Yes, he survives. Barely ;)
Photos up at http://www.fototime.com/inv/D2B66632C39A7AA
The raw data --
Miles ridden: about 3,200
Days on the road: 9
Route:
Day 1: Jacksonville Beach, FL to Hammond, LA
Day 2: Hammond to Brownsville, TX
Day 3: Brownsville to Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico
Day 4: stay in Monterrey
Day 5: Monterrey to Laredo, TX
Day 6: Laredo, TX to Brownsville, TX via Mexican roads
Day 7: Brownsville, TX to Victoria, TX
Day 8: Victoria to Covington, LA
Day 9: Covington to Jacksonville Beach
The good:
-- R1100GS BMW bikes
-- Mexico is looking surprisingly prosperous
-- very friendly people south of the border
The bad:
-- rain
-- fawking heat
-- Verizon Wireless
-- my bank
-- American Express
You have to laugh.
Sane people go to see fireworks during the 4th of July. ol' John decides to motorcycle to Mexico. Makes sense to me.
Alas, it's been a few years since the last time that I was in Mexico. More years than I care to admit. And I had tried to get on the ferry which was, at the time, plying the Gulf between Tampa and the Yucatan but couldn't work that into my schedule this year. Sooooo ... for me, the only other obvious alternative was to make a run down to southern Texas and into that northern portion of Mexico.
All of my tour guides (love the Rough Guide! That one's a hoot!) basically said that this part of Mexico was industrial and didn't cater to tourists. Fine. I enjoy industry. I enjoy cars, trucks, buses, and all of those other elements of everyday live. I wanted to see how NAFTA was doing. And, sides ... these towns could be some staging areas for future and more ambitious trips that I wanted to take.
Fair enuf.
Fly in the ointment #1 occurred a few weeks before the trip. It came to my attention that Mexico was having Parliamentary elections the weekend that I was scheduled to arrive. AND THAT THE BARS WOULD BE CLOSED!
Hmmm ... nothing worse than a border town and no beer. Might as well take my time getting there, I thought ...
The appointed departure hour rolls around and, well ... I go back to sleep. No sense in getting in a hurry about these things I figure.
Finally, the real departure rolls around at some unholy hour of the morning. The kind of time when I would normally be getting home. Yawn. But I'm off, and heading down the road, and making good progress.
My original plan was to ride through the night and to stop after about 1,100 miles. Good plan at the time, I guess.
I made excellent time to Mobile, Alabama, where I stopped for a relaxed lunch at a little bar-on-stilts called Drifters at the water's edge that I discovered a few months ago.
Back on the road, and a tropical storm had just come through Louisiana. So it rained. And rained some more. In Mississippi I was assured by fellow motorcyclists that I-12 was clear and dry once I got past Slidell, Louisiana.
Yeah, right.
Now, let me say this about the Cajuns. I like Cajuns. They are fellow radicals like ol' John. But Cajun driving can best be described as being sorta faith based, rather than being based on scientific principles. I've been on the roads down there during Mardi Gras and New Years and let's just say that Cajun driving defies the laws of physics pretty regularly. And ol' John is far from being a wimp when it comes to riding in the rain. But every time a blinding rain hit the prospect of being run over by a guy named Cletus and his pickup truck who didn't see me because his dog Phideaux didn't bark soon enough kinda gave me the willies.
Consequently, I spent a lot of time underneath overpasses, chain smoking and chatting with other motorcyclists who weren't gonna ride in that stuff, either.
So my first day's ride wasn't exactly spectacular. I called it quits at about 6PM in Hammond, Louisiana because I found a bar with a nearby motel that was clean and catered to truckers (read: "not very expensive.") and it was raining the proverbial felines and canines. Better to get some sleep and get up early, I reasoned.
Which was pretty astute. I was up before sunrise, and except for some foggy patches that slowed me a bit, cruised along nicely.
Now ... I've taken to wearing motocross boots. You know ... those big ol' gaudy things that are heavily reinforced and extend up to about your knees. After seeing two acquaintances break their legs a bit above their ankles I thought that motocross boots looked pretty good. Especially when standing around in the desert, wondering how big the rattlesnakes were around there. But I digress.
