CROSSING THE BORDER -- AGAIN AND AGAIN

I turned in my Title at Progresso on Monday morning and they told me I would

have to come back to pick it up in three days. Well, on Thursday we did,

and there was nothing to pick up! (They had stamped it OK the day I turned

it in.) They suggested that I go across the border there, and we did but

there was NOTHING in the way of customs on the Mexican side. A

non-English-speaking lady cop told me to "left & park" and we did left, and

there was no place to park. So we lit out for Matamoros.

"Ain't no God in Mexico, ain't no comfort in the can,

When you're down in Matamoros, getting busted by the man...

Ain't no God in Mexico, ain't no way to understand

How that border-crossin' feeling makes a fool out of a man."

   (wrote by Billy Joe Shavers, sung by Waylon, RIP)

So, we couldn't find the customs in Matamoros, except at the border, so we

went BACK across the border, paying toll both ways and came into the Mexican

customs area on the left after you cross the Neuvo Puente (new bridge).

Absolutely no sweat!! They asked me twice what kind of goods I had, and I

answered Personal, and that was that.

I had purchased insurance at Sanborn's in McAllen on Tuesday. FYI, right

now, it's $96 for a month, $196 for a year!! Since I need coverage whenever

I come back over to Chetumal, I got the year's coverage, and will probably

renew it. The piece of mind is worth it. They threw in two travelogs,

normally $8ea., and so far, they haven't been worth much more than they

cost. (free) We needed to spend the night in San Fernando, and they listed

four hotels; I chose the La Paloma, for which they had lots of amenities,

and said they took Visa/MC. Well, the restaurant was empty (not just

closed) jacuzzi was covered for the winter, and they didn't take Credit

Cards. 450 Pesos; I probably could have bargained them down to $350, but

live & learn. Sanborn's says some Pemex stations are starting to use CC, but

we haven't seen one yet!!

CHANGE. The guy at the border was giving 7 for a dollar! Previously (while

I was in Matamoros "illegally") I had stopped at the Best Western Executive

Inn in south Matamoros, and they gave me 11.5 to 1, so I knew I had to shop.

We went back to the Holiday Inn, asked about the hotel in C. Victoria, and

changed another $100 for 1100 pesos. I think this will be a problem thruout

the trip.

LOST IN A LITTLE MEXICAN TOWN AT NIGHT

After we got settled in the room in SF, we went and bought a bottle of rum,

some beer and went downtown looking for a grocery store. I promptly made an

illegal left turn (didn't go around the traffic circle -- which was

invisible in the dark) and got stopped by a town cop. He was pleasant, we

spent ten minutes before he discovered that we really couldn't communicate

at all, and let us go! Little neighborhood "super" sold me an onion and

then I started back. "Don't go thru the middle of town" I thought "I might

run into that cop" so we tried to take a shortcut. Many roads later, we

finally came back into town partway, and found the motel. I cooked Linguini

& red clam sauce, which we devoured, since we never got any lunch. The

carbs made me pass out (Remember, I'm hypoglycemic) and I slept well. Tim

did too, and now, having filled up on Mexican TV, we are off for Tampico and

Vera Cruz.

DOWN THE ROAD TO TAMPICO

All morning we talked about making it to Vera Cruz before nightfall, but

that turned into "maybe Tuxpan" and "let's spend the night on the beach east

of Tuxpan." At 3:30, after changing some money at an official Casas de

Cambio (11.2 to one) and eating some passable Chinese food, we decided not

to go to Tuxpan. Using the Sanborn Travelog, we found the Tampico Hotel,

downtown, cheap and <surprise> very nice. $350 pesos for a double. Not

sleeping on the beach, but what the heck.

Chow,

RZ

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