El largo camino a Florida

I carry a DSLR for most of my photo taking. The phone is useful for quick shots, like meals or walking around town. Phone pictures are still fuzzy.

Wow! What a wonderful way to have my morning coffee. thanks.

ScotsFire , in your super duper excellent, long and photo rich post of Saturday you reported ...
""
The town of Rodeo, Durango was at the perfect place timewise, so I gladly stopped for the night. Rodeo is not what you'd call a "destination" town. In fact @Sjoerd Bakker didn't even have an entry for Rodeo in his book. I think I channeled him a little though and found the Hotel Pedroza. Very small room, doorway only five and a half feet tall (thunk), but it was very clean with secure parking in an old adobe building with lots of character for only 300 pesos. "

Actually there is indeed an entry for the hotels of Rodeo ,DGO , but it appears under the town name of LOS ANGELES . When I first gathered the information it seems I was a bit hasty in note taking and I used the first town name to appear on a roadside sign when I arrived from the north at greater metropolitan Rodeo. See this map image taken from maps.me showing Los Angeles a tiny suburb at north end, in the Rio Nazas valley.
( click for massive magnification )
After I got around to working the data for my book it bothered me that I felt unsure of the actual town name. Not having an extrememly large scale map and before my computer era had arrived I did not know of a way to easily determine these things . I was however absolutely sure of where it was on Mex 45 and made a special mention of the town in question as being at the marker for km 161 .For everyone who bought my book, if you turn to page 105 you will find the hotels of Los Angeles/Rodeo , Durango .( Perhaps scribble a note on the proper alphabetic site page In the R section) to the effect that Rodeo hotels are found under Los Angeles , DGO listing on p 105).
In the front of the book in the Sequential Index of hotel places along Mex 45 Los Angeles is indeed located in its proper spot, as Los Angeles , so that could be considered as an alert to look under that name for further hotel details .Of course I do not have every hotel town in Mexico but this one really was listed, be it somewhat confusingly ; my apologies .
Glad to see that you gave Hotel Morelos in Rio Verde a bit like of business .

Bob , thanks for all those great photos , making me jealous from not being in Mexico right now .Maybe your "channeling "me was an outcome subconsciusly after having once perused the hotel - town names in the list for Mex 45 and you may have read the Los Angeles entry and it sort of lodged in your mind.

You mentioned a long straight highway , -of course referring to the particular stretch of Mex 45 about 50 km to the north ,probably the longest uninterrupted straight highway anywhere in North America , accented only by a few elevatiom changes and intersections during 96 km . By the way ,once you leave the Copper Canyon area to the southeast you are entering the savanna, not the same thing as the Chihuahuan desert, it " are" the llanos , the high plain ,open grass and tree country , cow country

Awesome pictures, Los Pozas is up top on my list of places to see and your photos just make it more so!

Imu

Sjoerd,
Thanks for the kind words AND the clarification. Your book has been really helpful. If anything I should be referring to it more than I am.

If anyone else is considering wandering around in Mexico (and Central America!) I very much recommend you pick up Sjoerd’s “Economical Hotels of Mexico and Central America”. It’s a great planning resource or as I am using it finding a room as the sun is setting.

More information at this LINK.

I am currently in Campeche, enjoying some mezcal beverages. Tequila normally hits me hard, quickly. I’m finding the mezcal to be a more subtle influence. I like.

I had every intention of knocking out at least one update tonight, but Tuesday evening in Campeche has more going on than I’ve seen in a long time. I’m working on a third beverage while listening to live music.

Bear with me.

March 22, 2021: SLP fun, then the Autopiste

426 miles


Got a for me extremely early start, being on the road by 0700. Traffic was light this early.



The first couple of hours were easy, with slowly increasing traffic till I got to Tamazunchale.
(Video 4:05 - some music)


Stopped at a comida in Tamazunchale, but they were out of huevos (how a place like this could be out of eggs is incomprehensible) so I had flank steak, tortillas in enchilada sauce, and a salad for breakfast. It was actually quite tasty so I'm not complaining, though it wasn't what I thought I ordered (not an uncommon experience).

