I've decided to give the reader an idea of where I am and what I'm doing while I'm writing. The rest of my blogs will start out like this:
Where and what while writing:
Location: The Mayflower Hotel, Puerto Escondido, in a hammock in the lobby
Music: Imogen Heap
Feelings: Would love to goto the beach but also want and need to catch up on the blog.
It was nice to wake up indoors away from the bugs, sun, roosters, cars, and everything else that tends to wake a person up in the morning. It was the best sleep I'd had yet. We were so thankful to have had such and nice place to stay for the night. Safety is always one of our biggest concerns, so having our bikes locked in a courtyard surrounded by 20ft walls topped with razorwire takes away alot of stress.
We packed our bags early and left the city before 8am. We gassed up just outside of town and left Ciudad de Obregon for Mazatlan. It was another long hot day. Fortunately the roads were straight and smooth. The day went well but we were losing daylight much faster than we had anticipated. With less than thirty minutes of daylight left we stopped to weigh our options. We could look for a place to stay in a town a few kilometers back or guarantee ourselves a minimum of fortyfive minutes riding in the dark continuing towards Mazatlan. We opted to keep moving.
After hearing so much negativity about Mexico I found myself paranoid and expecting trouble around ever corner. So riding into the night on a Mexican highway was most definitely breaking the cardinal rule of motorcycling in Mexico. I would rather be a moving target, even a slow one, than stop moving and become a sitting one. I wouldn't say people are necessarily wrong about Mexico, because each story has its truth, but unfortunately so do the places we come from, call home, and find our security in. How many times have you been ripped off in your neighborhood?
A year or more ago my parents awoke to my Mom's Chrysler on blocks in the driveway missing its wheels and tires! Do you know anyone whose home has been burglarized at knife or gunpoint? Whose home has been broken into? Whose lost there life to some violent act? My point is, the unknown has always been and will always be scary, especially when that unknown is a place that will soon become your reality. The beautiful part of immersing yourself into that unknown is you realize it is rarely what you expected. In our case, Mexico continues to exceed our expectations.
The ride into Mazatlan was our first in a big Mexican city. We were all worn out and ready to sleep but had to navigate the massive city with it's Friday night pedestrians and drivers. After stopping at one RV park which didnt have vacancy we made it to another we were s
atisfied with. A nice Canadian gentleman loaned us a six pack of beer to help us cool off and suggested a restaurant, called The Fat Fish, with a two for one deal on ribs (possibly a little questionable by the sound of it). When we walked into the restuarant American looking fellow greeted us from his table and asked where we were from. He and I struck up a conversation and after a few seconds we figured out that I had seen his website, http://burrohas3wheels.com/ while searching for motorcycle information. His name is Gary Smith and he's ridden to Tierra del Fuego, Alaska and accross Canada and filmed it all! He actually sells his movies online! We spoke for a few minutes and he invited us to come hangout on his boat with his family the next day. Our first night in a big Mexican city and we'd already made some friends. The ribs were great by the way.The next day we found Gary and his wife Marilyns boat and hungout for a while at the Marina. It was lined with beautiful condos and shops. The pool for the condos was also open to the people who had their boats moored there, so we went swimming and talked about motorcycles. Gary had alot of great things to say. He was the first person we'd talked to who'd already done the trip. At one point Gary was sitting on the side of the pool and the five of us were in the water listening to him and one of his buddies walked by and said, "Teach me oh wise guru!". We all started cracking up. A few minutes before that I looked over at the guys and noticed we were all staring with our mouths half open like a bunch of nincompoops. They invited us out to dinner at a locals restaurant in downtown Mazatlan and we left to get ready, planning to meet Gary on the main street to the restuarant.
We found Gary on the side of the boardwalk and he jumped on the back of my bike to show us the way. We parked our bikes and locked them together. The restaurant was in a sketchy part of town but we figured there was enough foot traffic that someone would see a thief hack sawing the cables! The restaurant was full of local families and loud live music. We were the only gringos there, definitely a cultural experience. We had a few beers, shrimp, and talked about life. It was a great time just hanging out and getting to know Gary and his family. After dinner we went back out to the bikes where one of Lawsons boxes had been broken into. His sleeping bag and a number of other things had been stolen, even his suntan lotion! He was really bummed, already running on a shoestring budget.
We went back to the campsite, loaded our gear, and rode to a really cheap campsite a few miles up the road. We camped out on a concrete pad under the stars. We were right next to the ocean and woke up covered in mist! Marylin, Gary's wife, had invited us to their boat in the morning to use skype and get some breakfast, awesome! We loaded up and made our way to the marina. They gave us cereal and coffee and we called our loved ones. It was a great way to start the day once again. We said our thanks and goodbyes and headed out of town. Thanks again Gary and family for your hospitality!
Stay tuned for Mazatlan to San Blas!
I apologize for the lack of pictures in this post, once again, they're coming:)
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