would say that this was a very good day!
Tomorrow morning up at 6 am and off to the border by 7. Customs opens at 8 and I want to be in the front of the line with anxiety. We will be driving to Tampico. Let's just hope we get the green light.Tomorrow I will post day two with very detailed information and lots of pictures. Stay tuned...
What a great trip this is going to be. Dave did such a fantastic job loading and packing and securing that I had the utmost confidence that I was going to worry about nothing today. But then we got on the freeway, we could only go 65 mpg or the Tahoe would get squirrley since it was so heavily loaded. The truck sounded like it was going to fall apart! What was that noise and is it going to stop? Dave assured me that it was just the plastic that wrapped the headboard flapping in the wind. Was the headboard and the rooftop cargo bag going to fly off the truck? What about the bikes hanging from the back? After debating on whether or not to stop and check...the noise FINALLY went away and all was good. (Sigh).
We are driving down the road, enjoying the silence with our thoughts bouncing through our heads, not really believing that we are finally doing this when all of a sudden, my uptopia was interrupted. Why was there so much traffic at noon???? Why are we in a traffic jam??? I don't care if it is Dallas and it's to be expected; don't these people know I need to get to Mexico?
After what seemed like eternity, we were in San Marcus. If you know nothing about San Marcus, just remember that it has, what appears to be, miles of outlet shopping just off of the freeway. Every store imaginable including some of my favorites. If only I could just stop for a moment...I could save alot of money here. But the inevitable happened...Dave said no way! Damn the luck!
By 5 pm we were in San Antonio. God I need out of this truck and I need a drink. We got to stop at a gas station and get diet cokes. That's okay...Susango said she was drinking two for me anyhow.
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff31/macanded/Drive%20to%20Playa/Redneckmobile.jpg
So we are driving down I-37, almost to Corpus, which by the way is the LONGEST, MOST BORING stretch of hwy that was ever built with nothing but mesquite trees to look at, when all of a sudden a small SUV with a rooftop cargo box and a man-made trailer came zipping by. I wonder if they are moving to Mexico, I asked. 2 seconds later, a minivan with the same cargo load on top and the exact same man-made trailer behind it passed us by, too. Confirmed...they MUST be moving to Mexico! I said, "let's keep up with them" but they were hauling butt. Us...well we are still stuck at 65 mpg! Future friends gone forever.
Still driving, I come to the realization that bugs must migrate north at night. Maybe they are migrating north because they instictively know that it is their duty to go north, to the colder states, to die off. I'm okay with that thought. I don't like bugs. However, I really wished they would have picked another day to go north because I am traveling south...perhaps I should think of it as my good deed for the day because I prevented a gazillion bugs from taking the time and energy to fly such a long way and allowed them all to splat all over my windshield! We determined that everyone that was pulled over on the side of the hwy with their hazzards flashing had also allowed them to utilize their windshields to expedite the dying process. Gosh we are such nice people for doing them that favor!
Finally made it to Brownsville. We had no idea where we were going to stay despite that I printed off a list of hotels in every major town/city that we could stay in all the way to Playa. We settled on a Hampton Inn. We were lucky to find this place. The room was $109 with free internet and breakfast but the best thing about it was the reservation guy at the front desk. He saw that we had two bikes on the back of the truck and insisted that we park up under the entrace way (the covered driveway area into the hotel where you drive right by the front door). That way he could keep an eye on our bikes for us while we slept. He sounded geunine enough and regardless of what happens, I still deeply appreciate the kind gesture.
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff31/macanded/Drive%20to%20Playa/parkingspotfortruck.jpg
Bud Light in hand I think that at the end of this very long drive so far, I can say that I saw parts of Texas that I've never seen and I didn't bestow my vast knowledge of driving skills upon my dear husband. All in all, I would say that this was a very good day!
Tomorrow morning up at 6 am and off to the border by 7. Customs opens at 8 and I want to be in the front of the line with anxiety. We will be driving to Tampico. Let's just hope we get the green light.Tomorrow I will post day two with very detailed information and lots of pictures. Stay tuned...
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Only 3 More days!!!
I'm so excited! Only 2 days and a wake up left until we head to the border! We are heading out around noon on Friday, September 5th to try to make it to Brownsville by 9pm with the anticipation of being at the border to cross bright and early on Saturday morning. All I can do now is just pray we get a green light and do not have to deal too much with Customs. Regardless, it will be an adventure.
We've finally decided on a route to take! This was a tedious process because we've read so many blogs and trip reports from others that have made this drive and some say to go down the middle of the country through Monterrey, San Louis Potosi, etc and some say drive down 180 down the coastline. We are choosing to drive down the coast starting at Matamoros, Tampico, Veracruz, Villahermosa, Chetumal then onto Playa. We plan on doing some hard driving, only stopping when necessary and trying to drive all daylight hours. After day one, we will probably end up switching that plan and taking our time. I just want to get to Playa.
Now, we are just finishing up the last of the details:
New tires, oil change, transmission fluid, check brakes, coolant. DONE
Hotel reservations while we are in Playa. DONE
Flight back to Dallas. DONE
Download music on ipod. I need some great road trip music.
Copies of passports, FM3 visas, marriage and birth certificates (just in case), drivers license, and auto insurance.
Camera.
Cash.
Car permit paperwork.
Pack.
I'm ready for Mexico...Is Mexico ready for me?
We've finally decided on a route to take! This was a tedious process because we've read so many blogs and trip reports from others that have made this drive and some say to go down the middle of the country through Monterrey, San Louis Potosi, etc and some say drive down 180 down the coastline. We are choosing to drive down the coast starting at Matamoros, Tampico, Veracruz, Villahermosa, Chetumal then onto Playa. We plan on doing some hard driving, only stopping when necessary and trying to drive all daylight hours. After day one, we will probably end up switching that plan and taking our time. I just want to get to Playa.
Now, we are just finishing up the last of the details:
New tires, oil change, transmission fluid, check brakes, coolant. DONE
Hotel reservations while we are in Playa. DONE
Flight back to Dallas. DONE
Download music on ipod. I need some great road trip music.
Copies of passports, FM3 visas, marriage and birth certificates (just in case), drivers license, and auto insurance.
Camera.
Cash.
Car permit paperwork.
Pack.
I'm ready for Mexico...Is Mexico ready for me?
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