The terrain got a little less rugged, but no less scenic.


This whole part of central Mexico is so lush, it's hard to find places to pull off for pictures. I had to sneak through the corn field for these next ones.


The road runs just below those fields.

Despite this, it's really beautiful and fun to absorb.

Once out of the highlands, it got confusing. Google Maps showed me (AGAIN) why I can't trust it in the country, sending me off a highway onto a really rough, rocky two track. The people in a village I went through gave me some odd looks, which I'm used to to a certain degree. But they were right this time. The "road" was more like tractor access to fields. I turned around and returned to the highway, eventually switching to Maps.me after Google kept pestering me to turn around and get back on track, even after thirty or so miles. Maps.me was only incrementally better, as shown by the snippet in the video above, but it was at least going in the correct direction. This is why the circled area on the map above has question marks. I'm positive that's not the actual route I took through there.

Keep in mind that I'm not usually a guy that turns away from a remote road. I just really needed to make some miles towards Cancun and farming paths probably weren't gonna cut it for that.

I eventually hit the Golfo de Mexico.


Just in time to catch the end of the Gonzaga/Oklahoma game by gamecast. That's been the worst part about coming to Mexico when I did. I'm missing March Madness. I've had zero luck getting any sort of on line stream set up. I know tragedy, right?


It was pretty windy.

Salt spray kept fogging up my sunglasses even a few hundred yards inland on the highway. <whine, whine>

It got flat along the coast for quite a while, when near Veracruz...

...terrain returned.

I did actually go into Veracruz, planning on stopping for the night. But I just didn't get a good feeling about stopping there. It was very much a commercial port city. None of the hotels I saw (very few of them) looked like they'd meet even MY low standards. So I got back onto the Autopiste (toll highway, called the libramiente in other parts of Mexico) and kept going south.

The good part of the toll highways is you make great time. The bad part is sometimes it's fifty miles or more between exits. So once you start, your committed. They even put fuel and food stops inside the toll system. But not very many hotels. This ended up forcing me to break Rule #1 of riding in Mexico: Don't ride after dark. I did so for around 45 minutes till I got to an exit that looked to have a hotel. Which it did.

The "Motel Inn" is on purpose as non-descript as possible. It's what they call an auto-hotel. Let's just say that most of the customers don't stay a whole night. But I was pretty well toasted (miles and heat wise) and didn't want to get back onto the highway for who knows how long. At least it was cheap at 250 pesos for the night (150 for four hours!) It was thankfully clean, if not well maintained.

And it was interesting.


Not sure how one (actually two, perhaps more) could be so enthusiastic to break that.


But wait, there's more. I needed to wash a couple of things in the sink, but the water wouldn't come on. I reached under to see if the valve was off, bumped the drain piping slightly, and it fell off. Perfect.
Walking back to the office, the proprietor didn't want to just give me an extra towel to clean up, but insisted I get a different room, but I had to wait while they finished cleaning it. I had mixed feelings about this part. I also got the eye from a taxi driver leaving, while waiting outside in the cooling air, his passenger for some reason having her seat laid all the way back, nearly out of sight. It was like they really didn't want anyone to know they were there?!?

The "good" part of this is that I got some different playground toys, that were actually intact.


Amazingly sturdy headboard.


I finally got the laundry and my bad self cleaned up, and had quite a few laughs telling @NotaYinzer about my accommodation for the night. One long day down, a couple more to go.

1 hour rates available lol.

March 23, 2021: Turning north!?!

441 miles


Most of this day was a slog on MX180D, the autopiste. It was so uninspiring that I didn't take any pictures while on it. And it was hotter than balls. It broke a hundred degrees for a while. When I was off the toll route, I did have my attention caught enough to stop for some pics.

Crossing a bridge prior to getting to Ciudad del Carmen.

It's hard to see well, but the mixing of the river and sea water made some interesting patterns in the water. The photos I tried to take of this really didn't come out well.

