This was the beginning of retirement for me and the first part of my story. Alas, it continues, but this was to be the start of a new life for me.
I had so many, many friends from yolisto.com, as well as my regular email friends, who guided me on my way with tips and concern for my welfare traveling alone along this 3,000-mile journey. They all warned me of the topes (speed bumps for those of you not familiar with the term), and the possibility of bad road conditions in northern Mexico, especially with Hurricane Alex striking the northern coastline earlier last year.
I’ve been called many things for making this journey – brave, heroic, gutsy, ballsy, daring, stupid, nuts, ignoramus, out of my gourd, a wacko – well, you get the picture, however, I’m one of those persistent people who once they make up their mind, it’s made up and no one’s going to change it. For the doubters out there who didn’t think I could do it, know this – I made it – na na ni na na.
My journey to the Yucatan was not been an easy one, albeit, my whole life has not been an easy one. I left NASA in Florida to help take care of my ailing mother in Indiana two years ago. I packed up the truck, loaded my car on a carrier behind and took off. When I was four hours away from my original home in Indiana, I received a call from my daughter that my mother had passed away. So much for leaving my job in Florida and, as I had already spent a month in training my replacement, there was no job to go back to. When I arrived, I tried to find a position as an Executive Assistant and was told by one agency, “the client wants someone who will be there for 7-10 years; do you think you can work that much longer at your age?” Excuse me, I type 142 words a minute, how fast can YOU type? Being head majorette, first-chair flute, first-chair piccolo, and with 14 years classical piano, my little fingers fly and I can’t stop them once they’ve started!
Okay, so no jobs. I decided to take early retirement and rented a little house in Frankfort close to both of my kids and their families. When the bills were paid, there was nothing left over for me; it was one of the most humiliating times in my life when I had to go to the Salvation Army to get food to eat every month.
Then I started watching Homes International on TV where they showed Merida in the Yucatan as a great place to hang your hat. I started doing some investigating and talking to my son and daughter-in-law. Several months later, I ended up renting a two-bedroom house (casa) in Telchac Puerto on the beach. That was the last of May and then Hurricane Alex came along. Finally, I decided that enough was enough and I was going to head to my new home, no matter what the road conditions or amount of money I had were.
The day before I left to start out on this journey, I received a letter from the VA saying they were taking out almost $200 out of my SS check for prescriptions. Great, now I’m down to $900 for the trip. Oh well, I’m going to forge ahead. The car is loaded to the gills and my son raised the back of my car in anticipation of the high topes. I had one reader who said that she had never heard of a car having its hinny raised – it’s called a metal surgeon instead of a plastic surgeon! Last thing in the car was my cat, Sundance, the reason for my driving instead of flying.
So, I was off and away. First stop was the vet’s office to get the health certificate. They had not been aware the previous day that the certificate needed to be in Spanish as well as English. They told me I would have to postpone my trip until they figured out what to do. Somehow they must have gotten their ducks in a row pretty darn quick when I told them they had known for three months that I needed the health certificate and I was leaving with or without the certificate - it was ready for me at 8:00 a.m. the morning I was to leave.
By the first night, I had made my destination of Blytheville, Arkansas and snuck Sundance into the motel. The next morning, I started out and got about five miles when the car quit – seems the fuel pump just did not want to live any longer. I have a 1994 car and I know some of its parts are really getting tired. Okay, so they tow the car back into Blytheville and $333 (cash) and three hours later, I’m on the road again.
Now, remember, I started out with about $900 cash. I tried to make up the time lost and when I reached my second destination, I decided to forge ahead and ended up at a truck stop west of Corpus Christi, Texas at about 4:00 in the morning. I put a pillow in the front seat and rested for about three hours, took off again and a couple of hours later, I was crossing the border into Mexico. The crossing happened so fast that I only had time to call my son and daughter-in-law to let them know I was crossing before I lost the use of my phone.
