After getting turned around in Thunderdome/Reynosa we are on 97 south. This part of the route passes through huge farm tracts. I didn’t know what to expect, but I thought the road would be flat all the way to Tampico with desert flora. Twenty miles in and our vehicle sticker gets a quick glance. We don’t even come to a complete stop. Cool.
Hwy. 97 merges with Hwy 180 south, upon which we’ll spend the majority of the trip. In San Fernando we exchange dollars for Pesos. Throughout the trip we will be amazed at the long lines outside of the banks. There is a line here, but it is not terribly long for Mike and I who are in air-conditioning. Don might have another opinion since he is out in the heat watching the bikes. We fight or way out of town and are surprised at the number of Pemex stations. On my last two trips to Mexico, gas was an issue, but it no longer seems to be. Only one time was a station out of regular (Magna) so we had to fill up with premium. Since this is a government owned entity, the prices are consistent throughout the country, which is great!

We are now in the desert. A set of mountains in the distance looks like the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend. Our version isn’t quite that beautiful.

The roads are in decent condition with an occasional construction zone, which we dual-sport through. There are still no shoulders to speak of. The temperature is climbing into the 90s and the weather is sunny. Around noon we stop for a very good lunch. It turns out that a good technique involves getting a recommendation from the Pemex attendant. The restaurant is named after the city of Tampico and serves a meat soup that is tremendous.

My Camelback is both a lifesaver and a curse. Since it is so hot we are sweating profusely. On the other hand, carrying the thing around on your back diminishes the amount of air flow through the jacket. I’m going through water like I’ll never get another drink. As the trip goes on, I will stop wearing the Camelback and just hydrate at gas stops.

Along the route are tracks of conservation areas. The traffic is light and the vegetation starts to change to low trees and brush. We pass by the Tropic of Cancer and I almost run over the quickest snake I’ve ever seen. The road folds out in front of us.

I elect to try out my tire repair kit. I didn’t have a vote in the matter and the nail stole the election. In 20 minutes my tire is fixed and we are back on the road although I’m not convinced the tire is permanently fixed. About 50 miles later we check the tire which is ok and walk into the hottest quickie mart on the planet. Even in the freezers water cannot take on the properties of a solid in this oven.

Our plan is to get to Manual and decided to either go inland and avoid Tampico or continue on through the city. At Manual the topography is flat and the scenery is not that interesting, so we head toward town. Yes, we get pulled over by the police, but he is curious about an alleged accident back up the road. We didn’t see anything and he thanks us and moves on.

Traffic gets thicker as we get closer to Tampico. There aren’t many “small” towns anymore in Mexico and the scale of the larger towns is astounding. A large town won’t have the collection of big skyscrapers we are used to in the states and therefore spreads out horizontally. We hop on the cuota (toll road) around town. Dwellings are springing up like ant hills. They are 3 story cubicles stacked next to each other and surrounded by a low wall. Around these shabby looking structures are beautiful salt marshes.

On a traffic circle in Tampico we can’t find the rest of the cuota and head into town past a lighthouse sitting in a median. To say that Tampico has a lot of traffic is an understatement along the lines of Gandhi was a nice guy. We’re lost. Mike, thank heaven for Mike, asks a police officer for directions. The officer says he’ll lead us out of town. This has happened to me before in Guadalajara, MX. The police are great ambassadors in a wonderful country. The downside of being in Tampico is the traffic. The very high upside is that we go over the Puente de Tampico, Tampico Bridge which is a beautiful cable-stay bridge that connects the states of Tamaulipas and Veracruz. The views are stunning with the Gulf on one side and river on the other. I wasn't able to get any pictures on the way out of town, but managed several on the way back.

South of Tampico the foliage turns more tropical with volcanoes in the distance. We come to the conclusion that we won’t make Papantla for the evening although we were originally going to stop in Tampico.

 We’re ahead of the game when we come to Naranjos. There is a motel on the north end of town. Each room of the motel has its own garage and there is only one bed per room. Hmmm, this looks familiar. We get 3 rooms and a strange look from the clerk. The rooms are $40.00 each and he says there is no TV. When we look inside the rooms there is a TV. Upon turning it on I know why the place looks familiar. Let’s just say that the program dialogue would give a nun an aneurism. Forrest and I stayed in a similar motel in Hildalgo de Parrall on a previous trip. They should have charged us by the hour. At least the rooms are clean and the air-conditioning works if given enough time. I could never get cold water and all the mirrors freaked me out.

This kind of motel would be found outside of each city. If you want to be incognito, pull up in your car with blacked out windows and right into the garage. The door comes down and no one ever sees your face or your company. Money, etc. is exchanged through a lazy susan arrangement in the wall of each room.

When we left another rider told us we would be lucky to make 200 miles a day in Mexico. After 417 miles in one day I’m starting to understand what he was talking about.