It was the border into the State of Campeche, the seventh new to me.


Upstream.


Near the community of Atasta, along the lake of the same name.




As I said, I was trying to make time which made me hesitant to stop. But when a pink bird flies by, I hit the brakes.


Not flamingos, but I've never seen a Pink Spoonbill Ibis before either.

CORRECTION AND EDIT: THESE PINK BIRDS ARE ROSEATE SPOONBILLS. THERE IS NO SUCH BIRD AS A PINK SPPONBILL IBIS. THANK YOU AUNT JAN FOR HELPING ME UNDERSTAND MY MISTAKE.

Along with some other white birds, Egrets if I had to guess.


Other fauna as well.

That would have been VERY hard to see blowing by at 70.

And something else.

It must be supercharged to need an air intake like that.


I like birds if you haven't figured it out.


But back to the slog.

Coming up on the bridge to Ciudad del Carmen. Which is not short.


Hottest part of the day coincided with needing fuel and a break. Went into an Oxxo that had some inside seating and drank an iced coffee and a liter of cold water while my core temperature dropped. A couple of moto cops pulled in, and really didn't help me out parking wise.

I suppose I could have not taken up the whole space myself, but there weren't other cars when I pulled in. The small lot of course filled up while I was waiting. Front wheel up the curb and rear over a parking block doing some moto yoga, and I managed to extricate myself without knocking over either policia scooter. I have eyed these Honda 150's as a possible future purchase in Colombia.

Once out of town, the beach begged for a couple more shots.

I hate to disappoint the sea.

The water was very warm, and it was tempting to take a dip.

These characters are always hanging around me, hoping I screw up.


I got into Campeche (the city) late in the afternoon. I REALLY needed a shower before going out in public, so I ended up missing most of the sunset.


I really liked Campeche.


Busiest place I'd been in for quite a while.


I was staying in what was the walled city.


Very picturesque after dark.


Mmm. First time trying anything with mezcal.


First meal with vegetables in a while. Catch of the day stuffed with shrimp smothered in a local recipe sauce.

I paid more than twice what the previous nights hotel room cost for this meal. The room was not worth it, but this feast was.

Wandered some more after eating.

It felt good to stretch my legs after two real long days in the saddle.


And saw some really neat buildings.



I didn't feel unlucky.

The colonial architecture was very cool, as were some of the details.

I'd love to have that light fixture.



One street was filled with tables from all the restaurants and bars on the two blocks.

There was even some live music.

I was asked if the music was any good. I replied that it was the best live music I've heard in over a year.

The Maya Campeche Hotel.

No off street parking, but I was assured it would be safe for the bike. Even the guy running a pay parking area told me so. I'm sure it helped that the little gym next door was open most of the night and before I got up in the morning.

The stimulation of Campeche really made up for the mind and ass numbing ride of the day. I'd definitely come back here for a longer stay sometime. Very cool city.

March 24 & 25, 2021: Cancun at last

304 miles


With only a few hours ride to Cancun, I wasn't in a big hurry in the morning. I didn't wait too long as it was supposed to get up to 107 in Campeche, but not as bad further east.

View outside my third floor room.


I ventured out looking for a decent coffee. Walked by the restaurant I had the amazing meal the night before.

No luck on the coffee, but picked up a couple of pastries at the panaderia. Grabbed an can of iced coffee at an Oxxo on the way out of town.

Not many 'Bucks outside of the huge resort towns in MX, so the GS has to adapt and see out alternative environments.

Just wanted to give you all an opportunity to use your BMW jokes.

Got into Cancun mid-afternoon, and after wandering around aimlessly for a while, pulled out Sjoerd's hotel book and found a place. Hotel Las Cuates de Cancun probably won't be on any high fallutin' tourist lists, but it's got secure parking, is only 500 pesos a night, and has pretty nice rooms. The wifi isn't working well, but I'm getting by. The best part is I can keep the bike here while I fly to Florida. For free even. Sweet!

