Leaving Guanajuato is hard since the town is so wonderful, but leaving on a Sunday morning is the way to go. The town is quiet, the weather is beautiful and the road magnificent all the way to Dolores Hildalgo. From a vantage point above the town we see the greenest soccer and baseball fields imaginable. That would be in sharp contrast to the dirt soccer field on which the kids would be playing later.

Rather than take the road around Dolores we elect to go through town. It’s early and we have the time which is fortunate because we get really lost and the GPS doesn’t show the little roads. We toyed with the idea of spending a night here and that might be the case if we don’t find our way out. Eventually Hwy 110 appears and we head north to Hwy 57. We definitely made the right choice when we stayed in Guanajuato.

At a gas stop we meet another motorcyclist and two kids who are more than interested in peyote. As they open the door to their pickup, the empty beer bottles almost pour out. Yikes! Gas stations are a chance for a series of beggars to earn their keep. The technique is to walk up to you with their hand out and not say a thing. You can avert your eyes, but you know they are still there and they have a lot more time than you do. Unfortunately, I can’t save the world, but do give change to the neediest ones.

Traveling north on 57 there are many signs imploring people not to buy animals, their skins, cactus and other plants. Along the road you’ll find one vendor after another selling animals, their skins, cactus and other plants. Snake skins are everywhere and I’m confused. If this is illegal and you know where the vendors are to the point that you’ve put up billboards then why are the vendors not in custody?

On Hwy. 57 we were going over 80 mph and were passed regularly even though the speed limit was 80 kph. People think nothing of passing the Federal Police. Occasionally the police would pull someone over and you have to wonder exactly what they did to get a ticket. It must have been pretty bad.

We are quickly back at Las Palmas in Matehuala adjusting chains and getting our bikes washed. What would a trip to Mexico be without a trip to the local Wal-Mart? You can buy cheap alcohol at Wal-Mart, not that we do. There’s not much to do at the Las Palmas, but that is ok because we need a day to zone out.