Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Emerald Coast to Ciudad Victoria

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

Being a wise guy, we were looking for a way to beat the clock around Tampico. It had been raining all day since we had pulled out of the rv park at Trailer Park de Alba. It was a great ride and I enjoy driving in the rain, afterall it wasn't a storm or hurricane. We listened to Astrud Gilberto and Chris Botte on CDs and had a great conversation recalling our time in Veracruz and all the great things we had learned about San Rafael and of course the new friends we made on this trip.

We attempted a new bypass and it got us right back to the same one we had come down on. From there we cut across to Hwy 70 hoping to take Ebano exit to Estacion Manuel and then on the the toll highway to Ciudad Victoria. Surprise!

We exited at Ebano and started down the road to Estacion Manuel. So far so good, paved with quite a few topes. Then the road came to an end. It was obvious construction was going on but halted for the holidays. We flagged down an oncoming truck and he said the road improved considerably after we passed the bridge. We passed the "said" bridge and many more after that. What we didn't ask the guy was if the road turned back into a highway. It didn't for another 2 hours as we traversed a dirt road that had once been paved and completely stripped filled with potholes. Two hours later we arrived in Estacion Manuel. Amen for that brother.

We went to visit the police to ask if we could stay somewhere for the night and they directed us to the municipal gym. We parked outside under a lampost and spent quite a relaxing evening.

Needless to say, happy hour lasted a bit longer than usual. I had passed my usual 6 hours of driving time and put in more like 8.5 hours. Way too much for me.

Well, what's done is done.

This morning we headed out for the road to Ciudad Victoria. The sun began to shine and we knew we were off for a great day. It really has been. It was a short 150 kms but we got to Victoria and easily found the rv park. We met Rosie and she got us checked in.

The park is nice as an rv park goes. It has no pool and no internet but the bathrooms and showers are nice. It has seen better days and I think they would just clear all the old crap laying around the place out of there it would look like any other run of the mill rv park in the U.S.

We first took the rv to the car wash and they accepted us. We backed in as they washed the rv and then we returned later to do the Durango. This car wash is two blocks away from the rv park and they charged us 20 pesos per lineal meter. They did a great job.
We also found a wonderful seafood restaurant nearby called La Playa. Leaving the Victoria RV Park, turn right and go to the first light turn right and head up the hill. It is on the left side of the street. Inexpensive lunch specials and great shrimp cocktails.

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