Ottawa to Cuernavaca - Fall, 1997
Day 1: Pennsylvania
Thursday, we got off to a late start, but it was beautiful sunshine, with absolutely bare roads all the way. It was -3°C when we set out and the temperature rose to 28°F after crossing the border. As we continued south it got up to 35°F and there was very little snow beside the road. Fortunately, there was no traffic and we turned on the cruise control and enjoyed the scenery.
At Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (pronounced "wilks barry") we stopped for the night.
Day 2: Appalachia
Friday started off a grey day at 40°F and we had only been on the road about 10 minutes when it started to rain. It wasn't a downpour so didn't interfere with the driving and these light showers continued off and on throughout the morning. We crossed the Mason-Dixon line and entered Maryland, then West Virginia and finally Virginia. Traffic was more significant near Baltimore/Washington, but let up before the Shenandoah Valley.
In spite of the greyness of the day, the gently rolling hills and the purple ridge of the Appalachian Mountains were quite picturesque. At noon we stopped for lunch at a Long John Silver's in Winchester, Virginia; we had always wondered what this restaurant chain was like and now that we know we won't be back!! The fish and seafood isn't too bad - once you get through the deep fried batter!! There was a brass ship's bell at the Exit door and a sign posted beside it saying, "If we did well, ring our bell"; the bell rang once from the time we entered until we left and it wasn't us who rang it!
The weather got warmer as we went south and by 3:30 pm the sun was actually breaking through the clouds; the temperature got up to 65° F (which is about 17° in our scale). Originally we had hoped to make it as far as Tennessee, but we were both feeling tired by 4:30 and so decided to stay in Wytheville, which is just south of Pulaski. We would have stayed at the latter but according to our CAA book there aren't any hotels/motels there, just one B&B.
Day 3: Tupelo
Saturday we went on to Tennessee, reached the end of I-81 and joined I-40. The Central time zone started halfway between Knoxville and Nashville, so we gained an hour. From Nashville we left the interstate system to travel down the "Natchez Trace Parkway", cutting through a tiny corner of Alabama and finally entering Mississippi. It was a relief to have a break from the speed and noise of the interstate and the parkway winds through some beautiful countryside. In spite of the dull, grey weather, the drive was relaxing and scenic.
We stayed that night in Tupelo (where the train tracks run down the main street in town) and ate at a Mexican restaurant We couldn't leave next morning without going to see the birthplace of Elvis Presley. It is a tiny, white clapboard house, built personally by Elvis's father. Since it is only open on Sunday
between 1:00 and 5:00 pm, we weren't able to go inside and had to be content with taking photos of the outside. Not far from here we passed the Tupelo Hardware Store, where Elvis bought his first guitar!
Day 4: New Albany
On the way out of town we couldn't resist stopping by a Piggly Wiggly (remember "Driving Miss Daisy"?) to buy some fresh fruit.
We reached New Albany, birth place of William Faulkner, and went in for a capuccino (our first since leaving Ottawa) at the Village Café on the main street. We enquired as to where the house was in which Faulkner was born and the owner of this café told us that the home had been torn down and all that was left is a historic marker on the lawn. This fellow is vice-president of the New Albany Historical Society and since moving to New Albany from Chicago four years ago, he and his wife have been active in trying to "put the town on the map" by encouraging people to visit the land of Faulkner, the blues, etc.. There is a sort of folk festival every fall to celebrate southern culture (crafts, music and literature) and he had organized the last one. This year there had been a two day conference on William Faulkner because it was the centenary of his birth (September 25, 1897).
On chatting to this fellow, we were astonished to discover that, although he calls himself, Jim, his name is really "Jean" Vigeant. His mother came from Montreal and his father was from New Brunswick. Before leaving the café, Jim introduced us to an elderly southern belle - a very nice old lady, orignally from Kentucky, but who has been in New Albany for the past 17 years. She had the strong southern drawl and wore lots of gold and silver bangles on her wrists! Her son, who is teaching at the University of Nebraska, had just been to Ottawa (yes, our Ottawa) for a conference!
