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Jimbo
& Karen's 303-952-0232 US ** (011 52) 998-183-99-71 Mexican Cell * JimbodeIsla@aol.com |
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Jimbo
& Karen's 303-952-0232 US ** (011 52) 998-183-99-71 Mexican Cell * JimbodeIsla@aol.com |
Golden, CO to Isla Mujeres, MX: notes
from a Road Trip Random notes, in no particular order, from an
amazing road trip: Four long days of driving…13-14 hours each
day…mostly eating food we packed until we were down to just the bare
essentials: peanut butter and bread…sometimes just a piece of
bread was fine by me… I wanna thank the makers of Goodyear tires for
saving our lives…more than once…no way those tires should have
survived the hits they took along the way… While I'm at it, Bavarian Motor Works makes a
pretty freakin strong vehicle…265,000 miles on it and she made it all
3100 miles, albeit sans the air conditioning, but I am impressed with that
1989 sedan… On the very first day…an hour into the trip,
we turned on the air conditioner only to find out a blazing heat would
shoot out…so much for a comfy, cool trip…up to 97 degrees in the
afternoon with the old fashioned 4 / 70 cooling system: roll down
all 4 and go 70 and hope your ass isn't on the sunny side of the car… It's gonna take several doses of caliente
sauce from the baseball taco stand down the street to eliminate the
several layers of soot and odors that have coated our throats and sinuses
from what we had to breathe…wild fires, more exhaust than I thought was
humanly possible to breathe and dozens of mystery odors that makes you
wonder how many years it just took off your life on the back end…may
need to wash those tacos down with a few extra cervesas while we're at
it… Did I mention the dead body on the side of the
road yet? Yep…a little more reality than necessary…a sobering
sight to say the least… I have never seen so many wild fires in my
life…one day it seemed like it was never very bright outside and we
didn't need sunglasses although there were no clouds in the sky…someone
needs to explain to me why there were so many fires…dozens and dozens of
'em…especially all over the Yucatan…and I never once saw anyone trying
to put one out… If you've ever been there, then you know:
Zacatecas is one of the shitiest towns I've ever seen in my life…you can
quote me on that…you gotta see it to believe it…if you know someone
that has ever lived there and survived, then I wanna meet 'em and shake
their hand as they are a heartier soul than you or I… On the other hand, Champotanis is a very cool,
sleepy little town along the west coast of the Yukatan…would love to
stay there for a week or so someday… I have driven thru some amazing blizzards in
my life from Colorado to the west coast…I have driven the "M"
roads in the UK with no discernable speed limit…I have even seen my
share of LA traffic (more than I ever wanted to), but nothing, I mean
NOTHING can prepare you for driving through Aquascalientes at night…you
better be on your game mister, or you're not gonna make it…if you don't
drive defensively going in, you sure as hell are coming out… We found within minutes of crossing into
Juarez, that Mexican people are much more daring than middle-aged, white
guys from Colorado…in the 4 days of driving through the heart of the
country, we were not prepared for the many, many jaw dropping scenes we
saw…lots and lots of things my mother told me I should never even think
about doing…and we saw mothers doing 'em…and kids and old men and
…..oh what the hell - just about everyone…I'll bet we said out loud a
hundred times "I can't believe what I just saw…" Needless to say, neither one of us were
prepared for the number of dangers we ran across in the road…an: example
(one of hundreds): a 2 and a half lane road, just enough for a lane
each way, plus a little room for passing…cars going 110 mph…cars /
trucks going 10 mph and without warning a bicyclist appears out of no
where…how that cyclist thought he would live to see another day is
beyond me… What a world of contrasts on the road: HUGE
trucks (at least ½ were over-weight by US standards) going anywhere from
5 mph to 90 mph on the same road with a farmer going 15 mph on the same
road as a Cadillac SUV going 110 or more on the same road with locals
selling juice alongside the road on the same road as kids running across
the street… One would think that over a 4 day period there
would be periods of boredom…not so. I nice toll road can turn into
a series of potholes with no shoulder on the road or someone broken down
or construction without any warning over the next hill…you gotta be
ready at all times… After the flea bag motel we gladly paid for
the first night, the Holiday Inn in Leon was a sight for sore eyes…valet
parking, a bellman and room service were never appreciated more than that
night…so much so, we chose the Hyatt in Villahermosa…so much for
roughing it through the heart of old Mejico…screw that…I'll take a
shower massager after 14 hours of breathing exhaust, my hands sore from
gripping the wheel as hard as I can and the 4 / 70 cooling system… Day number 3 was the most adventurous…Jimbo
decided it was a GREAT idea to do an "end-around" with CD De
Mexico, aka Mexico City, aka just plain "Mexico" …we took a
wrong turn and went 2 hours out of our way up into the mountains east of
the city…fun times to pass on to the grandkids, huh? On the way
from CD de Mexico to Texcoco we were stuck in more traffic that I ever
wanna be in - that's from a guy that gets pissed with the traffic in
downtown Golden, CO and it's 2 traffic lights…folks trying their best to
sell you stuff - shoving it damn near into your window (no
air-conditioning, remember?) at every speed bump and red light.
That's gonna leave a little mark on a middle aged white guy for sure… Ever been to Chihuahua? It's very
cool…and it's fun to say…try it for a while…Chi-hua-hua…got a nice
ring to it, huh?. Next cocktail party I go to, I'm gonna tell
everyone I'm from Chihuahua, just for the hell of it… Being the savvy driver I am, I brought along
my radar detector. Needless to say by the end of the trip it was in
my glove box. Who needs a radar detector when you can drive as fast
as you want at any time…and never a state trooper in sight … We found a great way to deal with the
Federales that stopped us a ½ dozen times…just smile and say "no
hablo espanol" over and over. One guy (with his automatic
weapon in one hand) just laughed at how stupid we were and told us to just
get going…since he didn't shoot us, I felt like we made the right
decision to move on… Ever seen a semi with a double trailer
carrying hazardous material going down a 8-9% grade much too fast?
You should, it will make you a better driver…just floor it and get the
hell out of his way… Minding her own business, Karen was passing
one of those 2-trailer semi's when some dude going 110 mph decides to try
and beat her on the right and he didn't quite make it and slammed on his
brakes and almost rear-ended the truck…I dunno about her, but I needed a
new pair of undies after that one… "Carril izquierdo para retornar"
I must have seen that sign a thousand times and I still have no idea what
it means… 4 days of no cell phone, no e-mail and no
TV…now THAT is roughing it, huh? After everything is all said and done, am I
glad I did it. Would I do it again? Not on your life.
Would I recommend it for anyone else? Only for my sadomasochistic
friends…you know who you are… "Disfrutan mis amigos"…(enjoy, my
friends) as you never know what tomorrow will bring, so
"disfruta" as much as possible. y
via con Dios... Jimbo & Karen
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