It seems that every trip has a location from which you just don’t want to leave. Lake Catemaco is the place. Future archeologists will find our skeletons clinging to the door jam at the La Finca Motel.

There is a light rain in the morning which looks to clear in the direction we are heading. The upside is that the air is crisp, clean and cool. The downside is that last night’s torrential downpour has washed mud into the narrow two lane mountain road. I’ve been through some serious storms since I moved to Florida, but last night was one to remember.

Today we will pay for stopping early and have to make up both time and, more importantly, distance. All three of us have done Iron Butt runs, but we haven’t done that in Mexico. Reality is biting us like a starved alligator. We can get up to 70 mph, but as soon as we do it’s time to slow down for the topes and traffic. Do this 700 times and you have a typical day on the road.

We will be able to take the Cuota from Ayucan to Villahermosa which is somewhat hard to find. On the big road our speedometers crank up to 80 and we head west. Next week we’ll be on the same road headed back home and this cuota should take us all the way to Veracruz. 150 miles fly by and we really needed that.

Villahermosa slows us down, but we are getting a grip on this Mexican traffic. On a motorcycle, you take every opportunity to squeeze through. topes are passing zones. You can learn a lot by watching the kids on the scooters, which are everywhere.

We start to develop a plan for future trips and a way to encourage tourism in Mexico. When you get to the border you are offered the following options at $100.00 apiece:

1)      You no longer have to stop at a toll booth

2)      You no longer stop for checkpoints

3)      No street vendor can approach you when you stop

4)      You get topes-free lanes for your trip

Verification that you paid would be in the form of a windshield sticker. Back in reality, breakfast consists of yogurt drinks and oatmeal bars at a Pemex. I effectively missed the only 2 good restaurants of the morning. It’s difficult being up front for the trip in that I have to watch for the route, make sure the boys are in tow and keep my bike and me in one piece. Well, at least we save time.

Our maps are showing that we should be past our route north. We have to stop for directions and find the road north a few clicks down the road around a traffic circle. This road isn’t great and there is a lot of construction to start which is a big change from the cuota.

Along the whole trip we see these beautiful big trees covered with read/orange flowers. These trees are now interspersed with sugar cane fields, many of which are on fire after the harvest. There is a lot of burning going on in Mexico.

At the long bridge to Isla Del Carmen a truck has broken down near the booth blocking traffic. To add to the mayhem, there is a checkpoint since we are now entering a new state. We are almost 1 km from the booth watching our engines melt. At least Mike and I have radiators. Don’s BMW GS doesn’t. Before the trip Mike had to have his radiator replaced and still doesn’t trust it. We decide to run down the shoulder, stop and turn our bikes off, and wait for our place in line to pass us. A soldier is, shall we say, interested in this maneuver, but is satisfied with our explanation.

As we get back in line that doesn’t seem to convince the head soldier and we get pulled over for a serious inspection including passports. At least we go to the front of the line when we are done and head across the bridge. Off to the left is a great waterfront restaurant with an equally great view of the bridge. We all eat shrimp of different varieties. I’m surprised at how comfortable it is in these open air restaurants, especially near the water. Five feet outside the restaurant and you cook. Inside they cook for you. Kids are swimming nearby, pelicans and gulls are fishing and we feel lucky to be on this trip.

Through town across another bridge and we are back on the mainland. Not ¼ mile from the bridge we find the Hotel Pinera and have to get two rooms. The motel is nothing special, but it’s near the beach. The water is a perfect temperature and hardly a person is around.

Some tacos at a roadside stand and another evening storm ends the day. Time is becoming a serious issue and we won’t see all the places we had hoped to see.