playaboy
Dec 30, 2011, 7:10 AM
Post #1 of 4
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I usually lurk and don't post much but here is a trip report.
I, and my two neighbors, just made a 4000 mile round trip from Cancun to N Texas and back home to Cancun. Driving two trucks, we went to pick up a boat and cargo trailer. I have made the drive many times, driving the eastern route through Veracruz and Tamaulipas. For safety reasons, I decided to drive thru the center of Mexico. I have never fully driven HWY 57 to the Arco Norte.
On the way back, I used the Church's camping bible, Mexconnect.com and RV.net forums and looked for hotels were we could park our RV sized vehicles. We crossed Nuevo Laredo on Christmas day and made it to Matehuala and the Las Palmas hotel for the night. We parked in the RV lot and had a 2-bedroom suite right next the rigs.
In trying to plan where we would spend the next night I thought of contacting Robt65 for advice on where to stay in San Juan Del Rio. I get online, come to this site, and see a private message from Robert wishing me a merry Christmas. DEJA VU!!!!
I PM'd back with good wishes and telling him my situation along with my phone number. After a nice Christmas dinner at the Las Palmas, it was off to bed.
We were leaving at the crack of dawn; I just started the truck, and the phone rings, "hi Playaboy this is Robert". I ask him if he knows of a hotel we can stay with safe parking for the rigs. He tells me I am 6-7 hours away and to call him back when I get a good cell signal around San Luis Potosi.
I want to digress a little. This is the second time I have driven south from the States on a Xmas day. The first time, I stopped at one of those Dollar stores and bought $100 worth of those cheap toys they sell. I hand them out to any kids I see while going down the road. It is a lot of fun watching the kids and their parents are grateful and enjoy it too. So, I bought a load of toy to do it again.
Being on Hwy 57, I only saw kids when we stopped for fuel and breaks. So here and there, I played Santa and had plenty of toys to give out the next day on the 26th. I am on the hwy driving toward SLP and we see families sitting on the side of the road with hat in their hands. Miles and miles of them spaced sparsely on the road, a couple of thousand all together. Old women by themselves, couples with babies, young teens all standing in the freezing cold with hats in hand. These people looked to be indigenous Indians. It took me about 20 minutes of 60mph driving to figure out they were begging for money.
It was getting time for a bathroom break and the Pemex was in sight. We pulled off and parked near the fence. A couple of 10-12 year old boys came running up with squeegees in hand, typical behavior. While my neighbors used the head I watched the trucks and tipped the boys 5 pesos each for cleaning the windows. Then I reached into the truck, handed them some light sticks, and said “Feliz Navidad”. Their faces brightened up, I asked Que dice? Gracias senor was the response. In about a minute I was surrounded by 50 -60 kids with their mothers and grandmothers, no men. Now I really know what “Dirt Poor” means as nobody looked like they ever took a bath. I had to go to the other side of the truck to get at all the toys. They were all pressing against me begging and pushing each other for a crappy little toy. I never felt threatened though. In my best Spanglish, I told them to calm down and handed out the rest of the toys. There were very happy faces all around. I didn’t have enough for everyone and there were some very disappointed faces too. “Los siento”
My turn in the bathroom and my mind was whirling with what I just experienced. When I travel on the road I carry wads of 20 and 50 peso notes. That way there is no switcharoo or sorry no cambio. I counted out twenty 20 peso bills to give away. Back at the trucks, kids were playing with yo-yos, plastic cars, and wondering what the light sticks were. I called a couple of mothers over and started to hand out the 20’s. I was rushed again and in a minute gave away the 400 pesos. There were some very happy people and some very sad people. As we pulled away, I got some very warm smiles and thank yous from several women and children. I felt great that I did what I was able too.
Folks, think about this when you decide to park at Pemex instead of using the rundown RV park because they charge 150 pesos a night and the power stinks and the WiFi is down or complain that there is no ULSD for you $60,000 truck hauling your $60,000 5'er or your $250,000 class A diesel pusher.
Back to Robt65, I am nearing SLP and called Robert. He went into town and couldn’t find a hotel with good parking. Last year I saw Roberts offer about boondocking at his casa and took him up on it while driving east. I asked him if I could just drive to his house and then deal with everything once there. Robert’s is right off Hwy 57 and is easy to get there.
Once we arrived Robert’s, he had everything all worked out for us. He said that we should park our rigs at his place for the night and he would take us to a hotel in town. One of my neighbors/passengers needed to get her meds refilled and a doctors script. Robert talked with his wife, Jimena, and along with his baby daughter, we all got into his truck and went to San Juan Del Rio to book the hotel and get the meds. Robert also gave us a little tour of the area. Centro was all decorated for the holidays and was very busy. The church is very old and beautiful. We got all the meds and went back to Roberts for our suitcases and then back to the hotel. I asked Robert and his wife to join us for dinner but they were tired from all the festivities they had the last couple of days.
I asked him how much money he wanted for parking and driving us around, he said just give me a little gas money. We agreed on a 7am pick-up and he took us back to his house and the rigs. After many thank yous, we said our goodbyes.
Robert and Jimena are excellent people. If you ever are in the area in your RV there is no place else I would stay. It sure beats the any Pemex down the road.
There are a lot of good helpful people on these 2 forums. There is no need to for everybody to prove who knows the most or is the ultimate expert. We all have different experiences and this is the place to share them and learn. There is no need for one-upmanship and fighting. Manana manana everyone.
Publically, I want to thank Robt65, Altahabana, and Qtla9111 for helping me plan my safe trip home south to Cancun.
Happy New Year everyone.
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