From Cuernavaca to Ottawa - Spring, 2001
Monday, April 16, 2001 - North to Matehuala
We left at 9:27 am, after breakfast and after two days of saying our goodbyes and headed resolutely for Mexico City. The temperature was a cool 23 C. We stopped in at the Sanborn's at the south end of the city at 10:20, for a birthday card and some chocolate bars. In 15 minutes we were off again around the west side of the city on the Periferico. Traffic was surprisingly quick and we went by the city and entered the 57 toll road north of the city at 11:21 am.
At 12:15, we stopped to switch drivers on the Querretero bypass and continued on. We stopped at 2 different army road blocks, but they weren't interested in us and just waved us by. Soon we were seeing many little stands selling strawberries and cream, but we didn't succumb. Around 1 pm the air conditioning started to fail. The air coming out of the vents got warmer and the fans went into higher speed to compensate, but to no avail. So we just shut it down and opened the windows a bit. For 45 minutes we suffered the 32 degree weather and then we stopped on the San Luis Potosi bypass to change drivers again, and stopped the car for 10 minutes to visit the facilities.
When we restarted the car, we turned on the air conditioning and everything worked as it should. Either the 45 minutes of being shut off or the 10 minutes with the engine off corrected whatever was bothering the system. I guess we will report this to the dealer when we get to Ottawa. Perhaps, after 4 hours of working so well, it needed a 45 minute rest. Something similar had been happening in Cuernavaca, so something is definitely amiss.
We were stopped for a third time by the PGR (the Procurer General of the Republic) police and again waved through. Then we saw the amusing site of several naked bus chassis driving by from the mechanical factory, presumably to the body shop. It sort of looks like a giant dune buggy; there is the driver sitting way in front with no windshield, no doors, no sides followed by a long open pair of frame members and then at the very rear, a big diesel engine with shiny exhaust pipes sitting just behind the rear wheels. A bit windy and not too good in the rain, but then it doesn't rain much here.
At 4 pm, we hit the Tropic of Cancer, crossing from the real tropics, to the temperate zone, however the temperature remained the same on both sides of the line, a steady 34 C. Then we reached our 4th road block, an army check, and for the first time someone wanted to speak to me. He wanted to know where I was coming from and where I was going to, so I told him. Then he said, Oh, you are on vacation! so I said yes, as that was clearly the easiest thing to say, and,after all, we are travelling on Tourist Visas. Then he waved us on, wishing us a good trip.
At 4:30 we arrived at Las Palmas Midway Inn in Matehuala, our usual, but not recent stop. Resting up, we noticed that Ally McBeal was on Fox at 5 pm, but it turned out to be one we saw two years ago, the one where she purposely back-ends a car to meet the driver, and he turns out to have a terrible honking laugh. However, even the clever Spanish subtitles to go with the English dialog could not keep our attention. No CNN anywhere, that's a change from when we were last here. ESPN, but no Ottawa-Toronto hockey playoffs.
We also like Las Palmas' restaurant. So, unfashionably early, we went there at 6:30 pm for Fillet of Sea Bass, Veracruz Style (Robalo Veracruzano) for Carol and Filet of Beef Points, Mexican Style (Puntas de Filete Mexicana) for me. Very good as usual, although Carol wanted to argue about the authenticity of the Veracruzano sauce. We have had that dish all over Mexico, so we have lots to compare it to, but we always use the yardstick of how we make it at our home in Cuernavaca, which we still rate as the best. However we have never had it in Veracruz, which should be the defining standard, although we might go to ten different restaurants in Veracruz and get ten different results. At least the version we serve is adapted from a recipe from a cookbook written in Veracruz.
Walking from the restaurant to our cabin, we discovered it was raining, although that did not seem to bother the kids splashing around in the two pools. We had not seen rain for a while. In our cabin, we discovered we were very tired and turned the lights off at 8 pm!
Tuesday, April 17, 2001 - Across the Border to San Antonio
As a result of our early to bed last night, we were able to leave early, 8:10 am in a cool 20 degrees. We hit another PGR stop (#5) just out of town, but just got waved through again. The weather was somewhat overcast, with occasional sunny breaks, and the temperature stayed in the low 20s all morning. One needs to remember that this route is along the "altiplano", a wide plain at about 6,000 feet above sea level between two long mountain ranges, the Sierra Madre Oriental and the Sierra Madre Occidental.
Nine months ago this road was a two lane highway, with Mexican rules of the road, but it has recently been twinned into a 4 lane divided highway, making it an easy drive at 140 kph on cruise control. The other direction got most of the new smooth concrete roadway, but we got a bit of it and some of the old asphalt road was rough, but some of it had been re-asphalted to almost as good as the concrete side. I suspect the old side will all be recovered within a year.
At 9:30 we stopped for gas and then shortly thereafter another stop, our 6th now, this time a quarantine stop, for agricultural products. We hit the toll road outside of Saltillo at 10:10 and changed drivers. The road from Saltillo to Monterrey was heavily fogged, so that we had to slow to about 70 kph for most of the way. Then onto the Monterrey bypass, when it started to rain heavily. Finally we made it to highway 85 north toward Nuevo Laredo.
