Problems along the way

Weird clouds overhead -- all bark, no bite

In addition to the Windy Tale story, we did have a few minor incidents – nothing really happened to endanger ourselves or our rig. There were a few bumps along the way that I could share with you.

After we crossed the border into Mexico, we took the Libre (free) road to Matamoras by mistake – the road was in very bad repair and full of pot holes. I thought that if this was a sample of road conditions along the Gulf Coast, I might rethink the trip. After leaving Matamoras, the roads did improve but the RV was given a through bump test. Other roads along the way gave us some cause to consider, making for a long day’s journey. We only averaged 30 miles/hour in our RV on most of the Mexican roads (I average about 50 miles/hour in the states). Topes and numerous small pueblos added delays. By my count, there were 1,745 topes along our route (if you haven’t already guessed, I made up that number -- but it is a close estimate). I advise that you take a Cuota (toll road) whenever possible.

I sideswiped a bridge lamp post in Poza Rica with my passenger side mirror. Good-Bye mirror. Replaced it in Catemaco with a school bus mirror, but lost that one on the way to Acapulco. The roads were very narrow in a few locations and although my RV body measures 8’-0”, it measures 10’-0” across with the mirrors. In my own defense, I noted most of the highway signs posted close to the highway had all been hit at one time or another. I was lucky, I only hit the passenger mirror less than 10 times with overhanging limbs and various road signs. Bought a new mirror in Acapulco and at present, it is still intact.

The brakes overheated on the way to Catemaco, but we were able to stop before it became too dangerous to drive. As mentioned earlier, we did replace the back brake pads in Catemaco. I did not tow the car down the Cuota from San Cristobal to Tuxtla Gutierrez (an altitude drop from 7000’ to 2000’). I was concerned about the brakes and transmission. I also did not tow the car along sections of the highway along the Pacific Coast. All went well to Tuxtla Gutierrez, but our brakes did overheat twice while towing the HHR over the mountains,

Getting lost – at least a dozen times, but we managed eventually to get back on track (I do that here in the states). We read the news about the problems at the border. We had a safe trip, no incidents, however, we did not travel at night, we did not visit border towns, we did not go to questionable areas of a strange city, we stayed at campgrounds or a Pemex station at night, and we are not in the drug business.

All in all, we had a good trip and a great adventure!