Road thru Matamoros sunday, Immigration smooth. Yes they charged my cc $400. All very tranquil. Marines very strong showing week before. FYI 3 PEMEX stations have been closed between Matamoros and La Pesca since Jan...
Is the big Pemex due south of Reynosa and maybe 15 miles northeast of San Fernandino still open? Which Pemexes are closed?
Looking at map as I sit in Oaxaca ( In Rain) that sounds right. I have only traveled that way twice. Had fuel marked in my mind. Jajaja..all I know is that I made PEMEX station @ La Marina.
Glad that you didn't have to walk Amigo. That would have sucked! Were all the Pemex between Matamoros and La Marina closed? Or did you ride by a few and not refuel?
PirateJohn .. Same thought I had .. I usually stop there. I noticed a number of others were closed on Mex 101?? What is the problem??
Topped of mile from border. Last open PEMEX was about 20 -25 miles south of Matamoros. I was looking hard after passing 2 closed fuel stops. 3ed closed one really had me worried. No problem south of Marina--Tampico--Veracruz-Oaxaca
Makes it harder for the bad guys to get fuel. Harder for the good guys, I know, but the goal is to shut down the bad guys.
saddly other times, the owners better closed (broken) due the constant visits from the bad ones to refuel for free and wanting to make the station an observing post (and a kind of remote base of operations).
So ... does this mean that the citizens of San Fernando don't have gasoline these days? :huh That sure would stop the bad guys. For that matter it will stop everything down there.
I was thinking about that Pemex that is roughly at 25° 3'59.16"N 98° 4'11.48"W ... that's a big center of the universe out there in the middle of nothing.
San Fernando should still have gas , there always was a station in town north end and another south end ,Still open now guys? Coming north this past late February I was surprised south of SF to see that the huge Pemex at La Coma, the junction of Mex 180 and 101 just south of the major military checkpoint, was closed. What really got my attention was to see that the small motel /restaurant in the Y of the actual junction had been abandoned and vandalized. The bastards! Otherwise it was never an issue to find gas anywhere down to Tampico, certainly not anywhere else., Did also notice while overnighting in Soto L a Marina thet the town cops' cars had their police bedge on the doors spraypainted over with black.And it got very quiet o town streets earlier in the evening than was usual in Soto La Marina . Never had any problems though. ,Just minding my own bidnis .I say keep riding through and give the local business some support , they need it especially now that the highway bypasses more towns
Where did you overnight in Soto La Marina ? We overnighted there about three years ago, Can't remember the name of the place. It was new, on the south end of town and on the east side of the main road. about a block north of a resturant who's name I don't remember. I wasn't feeling real well. Guess the brain wasn't either.
To Acejones: Soto La Marina has been a very regular overnight stop for me over the years and I have stayed at several different hotels there but usually repeat at a few. This last trip we spent the night at Hotel Maria Yolanda , a very nice place in town center at #12 Calle Juarez in the block just west off the south side of the plaza. Very secure for the worry warts as there is a metal rolling gate that gets drawn across the entry to the parking area in front of the rooms. I also stay at the Hotel Chicago just north of the plaza west side . Here the parking area is ungated but I have never had any problem with that . Nice rooms ,internet cafe downstairs. I have even stayed in the simple little motel Hotel La Fuente ( notes) on east side of highway at far north end of town ,north of the side road exit to La Pesca. Very basic but the owner has an old semi chopped / customized BMW parked in front of the rooms. For any of the hotels , once you close your eyes to doze off they all look the same The hotel you speak of I also know, it is a big modern white painted 3 story affair with parking entry at the back .Not with my notes now and the name escapes me, but it is actually about midway in town east side frontage road . At the south end of town just before the bend in th highway there is also a nice big motel La Quinta ( NOT part of the chain of same name , just playing on a trademark ... notes) on west side with secure parking at rear and a restaurant in it. All these downtown hotels are a nice easy walk from the restaurant you noted , ,the one on east side of highway opposite Calle Juarez , red brick, dining area on second level , Right?. It all comes flooding back from my memory banks video . Everybody- get out ther and visit Soto! They probably had their pumps set up by somebody who spent time in the US and took it a bit too seriously dealing with galones y cuartos de galones and now he sets up the pumps to dispense "liters " of 946mL Too many a time have I bought a container of oil in Mexico which clearly states its contents as 946 mL but the storekeeper still called it a litro. Why, oh WHY is this silly practice of keeping oil in such wacko US- sized containers in Mexico , by Pemex and brands of the huge multi-national oil companies when everyting related to the auto industry , chemistry bla bla bla ... you name it has been done in metric for ages?I know, its " tradition'' ..... and a sneeky simple way of keeping the consumer confused and frustrate any attemp t to make quick simple price comparisons
To Sjoerd, You were absolutely right about the motel I asked about (I didn't remember it being 3 story) and the resturant to the south. with any luck I may get that way in November and look around some more.
When I was working at a building supply store in McAllen about 12 months ago one of the guys said that his wife was on a bus to Tampico and it was stopped and some guys in military uniforms took a couple of people off the bus. This was supposed to be on the outskirts of Reynosa but it wouldn't surprise me if it was closer to San Fernando. Long story short, I was a bit skeptical then but it appears that this has been going on for some time. :eek1
... on a lighter note. it rained in guanajuato and i found a great bottle of anejo 100% weber agave "tequilla" produced in tarimoro, guanajuato for $appox $17 for a 750ml at a small corner store. it's called: agave real de tarimoro. aged 8yrs. guy brought it out from the back. it's unreal smooth for $17 and it put it up against stuff that is 2x $. it has a legit gov. alcohol sticker on it. i'll take a pic of it asap.