Anyway ... one problem with motocross boots is that water gets in. Alas, water gets in easier than it gets out. And by the second day of riding my wet boots had gone from being merely an annoyance to being downright painful as my feet proceeded to stay damp, then crack, and finally blister. By the time that I got to Brownsville that night I could barely walk.
All of southeastern Texas looked very prosperous. Unlike western Texas, which is sort of the armpit of the USA, southeastern Texas was green, even if it was hot and windy. And the people, about half of whom were Hispanic, were friendly. Big corporate farms, and small farms abounded. Lots of TTT's (Typical Texas Trucks). The building trades were in full swing and people seemed to be making money.
Anyone that thinks that NAFTA is a passing fad is in for a surprise. The railways (ironically, CSX from my hometown of Jacksonville seemed to have most of the railroad bizness) were in full swing. Texas is upgrading the state roads to Interstate standards and proudly proclaim that the corridor will someday be I-69 (do your own joke on that designation).
Brownsville also turns out to be very prosperous and pleasant, perhaps not in the least what I had expected for a border town. With the beach resort areas of South Padre Island and Port Isabel only a few miles out of town, Brownsville actually begins to look like a very nice place to be.
I didn't have time to ride over to the beaches area of Port Isabel, Texas but I did find time to ride over to the former Eagle bus manufacturing plant outside Brownsville. Don't ask. I guess that buses and trucks are a guy thang. Anywho, that was a pilgrimage that I had wanted to do for several years. The Eagle was the bus made famous by Trailways (check out http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/ron_plummer.htm for a photo of a non-Trailways Eagle) and the manufacturing company went out of business a few years ago. Another bus manufacturer, the German Neoplan company, was using the plant but has recently retreated back to their primary US plant in Colorado. Someday, there's a big RV in my future ;)
The border crossing was eye opening, and was to be the first of several experiences that would cause me to rethink Mexico. No longer a struggling Third World country, Mexico has quietly and quickly slipped into the Second World and has become an economic and intellectual power to be reckoned with.
American citizens entering Mexico by motor vehicle need to obtain two documents; a temporary importation sticker for their vehicle and a visa for themselves. Several years ago, when I first traveled to Mexico, the authorities completed the vehicle paperwork with a pen and a clipboard. The building was 30 miles from the border and reminded me of the mobile homes that Florida and several other states use as weigh stations on the Interstates.
Not this time around. Crossing the border I was greeted by a brand new inspection station. Everything was computerized (reading the label on the back of one of the monitors: "Made in Tijuana, MX"). The authorities were friendly and all had new, matching uniforms [1]. The Federales (Mexican National Police, sort of a highway patrol for the country as a whole) had new black and white Ford sedans and new Dodge pickups. [2] Clearly, things looked a lot more prosperous than they did the last time that I motorcycled into the interior of Mexico.
Make no mistake about it; this isn't the US of A. There were several times that I was quickly reminded that I was on the edge of the Third World. But the trucks were mostly new (many of them being Mexican tractors pulling familiar US trailers back and forth across the border), the system of buses and urban trains (as I was to discover in Monterrey) was better than anything in the US. Business and government functions that once were done by hand were now computerized; every office seemed to have a computer. There was now a healthy middle class. People were often very stylishly and well dressed. Monterrey turned out to be a very prosperous steel and petrochemical center with a FERRARI dealership, for crying out loud! There was abundant shopping in many places, whether it be Mexican stores, European designer clothing stores, or our favorite American standby the WalMart. There were a whole lot of new automobiles, including quite a few types that we don't get here in the USA. All in all, Mexico looked very prosperous.
Very, very eye opening.
And the roads can be excellent, although they do have the bad habit of biting back just as you get complacent. But there are toll roads running between Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey, and Matamoros that are as good as US the best US Interstates. The upside is that the toll roads don't carry a lot of traffic. The downside is that is because the toll roads are expensive ($17 to do the 200 or so miles from Monterrey to Nuevo Laredo).
Secondary roads can be very good, or can be very bad. Which sounds like some gals that I used to date, but that's beside the point. The shoulders (on the roads) are usually pretty nonexistent and the roadway often drop 9 to 12 inches. Not something that you want to drive off of if you fall asleep. And whatever is on the surface of blacktop roads, whether it's spilled diesel or the type of asphalt that they use, gets slippery than snot when it rains. My advice is to not drive after dark, and I'd avoid riding a motorcycle when the roads are wet.
