So it turned out that after promising the hotel attendant that Kilo would not bark, it turns out I should have grilled him on how many loud parties are allowed in their hotel. It was raining and without an umbrella and in the dark, none of the kids (understandably) relished the idea of walking around our hotel. It was also very cold and in a busy part of town, so I wasn’t really interested in trying to keep them safe. As such, there was a bit of pent-up energy I was constantly trying to redirect and keep the noise level down until we were able to convince the girls to go to sleep. The boys had their own room as the clerk was going to charge us for them anyway and the room Jamie had looked at was too small for our beds and their bedrolls. They were very happy to have their own room AND their own beds. About 2:30 in the morning I was awakened by the sounds of a boisterous party going on upstairs. The party room windows faced the same area as our window and it sounded like the party animals were right in the room with us. It was absolutely impossible to sleep and I was very happy to hear them clumping down the stairs so I could grab a few more hours before we got up. Guess I didn’t need to try to keep the girls quiet. Jamie was pretty sure the sheets were dirty and both Ellen and I decided to sleep in our clothes. I don’t think I could really recommend the hotel but they did accommodate Kilo and the clerk made some really good coffee to get us on our way.
Even after such an awful night of sleep, I managed to wake about 6:45 and we packed quickly enough that we were on the road by 8:30. I don’t think we’ve ever gotten such an early start. I had hoped to get as far as Tampico, what I thought to be 300 km from Ciudad Victoria, but it turned out to be only 230 or so and we were there before noon. Unfortunately, the road between Tampico and Tuxpan is famous for its awful road surface and even buses are reported to take 3.5 hours to travel the 180 km between the two cities. We had a day of very few wrong turns – all our guesses (as to which turn to take) were either good ones or my navigator has come into his own. But I did have to evade a transito.
As we were traversing the ring road of Tuxpan, we came to a light and I asked Jamie if the light was green or not. We slowed and looked carefully and it sure looked green. All traffic was stopped for us so I headed through the intersection. it seemed that the transito was just waiting for such an opportunity and motioned me over as I finished crossing the intersection. I knew it was going to be a long negotiation and I wasn’t going to bribe and I just didn’t want the hassle. So I ignored him. He blew his whistle and frantically gestured, but I kept on heading away. Jamie was sure that he would radio ahead and have us cut off or someone would be following us and I did notice a car quickly enter the road after the would-be infraction, but I managed to get enough slow-moving trucks and other cars between us that it couldn’t have caught up. I really didn’t even think twice about evading the transito and I really didn’t expect anything to come of it, and it didn’t. I guess I’ve adjusted pretty well to the culture.
Even though it took us about an hour to go the last 60km to Tuxpan, I decided I really wanted to get further down the road, so we headed to the Emerald Coast. We knew there were many hotels and motels along the coast and I had high hopes of Kilo running on the beach (after such a long day in the car) and the kids running around, getting energy out on the beach and no hassles for more than 2 kids and a dog in the room. We ran into traffic jam after traffic jam and spent about 30 minutes traversing a bridge. It was taking longer and longer and longer and after FINALLY hitting the coast we found a lovely-looking place, lit up and very clean looking. We thought we were home for the night. The encargante (I assume) approached my window and I asked if he had any rooms available, a silly question since the lot was devoid of any cars or people, and he said he didn’t have any rooms. Luckily, the next hotel had no problem admitting us and I mentioned nothing about kids or dogs but they couldn’t care less. We had a lovely walk on the beach, tried to get the energy out of the kids and Kilo and a freezing shower. It’s very clean and a large room and while Jamie tried to get the price down to $400 from $450, I was happy to pay the asked-for price.
Tomorrow we hope to pick up the cuota and blast from Veraruz to Villahermosa, and hopefully stay at the same hotel the boys and I did in Frontera. It is looking like we can be home in 2 days time.
