MickeyD's in Veracruz
 

And so , here we are at the first 'american food' place I've seen in a month. It was good to visit and gather info. 175 was great and landed me in Oxacaxa after a great ride through a montain/rain forrest More than 50 miles of 2nd gear switchbacks and such. Much of the time, looking down at clouds. You guys enjoy your trip and please avoid anything that might shorten it. mike

The purchase of gas.
 

I pulled into the first station with only a quatar of a tank left. It was 95 degrees and I was excited but tired neverless. I waved off the guy trying to wash my mwindshield and went inside to pay. Nothing was working out, so I left. At the next station, it was more confusion, so I left. I now figure I've got a problem. At the third station, Hector was there and understood my problem. He , and those other guys earlier, were there to take the money and pump the gas. How could I know it was full service? And unlike the usa they could put gas in my bike and not pour it all over the bike! I thanked Hector for his patince and went in the market to get a snack. I got a 7up and after the second lap around the store and could not find any label that made sense, Hector stopped me and said,"Here that my lunch. Eat like a mexican!" And I did. Six tacos. I am very grateful for his help. Thank you Hector.

First stop Monclova
 

Not only did I not know how to buy gas, I did not know how to rent a room! So when I got to Monclovia I wandered around until I saw a sign that read 'Hotel'. Turns out that is a word I need to know! I got this room for $44.00us knowing it is way to much but hot and tired from the SanAntinio Tx the Moncovia Mx ride,(about 250 miles at 95 degrees) the excitements of the border crossing ( I had been warned of terrible things gonna happen!) the visa, gas , etc etc It was a 'Screw it, I'll fix it later' moment. It was a very nice room but has a very eyecatching head board. I don't know what this means but I'm pretty sure the baptists won't like it. Next morning,on the way out of town, I was fearful of not haveing food or gas so I gased up and stopped here at the last intersection before open desert. I don't really know how to buy food! The cook picked up a bun and I said 'si' and kept saying 'si' until I got food. A crude method but it seems to work. People smile at me a lot... Got some more desert to go.

excellent Mike! Keep it coming.:scooter:

Found T-rex
 

With desert behind me and montains in the distance, I found T-Rex. It was then and there that 'da water got me'. So there I was, international adventure rider etc etc, behind one of those skimpy bushes, bent over at the waist sqirting horisonall. About 3 maybe 4 feet maybe, although I did not measure it. I then went on into the mountains with only somewhat soiled bvds. This being an adventure guy does not always carry with it great dignity.Once in the mountains I saw these pieces that were once laying flat and the surface of the earth pushed against itself untill this stuff was standing straight up.

Into the hills....Saltillo
 

I wandered around in Satillo until I stumbled on the La Loma Hotel. They gave me a room with 6 beds because they wanted me to be able to bring the moto inside. I was feeling subpar and also thought that it was quite safe being out of sight and three feet from my door as well as covered up. I did not want to remove the bags and the tires and then hoist the bike over the 8" high door sill. I stayed almost a week recovering from 'da water' and they treated me like a prince while I wasted their resorses. About the second day,while wandering out looking for food, I saw a well kept laundry and so the next day I took all my clothes in (wearing swiming trunks). I thought it was a coin laundry but the woman behind the counter and I got crossed up as she insisted on doing the job. With some tenson in the air I left to get something to read while the laundry was being done.When I got back Christina handed me the $200us that I had tucked in my watch pocket and later overlooked. I don't think any other action occured to her. It turns out it was not a coin laundry and she in fact does all the laundry that gets done. I am told that half the people in Mexico get by on $5.00us a day or less. Some say $7.00. Thank you,Christina.

Fernando...
 

While I was eating well presented and somewhat pricy food ($40-- $3.00us) Fernando sat down at my table and asked me in english if I were ok and was there anything that I needed. The owner of the restrant had spoken to him about me. Turns out he owns a fair part of the city, We talked for a half hour and then I ventured that in the excitement of crossing the border I failed to get insurance. He said if anybody asks, 'Give'm twenty bucks'. I'm ok with that but I want to be ok even if it is biger than a $20 problem. His son might know somebody. Come by his bar in the morning between 10:00 and 12:00. I met his two sons and severral friends and phone calls were made. Eventully connections were made and a friend of his offered me a ride to the insurance place and off we went in a new Ford pick-up on a half drunk Mr toad's wild ride. I had packed up to leave but it was getting late for that. I was left at the insurance place and after an hour plus I got a qoute for $762.00us for 6 mos full coverage. The pictures were made about 90 seconds before I saw the price. They put me with a free lance agent for a ride back to the bar. His eyes buldged when he saw the $24 a year for liability from Gieco.I had to buy more stuff to bring it up to minimum. Later, I went on line and got it for $91 for 6 mos. I went back to the bar to update Fernando. He was still there after 10 hours. I thanked him for his efforts, ate some shrimp from the bar and left in the morning.

