Goodbye USA

10 June

We finally left Alamo TX at 0615.  All three of us (Sandra, Roger and I) were ready to get going.  We crossed over to Mexico at Progresso and then hugged the Rio Grande to Matamoras, where we then headed south.  Norm had intel that this was the safest way to go, with more security patrols than the other major roadway available.  We meandered south on a lot of 1.5 lane road.  Road etiquette is to move to the right on what we would call the shoulder and then traffic can pass on the left.  Norm said in the old days in the USA the passing lanes were called suicide lanes.  (Norm is 70.)  According to Norm the majority of the road that we drove on today is the best we’ll see on the trip.  Not that I’m complaining, but there was a lot of bumping around and we’ve already experienced countless “topas” (speed bumps).  We only got inspected once, the rest of the time inspections were occurring on the northbound side.  The inspector was very polite as he opened all easily accessible cabinets to eyeball their contents.  Fortunately he didn’t put his hands on anything or move anything around.  Norm told us several stories about inspections.

The most harrowing driving was through Tampico, which also occurred at the end of the day.  Sandra drove her rig expertly, with the assistance of Roger blocking traffic from behind when a sudden lane change was required.

The first third of the drive, we passed through a lot of “sorgo” (sorghum) which is grown for feed.  It looked like what Roger calls feed maize (not to be confused with corn.)   The second third was on the edge of the Sierra Madre Oriental, sort of like Texas hill country with a touch more desert.  The last third was back to pastureland and agriculture, with citrus groves and pineapple.

It was a long day driving, with no sights worth seeing.  We got to our stopping point at 6 pm, where we are spending the night at the base of the Tampico toll bridge, which also happens to be a Policia Federal station.  We did see a two large flocks(right word?) of pelicans (several 100s) flew over the bridge.  An unusual sight unless you live on the gulf coast.

It was hot all day, however it is cooling off and we’re supposed to turn off our generator at 10 pm.  Roger is hoping our radio will be charged by then, as comms is essential with three in our group.