After photographing the signpost at Faulkner's missing birthplace, we went on to Oxford. In Oxford we did a quick tour of the famous Courthouse Square, spent some time in the bookshop, Square Books, and then went to Rowan Oak - Faulkner's home. It is a beautiful large southern home, set well back from the road down a tree lined path. The house is surrounded by spacious lawns,formal gardens and huge trees. There is even a riding area at the back where Faulkner and his daughter used to ride. Large white columns are placed along the front of the house and a second floor balcony runs the length of the home. We were
able to see all the rooms, including a downstairs study where there are drafts of one of his novels handwritten directly on the walls. This was one of the highlights of the trip.
All the fancy restaurants in Oxford were closed on Sunday night, so we went to a simple diner, the Beacon, on North Lamar that advertised "home cooked vegetables and meats". We had a "mess" of grilled catfish with baked potato and homemade coleslaw - delicious!
Day 5: Oxford
We thought we would like to spend two nights in Oxford, so the next day ( Monday), we explored the town on foot and wandered through the Ole Miss campus. There was a nice bookstore in the Student's Union, where we bought some note cards with hand-painted picures of Rowan Oak on them, and then visited the Center for Studies in Southern Culture, which had a large exhibit on Faulkner.
A bronze statue of William Faulkner, sitting on a park bench, was recently erected on the "square", but there are no other signs of the famous son. During his lifetime (most of which was spent in Oxford), he was not popular with the majority of his townsmen: much of his language and the subject matter was considered "obscene" and his treatment of the relations between whites and negros won him the title of "nigger lover". Even today the people of Oxford don't seem to quite know whether to celebrate or censor their native son.
Day 6: Louisiana
Tuesday we drove on, stopping for a shrimp and artichoke white gumbo at the Magnolia Cafe in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and then continuing to Lafayette, Louisiana for more Cajun goodies. It is very French here! Also, the temperatures finally went over 70°F (21°C).
The Interstate between Baton Rouge and Lafayette runs through swamp and the road, which goes for approximately 50 miles, is set above the water on concrete stilts - quite an engineering feat! There were only a few intermediate exits to some little dry spots, one of them advertising great alligator steaks.
The following morning, it was pouring cats and dogs in Lafayette and the TV said that some "funnel shaped clouds" had demolished several buildings in Lake Charles. Luckily for us we were only ten minutes out of Lafayette, when the ominous clouds disappeared and the sun came out. From Lafayette to Lake Charles the roadside was no longer swamp, but instead, well cultivated rice fields.
Day 7: Texas
We arrived in San Antonio Wednesday after a long drive - Texas really covers a lot of territory! We had decided in advance to stay for two days so we could rest, relax and do some shopping. We phoned Ginny Potts, who moved here from Cuernavaca a few years ago after her husband died, and she invited us to come over to her place for a drink before we all went out to dinner.
Day 8: San Antonio
We were up early and went to the AAA Travel Centre to get the necessary papers for bringing the car into Mexico. From there we spent several hours at the largest mall in San Antonio, the North Star Mall.
When we arrived at Ginny's, she had invited a few of her friends to join us for a drink and they were all people who had lived in Cuernavaca. She insisted on treating us to a delicious supper at a nearby restaurant specializing in fish.
Day 9: Laredo
Friday we headed off to Laredo, Texas, a miserable little town right on the border, where we spent the night. We had arranged for Guillermo to take the bus up to Nuevo Laredo (12 hours from Mexico City) so that he could drive us down to Cuernavaca. He was to arrive at 5:00 am Saturday morning and wait for us at the bus station.
Day 10: Northern Mexico
Next morning (Saturday) we crossed into Mexico (Nuevo Laredo) at 8:00am - no problemo; in fact, it was faster than crossing the US/Canada border! We went to look for Guillermo at the bus station, which was not easy to find, but when we did, there he was, right out front. He had only been there 25 minutes, as the bus had broken down twice and he arrived 3 hours late, at 8:00 am instead of 5:00 am.
