Topes And Road Construction

September 2, 2008 (Tampico, Mexico)

After the commotion of Matamoras, the ride to Tampico was pleasantly uneventful. Mexico's countryside is filled with mountains, valleys, winding roads and many, many small towns. For each small town we enter and leave, we are greeted by  topes (speed bumps). Topes are meant to slow down traffic. They come in a variety of sizes and heights and they do their job well. Unfamiliar with the road signs, we unexpectedly crossed our first few topes at full speed. You may think this is no big deal, but when you are in a low riding van it feels like you hit a brick wall! We quickly learned that the sign with 3 black humps in a row, signifies an upcoming tope, not mountains! Even by slowing down, to almost a complete stop, we scraped across each tope and checked the rear view mirror for remnants of the muffler!

September 3, 2008 (Acayucan, Mexico)

The entire day was spent in major road construction and delays. I know I intensified the day with my back seat driving (from the front seat). I slowed down and braked much more often than my husband! We reached Veracruz at rush hour. Not wanting to deal with more stop and go traffic, we pushed onward to Acayucan.  As we made our exit, we drove straight into chaos. The town was having a Fiesta (Festival) and the streets were packed with cars, buses, motos, people and animals! I think the celebration was for all things that move! It was a grid lock of shear craziness. By some miracle we found our way to a hotel. The bonus of the day, was that they had an underground parking garage; until we saw the entrance. A steep, straight shot down! For all you mountain climbers out there, you could repel down this entrance! As we crawled and scraped our way down, I prayed for strong brakes. Nervous, tired, stressed and certain that the van would never make it out, I broke down and cried. Jim assured me we will get out. "We may have to unload the van, but we will get out"! Walking to the stairs, we saw a large sliding door. Pointing, we asked the parking attendant,  donde (where)? He smiled and slide the door open. A street level exit! I nearly dropped to my knees in disbelief..........

La Senora