As is my wont, I went for a walk after it started to cool down. Malls here look very similar to malls in the USA, with just as many closed storefronts. I stumbled upon a hole in the wall pizza place and had a great wood fired pie. The waiter surprised me by helping me out in English. He was very interested in traveling on a motorcycle and wants to do so in the future, "Before I am thirty," he says.

After a decent nights sleep, I tooled around a little just to get a better lay of the land. Turns out, there's beaches here.


Where others who aren't as much of riff raff as I am stay.

Over yonder.

Really windy.

So much so I didn't enjoy riding around at all.

I did do the loop out along the "Hotel Row." Lots of multi-story, large gated facilities. Not to disparage anyone staying at places like that, but it's not my kind of deal. I haven't really seen much actually in Cancun that catches my attention other than just interacting with people in the urban environment.

Some maintenance details were taken care of: chain adjustment, fuel up so we don't have to mess with it Monday, and getting the GS a bath.

Probably the cleanest the bike has been since I got it a wash in La Paz last year.

Some of the help wasn't very active.


Have to run out for a COVID test this evening (Thanks @Jamie Z for the lowdown) and fly TO the United States tomorrow. Probably won't have much to post till back on the bike with @NotaYinzer on Monday.

But a quick COVID update. It seems that the further south I came, but more seriously the community took the preventative measures. In Xilitla, to check into the hotel I had to complete a screening form, have my temp taken, and wear a mask. Pretty much every area I've been in since has had near universal mask usage. Many businesses have you step into a antiseptic shoe wash. I was even pulled over in Ciudad del Carmen and the bike and I were misted down with something. Here in Cancun, there's limited seating capacity in restaurants, and many normally sit down places are only doing take out. It may simply be that I've been staying at more touristy locations in the southern half of MX while I was much more rural in the north. But the differences coming south are noticeable. It will be interesting when we get more off the beaten path next week, while still probably hitting some high profile tourist spots (i.e. Chichen Itza).

@ScotsFire

1. excellent pics and narration.
2. RE: the video-- I know you "got the power" but dang that is some risky riding in a foreign country.
3. Are we back to eating 'things with four legs'?

Imu

2. The video makes the driving way worse than it looks. The oncoming traffic is all going at a crawl over speed bumps, or topes as they’re called here. I honestly feel safer than having the following traffic on my rear tire all the time.

3. Only by accident. I’m not going to send something back I (perhaps mistakenly) ordered. Besides, I never said I didn’t like four legged meals. Just don’t order them (on purpose).

Bob , there is no question mark about it , you (most probably) did ride the excellent and meandering state highway connection between Mex 105,south of Huejutla east through the piedmont hills and plains to join Mex 127 at Alamo ,VER , the orange growing heart of Mexico , then hooked up with the 180D bypass around the east of Poza Rica, Papantla ,El Tajin and down and around Veracruz
.
Do you remember seeing a giant statue of an orange picker emptying a basket from over his shoulder ? - That was in Alamo on Mex 127 at the junction to the town center . This is another illustration of the problem of setup of routing by using a computer service like google - generating doing it . Having followed the blue line on autopilot, so to speak , it is afterwards not possible to recall where one actually was riding . The curse of the destination-driven ride with an appointment waiting at the end . Go back and ride the area again when you are free to enjoy it at a relaxing pace with photo stops .

Good enjoyable RR, I was the Jack you met in Batopilas. Loving the pics. Do you have a link on Sjoerd's hotel book?

After a spirited conversation with @NotaYinzer ’s Aunt Jan, facilitated by the bottle of mezcal purchased at the duty free shop at Aeropuerto Internacional de Cancun, I am forced to post a retraction and correction.

The pink waterfowl I saw near Ciudad del Carmen are NOT Pink Spoonbill Ibis. There is actually no such creature. What I saw was the Roseate Spoonbill.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Roseate_Spoonbill/id


photo from Wikipedia

My original post will be corrected.

March 26, 27, & 28, 2021: Intermission in Florida

Some observations and notes.

