My Happy Place

Not every day on the road has to be a disaster and some days, even if they start before dawn can work out okay. Pretty good actually after a peaceful free night in the back lot of a gas station, we came late and left early. 

We drove fast to Oaxaca, three days from Laredo to our campground and we used toll roads, about $120 worth of four lane. We slept in the truck stops and pressed on. We’ve talked to other overlanders who think truck stops are noisy and unsafe and so forth. We find roads go dead in Mexico late at night and truckers don’t idle like Americans so we sleep pretty well. 

Our summer in the States showed us how overdue infrastructure maintenance and repair is at home. In Mexico some freeways are excellent and others are just as ghastly as we’ve seen. I was encouraged by our van check up that we had no damage to our van from the holes, ridges, speed bumps and dirt.  

Some travelers turn their noses up at toll roads saying you don’t get to see the “authentic” Mexico from toll roads. However in this country Mexico comes to the highways and you will find yourself driving a four lane through villages with food sellers on the median and tire shops she roast chicken stands lining the travel lanes. And if you want to get somewhere the toll roads save hours of dodging speed bumps. This was not an official rest area but it worked well to give Rusty a walk plus we got to dump our trash. 

While we wait in our safe comfortable campground to see what happens in Guatemala I have to confess I miss driving. Some overlanders here say driving is a necessary evil and most drive to see things they can’t find at home, mostly the sort of natural phenomena like canyons, lakes wildlife, waterfalls and volcanoes. This picture below looks more like a painting as I was stretching a short lens to do a telephoto’s job. It’s a cone called Popocatépetl.

Mexicans call the volcano Don Goyo or El Popo and last year it erupted throwing enough ash into the atmosphere to close down Mexico City’s main airport. The nickname “Don Goyo” comes from a local resident called Don Gregorio who communes with the spirits in the mountain and warned his neighbors of imminent danger. 

Middle class housing along the road with water tanks and satellite dishes and high walls. Many Mexicans are much more fearful of Mexico than travelers. We have friends who refuse to eat road food and if you listen to non travelers every road is perilous. 

Life in the campground is pleasant of course and easy but I miss the color and variety of the road. Layne saw a tamale vendor alongside the toll road so we pulled off. 

Rusty likes to keep an eye on her when she wanders. 

$2 corn husks for breakfast…

Soft savory corn meal sprinkled with cheese and peppery jalapeños were what we really had to break our fast. And yes it comes in styrofoam in a plastic bag and single use plastic forks. 

Rusty had his breakfast, he doesn’t eat much in the morning and then he took his ease in a patch of grass in the sun. He loves to sunbathe. 

We didn’t spend the night but we could have. Van travel allows you to close the door and live in your own world when you are on the road. We eat our food and watch our TV (on an iPad) and read our books and sleep in our own bed (and Rusty on his). It’s 70 square feet but it’s home. 

We are working on a couple of plans to get around over or through Guatemala but the political situation is getting worse over the weekend. The party of the outgoing President is claiming election fraud, and doesn’t that sound familiar, so the people who voted for the President -elect (who is supported by the US) have taken to the streets. From 20 road blocks last week Prensa Libre, a Guatemalan newspaper yesterday reported 50 with students and shopkeepers joining the peasants and the Mayans on the barricades. 

If the ejectors losers don’t back down this could take a while especially as the outgoing President who was term limited out of office is threatening to declare martial law to get his preferred replacement into office. And you thought Mexico is a mess? Clearly Guatemala is no place to be but we are not giving up. We are looking at some creative solutions to ship our home and ourselves around this problem. I miss the road but I’m not a fan of being stupid for no purpose so we shall see. 

I’m Toad of Toad Hall hankering for the open road!