andyc740
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Dark-thirty Friday morning at the McAllen hotel. It was time. I’d lain awake long enough. I dressed in the dark trying not to wake my wife (she was there on business, I wasn’t), gathered my luggage and went downstairs to the waiting bike parked at the hotel entrance.
Several months ago, Mary let me know in no uncertain terms, in fact, as strongly as possible, that she didn’t want me making any more trips to Mexico. I was equally adamant about wanting to continue and we were becoming the classic example of the irresistible force meeting an immovable object. After some heated discussions, frustration, anger and tears on both sides, we compromised; I could go, just not alone anymore. However, I couldn't round up anyone with the time or inclination to ride with me and Mary decided she had to rely on prayer for my safety and her peace of mind during the trip, which I was doing solo. Not the outcome either of us wanted, but it would have to do.
I did have a new traveling companion, but he was pretty quiet most of the trip. I had tried to Mexico-proof the bike by adding a pair of loud horns and a set of engine guards.
The trip this year, my fourth consecutive winter trip to Huatusco, was going to include visits to other CMA friends in Mixquiahuala, Hidalgo and Veracruz. All the families I was going to see had been at Motohermandad with us in 2009. Angel and Carmen from Mixquiahuala are in the Harley shirts on the far right. Adrian and Margarita from Veracruz are in the center (Adrian’s in green) and Manolo is next to Angel. Angel has been badgering me for a while to come by and visit them, but I had the mistaken impression that they lived in the south of Mexico and kept telling him it was too far. He didn’t buy that. When I finally looked up their town, it wasn’t that much farther out of the way. In fact, Mixquiahuala may be a bit closer than Huatusco.
Here's a small map of the route in Mexico. I'm not having any luck figuring out how to make it larger. Mixquiahuala is is near the "a" in Celaya, Huatusco is at the tip of the "b" in Puebla and Veracruz is on the coast. From Veracruz, I headed back up the coast to home, which is Corpus Christi.
Total trip distance: about 2,000 miles. Total time: 7 days.
Dale and I had set out for Mixquiahuala the week before Thanksgiving and ran into a traffic jam on the bridge. They were clearing a 3-car pileup and had traffic waiting while they did.
However, at the border, the credit union had been slow processing the title transfer for my new ride, a 2006 Moto Guzzi Breva 1100, and the Banjercito people wouldn’t accept the paperwork I did have; a bill of sale, contract with the credit union, and the trip was a no-go. Getting ready to return, a fellow suggested that some fiscal lubrication might help the outcome but I don’t like to reward people for hassling me, so no deal. Dale turned in the papers he had gotten in May that were due to expire, we ate and headed back to Corpus.
This time, I went to the border the day before, got the papers with no problem and changed my money into pesos, so all I needed was a couple taquitos for breakfast and at 6:20 I was rolling across the Pharr - Rio Bravo International Bridge on a foggy morning.
Several months ago, Mary let me know in no uncertain terms, in fact, as strongly as possible, that she didn’t want me making any more trips to Mexico. I was equally adamant about wanting to continue and we were becoming the classic example of the irresistible force meeting an immovable object. After some heated discussions, frustration, anger and tears on both sides, we compromised; I could go, just not alone anymore. However, I couldn't round up anyone with the time or inclination to ride with me and Mary decided she had to rely on prayer for my safety and her peace of mind during the trip, which I was doing solo. Not the outcome either of us wanted, but it would have to do.
I did have a new traveling companion, but he was pretty quiet most of the trip. I had tried to Mexico-proof the bike by adding a pair of loud horns and a set of engine guards.
The trip this year, my fourth consecutive winter trip to Huatusco, was going to include visits to other CMA friends in Mixquiahuala, Hidalgo and Veracruz. All the families I was going to see had been at Motohermandad with us in 2009. Angel and Carmen from Mixquiahuala are in the Harley shirts on the far right. Adrian and Margarita from Veracruz are in the center (Adrian’s in green) and Manolo is next to Angel. Angel has been badgering me for a while to come by and visit them, but I had the mistaken impression that they lived in the south of Mexico and kept telling him it was too far. He didn’t buy that. When I finally looked up their town, it wasn’t that much farther out of the way. In fact, Mixquiahuala may be a bit closer than Huatusco.
Here's a small map of the route in Mexico. I'm not having any luck figuring out how to make it larger. Mixquiahuala is is near the "a" in Celaya, Huatusco is at the tip of the "b" in Puebla and Veracruz is on the coast. From Veracruz, I headed back up the coast to home, which is Corpus Christi.
Total trip distance: about 2,000 miles. Total time: 7 days.
Dale and I had set out for Mixquiahuala the week before Thanksgiving and ran into a traffic jam on the bridge. They were clearing a 3-car pileup and had traffic waiting while they did.
However, at the border, the credit union had been slow processing the title transfer for my new ride, a 2006 Moto Guzzi Breva 1100, and the Banjercito people wouldn’t accept the paperwork I did have; a bill of sale, contract with the credit union, and the trip was a no-go. Getting ready to return, a fellow suggested that some fiscal lubrication might help the outcome but I don’t like to reward people for hassling me, so no deal. Dale turned in the papers he had gotten in May that were due to expire, we ate and headed back to Corpus.
This time, I went to the border the day before, got the papers with no problem and changed my money into pesos, so all I needed was a couple taquitos for breakfast and at 6:20 I was rolling across the Pharr - Rio Bravo International Bridge on a foggy morning.