Both flights were pretty easy. It took around an hour to get through all the hoops leaving Cancun between the airline, immigration, and COVID screening. NOTE, keep your FMM receipt with your actual stamped FMM. I had to pay for my overland entry to MX again because I didn't have it with me. Also had to pay twice coming back as the online system did not give me a receipt this time, unlike the other half dozen times I've used it.

Leaving Cancun




Anyone ridden out to the end of the spit north of Cancun?


No issues really coming back out of Tampa. It seems to have way more capacity than used, at least early on a Monday morning. Going through everything at the Cancun airport took less than a half hour from the time we got off the plane, including luggage and hiring a stupidly expensive cab.

Time in Florida was educational.

The Ibis has a curved, pointed beak. Very much unlike a Roseate Spoonbill, even without the coloration difference.


Ibis often comingle with other species, such as here with some Egrets.


There are also a preponderance of geckos.

This one was named Harvey.

The moon rises in Florida! Who knew?

It was nice to share it with someone though.

Bob
Great trip report. I'm finally going to head out middle of next week and will be following your route to Copper Canyon but then I am heading west to Los Mochie and the ferry to La Paz. then to Todos Santos area to hang out and learn to surf. After that...?????
posting my trip reports via IG @ride.on.n.on.00

Catching up after being off-grid for a few days, what an awesome few days on the bike before jumping on a plane to fly to Flahradah (I can say that because my folks live there...lol). Campache looks like a great spot to chill and spend a few days off the bike if time allows. And I'm with you on staying someplace like Cancun or other resortish areas - no thanks.

Had a good laugh on the back and forth with your aunt about the spoonbills; she sounds like someone fun to drink with...lol.

I'm envious man, what a killer trip thus far and you still have lots to go.

Keep the knobby side down when you and NotaYinzer start trekking the MX countryside again.

Marh 29, 2021: Hot time in the jungle

158 miles


As noted above, our flight back to Cancun from Tampa was flawless. Actually walked out of the airport to the cab at 0938 after a 0904 touch down. Got to the hotel easily, if expensively with the taxi hired at the airport. This cost more than twice what I paid a taxi to take me to the airport on Friday. Special concessionaires.

In any case it was quite a bit earlier than I expected to be on the bike, even after un and re-loading everything for two. With the extra time, we headed south just to see some of the Caribbean coast. We went to a public beach in Playa del Carmen, which was the first we'd seen the sea since flashes near Cancun. The whole coast it seems is filled with private resorts.

This public space is not even a hundred yards of beachfront. But those here are making the most of it.


Some hints of the other activities available.


Some pelicans flew by in formation.

Note that they too are quite unlike the Roseate Spoonbill.


Neither @NotaYinzer or I are lay on the beach type of people, so after our ten minutes looking around enjoying the beauty got back on the road. IT WAS HOT. We hit temps of 97f pretty consistently across the Yucatan. Despite promising @Sjoerd Bakker I was through with the Autopistes, we kept our speeds up on them to try to keep our temps down.

Howler Monkey crossings.

Pretty common the first fifty miles or so from the coast, less so after. We unfortunately did not see any monkeys. Seeing some is on Vicki's wish list for this trip.

But we did check of another item from her list.

Cenotes!

This was the Cenote Samual, one of a pair near Dzitnup. Special thanks to Sjoerd for mentioning this to me.

Given our elevated core temperatures, we thankfully partook of the cool waters.


It was pretty surreal.


And even phallic.




We both enjoyed the cooling water.





We were kind of expecting a little bit of a let down with Cenote X-Keken. The "guide" was pretty insistent we do the other first. Dark down there it seemed.


Hardly a downer.






FYYFF


Just kidding.


Good times with good company.


There were tree roots dropping from the ceiling into the water.






Getting back on the bike was a lot easier having cooled off. We rode a little while longer to the Hotel Dolores Alba Chichen Itza, where we enjoyed a nice supper and cervesas.

Big plans for the following day.