I got my car inspected and permitted, obtained my visa (both of which they charged directly to my debit card). I had $100 cash on me and decided to change that into pesos – don’t do it at the border; they took $21 for their fee. Even though I had paid through the nose for Sundance’s health certificate, they did not even ask for it. However, I’m glad I had it as I was stopped four times during my trip by regular police inspection points and three times by Federale troops. When they started to speak to me, my dazed and bewildered looks made them smile and say “Ándale, Ándale, Bienvenido a Mexico”. One troop of Federalies saw Sundance and oohed and awed over my Calico gato.
All right, are we all ready for this trek into Mexico? Here goes. First of all, DaveIn_Out from yolisto needed to revamp his directions. He said as soon as you cross the border, follow the signs to Matamoras. Wrong, it said to turn right to go to Matamoras and I did – bad boy, Dave. It took me down a side street you do not want to go. I turned around, went back to the main street and took the sign that said CR Victoria, which was straight ahead and not making a turn. Otherwise, his driving directions, which were printed on yolisto for all us gringos, were great.
Topes, topes, topes. Lots and lots of topes. Some of the topes were so high, I began to think that I might be climbing Mt. Everest! Some of them looked like the townspeople took a pickaxe to them – guess they don’t like them either – I started wondering if the Mexican transportation department and Pemex (the only gas stations in the country where you can buy gas which are owned by the Mexican government) are in cahoots. Slow down, brake, speed up, slow down, brake, speed up - takes more gas (and I’ll bet the mechanics like them too)! Thank goodness my son raised my car’s hiney. I got lost in Tampico after not making the correct turn (sorry, Dave and Peter, my fault), however, I found five nice young men at a Pemex station who thought they could help; they tried, but finally gave up. After having me follow them for a while, they stopped and said they didn’t have enough gas to keep going, but if I just turned on this certain road, it would take me to the highway. Nope, didn’t work – that route just took me for a little ride around a lake. I finally stopped a taxi driver, pointed on the map where I was trying to head, and he told me exactly how to get to the highway. Bravo for the taxi drivers. Somehow, I found myself going around the towns of Tuxpan, Poza Rica, and Veracruz, for which I am eternally thankful that I did not have to drive through them after having problems in Tampico. I drove until I got to Ozuluma and found a hotel (El Vichin) that was 1 kilometer from the Pemex station for 250 pesos. When I told the lady that the room was por mí y una gato, she said “Si, no problema, es okay.” Nice little room with no conveniences other than a TV, but the bed was comfortable. The water was a little cool when I took a shower, but by that time, I was so tired that I didn’t care if it was ice cold. Tried the tacos next door and didn’t like; they were greasy and the beef was minced, not my cup of tea. Maybe I was just too tired to try to swallow any food.
Up the next morning and away we went again. My money was getting low, I couldn’t afford a Mexican phone (my T-mobile service ended at the border), so no one knows where I am and I’m beginning to wonder what the blazes I’m doing. I stopped at a Pemex station when I saw a Polizia car there and asked them where I could find an ATM machine. Between my pointing to my debit card and pesos, they figured out what I wanted and guided me in the right direction and then, I had a few more pesos. When the gas tank was half empty, I looked for a Pemex station to fill up. It was really good advice I had been given, considering I got lost in Villahermosa (did not see the 186 turn-off until it was too late). By this time, it’s going on 9 p.m., I’m tired, scared, can’t find a hotel that will take Sundance, went down a side street that was riddled with hurricane damage (thought that was going to be the end of my car right there and then) and finally ended up on the road that takes you up to the coastal route; wasn’t the route I wanted, but I’m already on my way to Frontera. By midnight, I’m exhausted, still can’t find a hotel that will take Sundance, going over all the topes, potholes – tons and tons of potholes – it’s an obstacle course out there, folks. I couldn’t look at any scenery; I was too busy keeping my eyes directly on the road ahead of me because of the topes and potholes. Some of the potholes were worse than the topes. I finally decided to park at the back of a Pemex station and curled up in the front seat for a while. Sundance was not happy; even with the windows open a little, the car was hot and I was hot.
Thank goodness I decided to stop before I hit the town of Atasta – the town is less than two miles long and has 34, count ‘em, 34 topes! A little while later, I’m in Campeche and wondering just how long my money is going to last to keep paying the cuota (toll) fees and still make sure the car has gas. Thank God I packed a bunch of Special K protein drinks and water; I’m surviving on them.