Toll roads tend to bypass all the towns. The free roads take you right through town.
Rather then posting speed limit signs and relying on traffic cops to write tickets, Mexico has an ingenious solution to get you to slow down. The infamous topes. Speed bumps. Or those half-round steel dots that used to be popular in the USA in the 50's. If you see the topes you WILL slow down, otherwise hitting them at high speed will rattle the fillings out of your teeth. Oftentimes the first sign that you are approaching a set of topes will be the piles of car parts from poor schmucks who didn't slow down. Yes, I'm joking. Sorta.
And then there are the inevitable burros, horses, and cattle.
I've never seen any livestock on the toll roads but farmers do graze their cattle right on the grassy shoulders. Thankfully, these all seem to be tied up.
Not necessarily all animals are tied up, however.
In my collection of photos there are several shots of cattle roaming loose at the side of the roadway just outside Nuevo Laredo. That road was quite heavily traveled, and the cattle were in a pen that was fenced on three sides and wide open on the roadway side. I think the farmer's logic was that the cattle would have enough sense not to cross the highway, thus why there was no fencing on the roadward side. When I saw those loose cattle I turned around to take photos. At some point while I was turning around one of the cows was standing in one lane of the roadway and trucks were slowly going by it. Thankfully, that cow retreated or we would have had a lot of hamburger on the roadway. As I was taking my photos the watchman at a nearby lot was watching. I made a joke at the cows becoming 'tacos' and the watchman just smiled and made the universal sign of death -- running his finger across his throat. Those poor animals aren't long for this World.
Moral of the story: Watch out for roaming animals. And a good set of crash bars on your SUV or Kenmex Kenworth wouldn't hurt, either.
I got mildly questioned by the authorities at two checkpoints out in the desert. Both times everyone was very good natured, even if businesslike. At one of the checkpoints I realized that the gentleman's English was much, much better than he was letting on so beware. BE NICE AND POLITE. DON'T CARRY DOPE OR WEAPONS [3] Don't be tense; they are tons friendlier than any State Trooper that I've ever met on official bizness [4] And don't assume that Mexican authorities are dangerous, undisciplined, dumb, or can be paid off with bribes. You will be embarrassed if you do.
Also, remember that the Mexican authorities are enforcing OUR laws to keep OUR drug consumers from getting any dope. I wouldn't take a personal stash to Mexico if I were you unless you really enjoy the idea of seeing another country from inside a jail cell.
(I did have a funny conversation with friends that I met in Monterrey. They told me that if the traffic police tried to stop me, to go ahead and flee. Supposedly the traffic police (NOT the Federales! The traffic cops are the ones with bad uniforms and older cars.) have a no chase policy and most don't carry radios. I told my friends that there was no way that I'd run from a Mexican copper, but after seeing the traffic cops I have to admit that they would be pretty easy pickings for a 95 horsepower motorcycle ;)
My faithful 1998 R1100GS BMW has just rolled over 66,000 miles and she runs like a top. I've got some parts on order to do what the military aviation people would call a "mid life upgrade" but as I write this I'm thinking more and more about getting a second, possibly identical bike in order to avoid putting too many miles on the Robomantis. I'm very happy with this bike. The basic design didn't change between 1995 and 1999 (when the slightly redesigned R1150GS was introduced) and every time I see one of those ads that reads something like "1996 BMW ... 5,000 miles ... all the expensive adventure touring gear ... never off road ... never ridden in rain ... kept in garage" I get really tempted to buy one of those bikes and break them in right. 'cause my bike has been through gales and hurricanes, dust storms, freezing conditions, ice, snow, and desert heat and the old girl is eagerly awaiting the next trip. Who sez that mechanical objects don't have souls?