The National Army Bank was where we had to go to get our permission to temporarily import the car. The line up was long (about 30 minutes) then another 30 minutes' wait to get the magic sticker for the car. All in all it was not too bad - just over one hour. Once we were out of town and onto the highway Guillermo took over the driving. What a treat! Mexico has 31 states and one "district" and on our trip we passed through 9 of those 31.
Nuevo Laredo is in the state of Tamaulipas (1). After driving twelve kilometres south, we encountered the secondary customs point, for people going beyond the depraved border towns. The officer had a brief chat with Guillermo, who told
them where we were going and why, and waved us through, while others were pulled over for a detailed search.
The next town was Monterrey, Mexico's second largest city, in the state of Nuevo Leon (2). We bypassed this and went on to Saltillo in the state of Caohuila (3). This leg of the journey went over high mountains and the cloud cover was so thick that visibility was less than 30 feet in front of us. Fortunately Guillermo is a good and careful driver. We bypassed Saltillo and dropped down through the clouds to re-enter the state of Nuevo Leon, where we encountered beautiful blue sky and sunshine which stayed with us for the rest of the trip.
We were stopped three times on our trek south, once by the army and twice by the federales, both armed to the teeth. In addition, there were two agricultural inspections, which did not affect us as they were aimed at trucks.
After a long way due south, we crossed into the state of San Luis Potosi (4) and at 4:30pm stopped in Matehuala, pretty well smack on the Tropic of Cancer. We heartily recommend the Las Palmas hotel and restaurant on the outskirts of Matehuala. For dinner we had Robalo Veracruzana, (Sea Bass with spicy tomato salsa), Puntas de Filete con Tres Chiles (tender Siloin Tip pieces with a self explanatory spicy sauce), and for Guillermo, Carne Asada. The last two came with some very grainy frijoles refritos, that are every bit as good as bran.
Just in case your spanish is not as good as
mine (now), the first all important road sign means "Obey the
signs" (in case you thought they were just there to give you some
shade), the second means "Do not mistreat the signs" (since people
used to steal them to make lean-tos) and the last one, I first
thought meant "Don't throw stones at the road", but when my spanish
improved, I realized it means "Don't leave stones on the road" (as
people used to surround their broken down cars with large stones to
avoid having others drive into them while repairs were underway,
and then when all was fixed, drive off, leaving the rocks on the
road). Fortunately, most people now use those nice little european
reflecting red folding triangles.
Day 11: Central Mexico
On Sunday, after Huevos Rancheros for breakfast, we set out at 8:30am and headed to the state of Guanajuato (5), the "cradle of independence" and also the "jewel of colonial Mexico". This is the state with San Miguel de Allende, a town overrun with American expatriates with their own art colony. It is also the state with a beautiful capital city of the same name, Guanajuato, which was for some time, the capital of Mexico, a silver mining town, the cultural center for the study of Cervantes, but we had time for neither of these on this trip.
Querétaro was the next state (6) and again we bypassed its capital city (of the same name). Here we saw lots of DF (Distrito Federal) licence plates, as Querétaro is a major local industrial center and the four lane divided highway was being widened to 8 lane divided for the entire 200 kilometres to Mexico City. We quickly entered the state of Mexico (7), which is not where the city of Mexico is, and then cut through a part of the state of Hidalgo (8) before returning to the state of Mexico, and then finally into DF.
We took the Periférico around the western suburbs of Mexico City, three express lanes and three service lanes in each direction, slowing to about 70km/h due to volume and then exited the south end of the city.
It was 28°C at 6,000 feet, in Mexico City. According to Meteorology 101, each 1,000 feet up results in a 2 degree C drop in temperature, so this equates to 40°C if at sea level. As we climbed to the 10,000 foot pass south of the city, the temperature dropped to 17°C, which is three degrees more than it should have, so obviously other factors were at play. The pass marked our entry into the state of Morelos (9). When we came down the other side we finally arrived in Cuernavaca just after 3:00pm, where it was a mere 26°C. We had driven almost 1,250 kilometres in two days!
We reached Villa Favorita around 3:30, unpacked, showered, changed and had our usual Margaritas at 6:30 pm
November, 1997