After Campeche, the roads are looking better and better. Coming out of Campeche, there was a lot of road construction, but it was bearable, especially since I knew I was getting to the home stretch. I drove around Merida and headed for Progreso, which was where I had been told me to stop and give my real estate agent a call and he would meet me. I went into the big grocery store there next to a Pemex station and found someone who spoke enough English to try and help me out. He told me to buy a phone card, which I did, and then it didn’t work – four people tried it and nothing happened. By that time, they got me a chair because I couldn’t stand up straight anymore and the tears started falling. Yeah, I know, I’m a big girl, but I was scared, exhausted, hungry, and didn’t know what to do. He said if I would give him 20 pesos, he would make the call to my real estate agent for me. The trip was supposed to take six days, but because of my not being able to find hotels that would take Sundance, and my lack of funds, I am a day ahead of schedule. My real estate agent was not expecting me until the next day. He finally decided that I should go ahead and head to Telchac Puerto to Hotel Ukamulbe owned by my new landlady. I found the hotel and after they made some phone calls, I found out that the house wasn’t quite ready yet; they had to get the electricity hooked up first, so the owner of the house ended up comping me a night at her hotel. The real estate agent and his wife drove from Merida to meet me at the hotel about an hour later. By that time it was so nice to see a friendly face, I began to calm down. Finally, by 8 p.m. the following night, Sundance and I were into our new casa and I had met my new landlady. I have a full time security guard who is available to help me with any little minor thing that needs doing (if I can just figure out how to convey what I want with hand signals!).
Broke, but happy to be here. I travel by topes now; it’s two topes to the little convenience store and five topes to the Internet café, as street signs are non-existent. As soon as I figure out how to get my Internet hooked up, I will not need the five tope drive any longer. The beach in front of my house is wonderful and I can hear the surf swishing back and forth as the colors change from turquoise to green to blue the further out the ocean goes. I’ve seen fishing boats, cargo ships, people parasailing, and jet skiers either working or enjoying the fantastic waters here. There are coconut trees all around me, hmmm, macaroons, anyone?
I also have a new little ‘friend’ who invades my bedroom almost daily (a gecko) who turns from light tan to brown when he spots me and heads back to his little hidey hole – wait ‘til Sundance spots him! Sundance is doing great and is still scouting all the rooms in the house, probably wondering when I’m going to grab her and put her into the car again! It was a hard journey for her too. I realize that it will take me a while to get acclimated, but isn’t that all part of the adventure?
Oh, one other item to add to this story. Since I was not able to get a Mexican phone and my T-mobile did not have international available, my son and daughter-in-law called the FBI, worrying that something had happened to me after not hearing from me for over a day and a half after I entered Mexico. The FBI traced my bank account and found out that I was at least part way upon finding that I had used my bank card in Mexico. The kids finally called my real estate agent to see if he had heard from me or knew anything. Believe me, it was not only a scary adventure for me, but for them as well.
I would never make this trip again by myself without having an international phone, and never without enough cash to make the trip enjoyable. But, then again, sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do to get to where we want to be. And, this is where I wanted to be. Don’t despair; if you are planning on driving down, just make sure you have someone with you if possible as it makes the trip more enjoyable and enough money (pesos) to make the trip so you can take it slow and easy. Be SURE to get your pesos BEFORE leaving the U.S., and ahem, you should really learn some Spanish before you get here – more than un poco (a little) as it would help immensely in your travels. Please don’t travel Villahermosa at night; the traffic is murder and it’s hard to see where you need to go when it’s so dark with that much traffic. For that matter, do not travel at night, period. You can’t see the potholes and topes until it’s too late – and then the mechanics will get their cut! The main roads were fine, just stay off the side streets; there’s still quite a bit of damage from Hurricane Alex.
I was not asked for any extra monies from the customs police or any of the Federale troops, but I understand some people have had to pay out a lot to them. I guess my scared as crap look made them all feel sorry for me. In fact, there were nothing but kind and considerate to me.
The saga will continue as I add the continuing story of what life has been like for me since I moved last August. The journey has just begun and you will find surprises along the way, as I continue to write of my adventures.
