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As the semester drew near to closing and the semi-flamboyant graduation ceremony was complete, the summer-o-fun was just a weekend away. After a quick visit by my daughter and her family, plus the near double drowning of my youngest grandchild, Mexico and it’s healing powers were mentally moments away. If you read the last blog entry, Tammy (my Honda Element) seems up to yet another Mexico challenge, yet she has some secrets of her own that she may reveal in the next few weeks. We’ll see.
Memorial Day 2024 – We’re packed and out of the house by noon, leaving my daughter and family to languish another 90 minutes. We had a plan. She kinda didn’t. We crossed the border by 2 and had the necessary papers by 2:30. Easy-peasy. We grabbed some Pesos at our usual “Casa de Cambio” then motored directly to Monterrey for the night.
We’re getting pretty good at this Mexico thing. Google Maps keeps giving us the “Really? Again?” kind of attitude. But we smoothly entered the abyss of Monterrey traffic and arrived at our hotel “La Kavia” as if we were local tourist guides.
It’s hot. But Monterrey welcomed us with powerful gusts of wind and cooler temperatures only a couple of blocks from our hotel. Nice. This meant walking about without smelling like a locker room. We took a quick stroll through the park, past the “great obstruction”, to the Barrio Antigua. A bottle of wine and some yummy pasta carbonara at Restaurante Italiano Iannilli was all it took. We passed back through the park, took a moment to watch the green parrots coming in to roost and… thud, we were in bed by 7:01.
The green parrots in Centro Monterrey
12 hours later, it was pretty easy to get moving. We took a stroll through a small portion of the walking streets behind the hotel, snagged a quick breakfast, then set the controls for the southside of Tampico. But first, a stop at a Monterrey HEB for “supplies”.
The drive for the last 6 hours was rather uneventful for these seasoned gringos. Fast moving semi-tractor trailer trucks? Check. Faster rattling Nissans? Check. Swaying double-decker busses? Check. Official looking people with automatic weapons? Check. The only delays were for beer and gas. Tammy, la carbonara, has shown she is made for this kind of travel, passing 3 to 4 smoking diesel trucks at a time with a robust punch of the accelerator. Remind me to check the motor mounts when we get back.
Tonight, we will stay in Pueblo Viejo, a little speck on the southside of Tampico. It’s across the river, over the big bridge, and about two miles into the State of Veracruz. We’re staying at Hotel Esmerelda. We were here a few years ago and were mesmerized! This time… not so much. It needs a bit of love now. Lots of love and maybe an affair or two with the pool boy. The A/C works but I had to drag a nightstand over to it, assist Sharon to stand on it in order to change the temperature to something less than Hell. The convenience of the remote was simply to turn it on or off. That’s it.
After a short search for somewhere to eat, we settled on the only place open. No, really, 5 o’clock on a Monday and there’s only one place to eat. The tequila and beer were cold and short-lived. Then there was the questionable bag-o-chips and the warmer-than-room-temperature mayonnaise with “chiles”. That was their chips and salsa, and neither of us attempted to try it. (Note – tequila and hot sauce is important in killing any “bugs” you may pick up along the way). Our situation seemed bleak, but after another round of drinks and a surprisingly tasty skewer of grilled shrimp and veggies, all was chalked up to being another part of the adventure. We laughed a lot. Welcome to another Mexico experience.
Early that next morning after a night of sleep/no sleep/weird dreams, we packed up and headed to Xalapa, (Ha-la-pa). We made a concentrated effort to stay off the toll roads, take our time and wind through the small villages with their semi-free-range livestock, axle cracking speed bumps and local police with their cruisers on blocks. The free road also comes with a surprise package around every corner.
We are several hundred miles south of the Tropic of Cancer; the line where you go from tourist to questionable behavior. I behaved. The traffic was sometimes sparse and other times jockeying for lane space with a double semi-tractor trailer. Then there were the “let’s all stop and wait for some unknown reason” moments. The drive was still quite nice but the “let’s all stop” moments took their toll. We entered Xalapa at about 1 in the afternoon and quickly found ourselves in the midst of heavy traffic. We were 6 blocks from our hotel when steam started to geyser from under the hood wherever it could escape. Tammy was in trouble.
Oh joy…
I forced our way through the traffic snarl and found the nearest place to park. The hotel wasn’t too far away so we grabbed our backpacks with a couple of day’s supplies, locked up Tammy and headed to the hotel. Once in our room we kick the A/C up has high as it would go, (which wasn’t much) and just laid there, individually sweating and plotting our next move. An hour or so later, we trekked back to Tammy and fed her water from the ice chest. These will be known as the “Xalapa Taxi” days.
Luckily there’s a Honda dealer a couple of miles away with one guy, Tony, that speaks pretty good English. My Spanish is fine to a certain level. I’m your man at ordering from the bar but not when it comes to mechanicals and technical stuff.
The next morning we had breakfast in the large and airy center of the hotel, Villas las Margaritas. It’s very old but very well kept. Fancy and super cheap! Then we just walked, choosing the downhill route whenever possible. Sharon is not adapting well to the heat, dust and smoke. There have been months of controlled and wild fires near here. So, we sought out one of those pharmacies with the doctor next-door. All you need is one doctor and he’ll write you all the prescriptions you need. Cost of a doctor’s visit? 50 pesos. That’s $3.12 American. Cost of a happy and healthy wife? Inestimable, (priceless). A fist full of drugs later and she’s napping peacefully. Meanwhile, I’ve gone and bought parts for the Element (assisted by Tony on the phone and his Sancha at El AutoZone) and Tammy may be ready to go by late tomorrow.
Everything seems to be working out. So let’s write about it.
Haha u tell such an exciting funny story with very little. Hope Tammy is an easy fix. Wish I was there. Miss y’all have fun:)
Amazing!
Great stories as usual. Stay safe and help Tammy get through this.
Y’all have such great attitudes and latitudes. Nothing wrong that tequila can’t fix. Have fun!
Thinking you should have welded some tabs and put a safety cable through Tammie’s cat to deter its next disappearance.
Love your account of the happenings..enjoy.. take good care of my friend ,Sharon
Jackie
Nice work. Tequila tails are awesome!