However, on the subject of things that may or may not work ... let me tell you about my experiences with American Express. Five years ago I had no trouble cashing AmEx travelers checks at the casa de cambio [5] in Mazatlan which is, admittedly, a touristy place with lots of Americans. This time around I couldn't get anyone, including several casas de cambio, to take my traveler's checks. When I paid for my room in Monterrey with them the hotel graciously took them but their bank returned the checks saying that the signatures didn't match. (OK, so the checks had gotten a bit wet, what with all the rain ... ) So I had to take a taxi and go schlepping to the other side of Monterrey to the American Express local office. Later in my trip I tried to cash some at the Nuevo Laredo Bancomer [6] branch and they wouldn't take them because my signature on the checks {first and last name} didn't match the signature on my passport {first name, middle initial, last name, and 'III' for The Third}. Bancomer was, btw, the only place in my entire trip where I got the feeling of "we're bureaucrats, we don't care." And to add insult to injury Bancomer is supposed to be AmEx's official 'partner' in the Mexican market and had signs up throughout the branch encouraging people to buy AmEx travelers checks!
My advice for the future is to just keep stashes of cash (dollars and pesos) hidden in your luggage. And rely on your Visa card.
And invest in, and carry, your passport. You don't need a passport to travel in Mexico, but it makes life a lot easier.
I did found that I could get pesos at most ATM's with my Visa card. Which was reassuring, because I already have a love/hate relationship with my bank over their card and their rules. My bank's attitude about the travelers check screwups and a cash deposit to my checking account (which my Visa was drawing from) that didn't show up on their books until the day after I was home was along the lines of "We can straighten this out when you get back to Florida" which isn't very satisfactory when you are out of money in Mexico.
I drank bottled water and beer. I also ate at the roadside taco stands a couple of times. I caught myself using the tap water (rather than bottled water) to brush my teeth. Bottom line: no Montezuma's Revenge. I asked some of the locals how wise it was to drink the water these days and they said that the water systems were good in both Nuevo Laredo and Monterrey. On the other hand, more and more Americans are drinking bottled water in the States, right? To be honest, on future trips I'm not going to worry about the water, unless I go to rural areas. You can send flowers, to ...
All in all, I had a great trip and I'm already preparing for my next adventure in Mexico. Because of weather and other scheduling problems I didn't get to see several things that I had wanted to see. I didn't get to the Texas seashore, which I hear is great. I had planned to ride down to Tampico but the prospect of crappy weather made a stay in Monterrey look like a good idea. I had planned to hit New Orleans on the way home but an email received in Monterrey alerted me that the lovely Merry Widow, long suffering friend, pal, confidant, sometimes travel companion and bail bondsman, was in the hospital and wasn't going to be able to meet me in The Big Easy. Bummer. Major bummer.
Sooooooo ... if you have a sense of curiosity about our big friend and trading partner to the south I would encourage you to take a trip into Mexico. The more I get to know Mexico and the folks that live there, the more I have come to understand that in most ways they are just like you and me. And they are friendlier than 80% of my neighbors ;)
Until the next trip ...
-- PirateJohn --
[1] On previous trips the uniforms didn't always match. Holsters with no guns
stood out.
[2] On previous trips the cars tended to be older and smaller Chrysler products;
in fact, in returning to Texas I was struck with how similar the Federales are
to the Texas Rangers both in quality of equipment as well as temperament.
[3] Possession of a gun can get you 20 years in el klinko. Possession of a bullet
can get you serious time as well. I'm not sure what the story is on knifes but
I was told that my Gerber Multitool, that I've taken to wearing on my belt and
which has a blade, should not be worn in public in Mexico but was fine as part
of my toolkit. I've heard that pepper spray and those collapsible batons can
also cause trouble. I carry a 4 or 5 cell Maglite flashlight (guys reading this
all understand where this is going) on the bike and no one commented on that
except that the guys in the parking garage in Monterrey took it off my bike
to keep it from getting stolen. Very nice guys at the hotel, BTW.
[4] On their off times some State Troopers can be a hoot. Some of them.
[5] Cash house. Every little town and border area seems to have one. Mostly
for converting dollar$ to pe$o$, and the reverse.
[6] Big, national Mexican bank
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PirateJohn
Jacksonville Beaches, FL
Keeper of the HumourList at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HumourList/
Personal website at http://hometown.aol.com/PirateJohn/pirate1.html
Member, Iron Butt Association (Long Distance Motorcyclists) --
SS1K in 2000, 50cc (Coast to Coast in 50 Hours) in 2002