Headed to San Luis Potosi
 

It is an important 10 degrees cooler in Satillo than down the hill in Monteray. It was good to get rolling again.I soon came upon this horse alongside the 'freeway'. It should be noted that it's front legs are tied together loosely so that it can not run. I never much liked large animals on the highway, but it does not seem to be nearly the bother as expected. Found a good number of these bridge/crosswalks. They have to be expensive and I did not see many people, but maybe forces a work that I am unaware of. I stopped at this little resautrant and marveled at the methoid of construction. The bricks above the window are angled against each other so that the bricks above the window don't simply come crashing down thru the glass. It was done that way centuries ago. The door as well. Maybe I'm wrong but, these are old methods if not a really old building. Coming from a long line of protestants and heathens I had no idea what to make of the horned one. Turns out he is the patron saint of both police and the crooks. Both prey to him....

On the road south...
 

In the restuarant was this little prayer nook, which is not uncommon. I noted that all the saints here, were female with the exception of the crook/cop saint. I also noted that the woman running the place was a bit cool toward me. I am certain that their are forces at work here that I am unaware of. The 'banos' (toilet) was a standard looking piece with no lid and no handle. I put the paper in a waste basket and flushed with a bucket of water from out side. Two miles up the road was a modern truck stop with pay toilets ($2or$3 - $.15 or $.23us) and mexican gay porn.

The mountain road less traveled...
 

I took 54 south rather that the toll road or the 'libre' (free) road that runs alongside it. I goes thru the montains. At the corner of 54 and 62 (San Tiburcio)' I, with map in hand, asked a fedural cop guy,' Is this road safe?'. There was about a dozen of them and they did not seem very busy or under pressure. With his assurances, I proceeded until I found this guy with his sheep and his puppys. I took fotos ,we shook hands and I thanked him. We smiled. No problem. Puppys keep sheep out of the road. Not much traffic. It looks to like she is wondering about this 'amor express'' herself. I stopped at a this bar/restuarant in Cedral to check my route. This guy got his hourse out for the occasion and then that guy got his snake out. Later the 10 (?) year old boy was playing with the snake. Talk about 'show and tell'.

I just stopped in a small town for some info..
 

This was the person behind the bar as I walked in and asked for directions. Nobody was satisfied until the snake was IN the motorcycle. I had to unpack to remove the snake.

Matehuala and more goats in the road
 

Stoneface on the bike rented me a room in Matehuala. On occasion he would break into a broad open smile. rather disarming. Notice his front brake. While at the hotel, Hector (on the right) asked, in english, if things were ok with me. I ventured that a hard copy of my online insurance would be good but I had no real concerns about it. After he delt with some of his own stuff, we devised a plan. He would ride his bicycle across town and I wouls follow him. It was a childs model with 20" wheels. The rear was a little low on air. After a mile or two, much of it the wrong way on one way streets, we got to a place that had the word 'copias' painted above to door. We hooked my computer to their wifi and printer and presto! A hard copy was had. $10 (.75us). I could not have done that without help. I offered him my extra helmet as I had been reviewing how much stuff I was carrying. I should not have. He was being kind. He was not doing any part of a hussle. Thank you, Hector. I found another shepard with goats along the freeway. Some of the traffic stays to the right at about 35mph and some of the traffic is on the left at 100mph or more. I did not see it become a problem. Amazing.

Into Charcas
 

Not quite 7000 feet and right up the hill comes this bad boy. Oh,my. I had lunch in the orange and white trailer in the background and they had much good humor about my ordering style or whatever... And then had coffee on the town square with this woman. Wearing slacks ,medium heels and some jewery she dipped coffee from the large pot which had grounds in it and then strained it. Add Nescafe to taste. She was in charge of flirting and would not tolerate her employees doing so.

Into San Lewis Potosi
 

I got lost leaveing Charcas and stopped in here to ask directions. Everyone came out to talk about the bike, the trip, etc. Hector (another one!) send me up some washed out dirt roads and how could I complain , being a world traveler and all. In San Lewis Potosi, after wandering for a while I spotted two cops trolling and asked if they spoke english and then where is a cheap room. They gestured to follow and led me to a nice room for $180 ($13.50us) Coco, in the middle, cooked me this breakfast every morning for $40 ($3.00us plus a .75 tip). Louise was brought in to translate and she and I went touristing downtown. The youngest one giggled a lot. That is the largest church in town.

Downtown
 

Clowns can find work here. And dancing cowboys with blue boots and pretty shirts can make a go of it. These mild mannered,well behaved women went wild for the mass fanny shake! And then the lap dance...Kinda like Chipndales, but not..