We were no sooner on this road when we were stopped again (#6) by a PGR road block. Again, for only the second time they wanted to talk; where had we come from, where were we going, we told them and were told to have a good trip. 85-D is a good road, we were now down lower, below 1,000 feet ASL and it was 30 degrees and noticeably more humid. Again at 140 kph "indicated", and again on the cruise control, we verified the accuracy of the speedometer with the GPS device, and found we were really only going 133 kph. That seems a large error, but on the safe side.
Eventually, we approached Nuevo Laredo and remembering where the Mexican Army Bank (the organization responsible for temporary importation of foreign vehicles to Mexico) building was located, we drove into their parking lot at 1:17 pm and left with our Return Receipt at 1:27 pm, a record time for us. Then into town and across the bridge to Texas. The bridge took somewhat longer. And the customs guy asked, "Are you both American Citizen's?" We said "No, both Canadians" and his partner, who had noticed our plates, nodded and repeated "Canadians" and after asking whether we were carrying any liquor, passed us through.
We also immediately lost an hour at the crossing because Mexico is still on Central Standard Time, while Texas is on Central Daylight Time. So at 3:30 pm CDT, we stopped for lunch. We went to a Luby's in the big mall in Laredo. Terrible food, but a Texas tradition. Checked around in the Gap and Dillards for deals, but found nothing.
At 4:40 we were back on the road again. Suddenly, 10 minutes later there was another road block. I thought we were back in Mexico, but no, it was the U.S. Border Patrol. They too asked us if we were both Americans and again we corrected them. This time they asked us what we were doing so far from home, but when we said that winters were much warmer in Mexico than in Canada, they probably remembered the many standard US weather forecasts about cold air from Canada causing all their winter storms.
By 6:30 we stopped for gas at a pricey $1.559 per gallon and then reached San Antonio just after 7, but an hour before sunset. At 62 degrees F, it is off with the shorts and sandals and on with the long pants, socks and shoes and sweaters. We certainly did not expect this so soon!
Wednesday, April 18, 2001 - Dallas
After a leisurely breakfast, we left at 10 am in cool, 57 degree, cloudy weather. We soon reached Austin, and glanced at the state capitol building where George W. held court as Governor, before he became President. Then on to Dallas, where we reached the Dallas Galleria by 2 pm.
Carol, used to the Houston Galleria, had never seen this one. She quickly noted that the stores were all the same, but admitted that the layout and particularly the restaurant area was much more elegant and interesting. I pointed out my third floor favourite, Uncle Thai, from my working trips to Dallas back in the days when I still worked. The seating areas overhang the large skating rink below almost like the loge seats in old theaters.
We did a good tour of the Nordstrom's here instead of the Nieman Marcus in Houston, on the recommendation of some friends in Cuernavaca, who I think have stock in Nordstrom's. It is very customer oriented, with very helpful staff and many comfortable areas for customers to relax and feel at home. The shoe department has to stand out as perhaps having the widest variety and selection of shoes ever seen in any department store. Otherwise, the merchandise was not particularly interesting.
After an exhausting, but not exhaustive tour of the shops, without buying anything, we left at a quarter to five, just in time to get caught in the after work traffic rush. By now it was brilliantly sunny and up to 72 degrees. We finally got out of the city and headed east on I-30 toward Little Rock. We stopped for gas, even worse this time at $1.589 per gallon, and then continued on, failing to leave the great State of Texas. We ended up in Mount Vernon, TX at about 7:15, for the night.
There we heard that the stock market had had a good rally! Also we heard that the Mississippi is overflowing, and there is some flooding in Ohio along with other places. Should be fun.
Thursday, April 19, 2001 - Arkansas, Memphis and Nashville
We left Mount Vernon, Texas at 9 am on a partly cloudy morning at 58 degrees temperature. We had fairly strong winds from the south most of the day, which gave us a low 70s afternoon. We occasionally had sun overhead, but always overcast in front of us.
The north of Texas and all of Arkansas was a lush green countryside with regular sprinklings of wildflowers along the highway. Hope still advertises itself as "Birthplace of President Bill Clinton", but the state has dropped its ad as where Bill was Governor for the years before his Presidency; an interesting change. Interstate 30 in Arkansas, had a lot of construction where the road was reduced to a single lane instead of two, but traffic flowed well at no less than 60 mph. Their signs promised a five year program of fixing their Interstates. Perhaps we should avoid the state for the next 5 years. After Little Rock we switched to I-40 and ran into a total blockage, so we managed to get off quickly for gas and after a chat with the locals, took off on a parallel highway 70 for 20 miles and then re-entered I-40. I think we saved a lot of bumper to bumper and saw some of the countryside closer up, again maintaining a speed of about 60 mph. From there on we went smoothly on to Memphis, crossing the Mississippi and seeing no sign of the rising waters happening further north. No rain at all today; must all be up north. Talked to some people driving down from Michigan headed for Dallas, so we exchanged road tips. He said they had encountered snow in Ohio! But he thought all we would find is lots of rain, maybe just a sprinkling of snow. We decided to head for Nashville and made good time, arriving a little after 6 pm. After settling into our accommodations, we headed downtown for dinner. After walking up and down Broadway, checking out all the live music halls, lots of country music. It felt about like Beale Street in Memphis, but Country instead of Blues. Then we headed over to 2nd Avenue for the restaurants and ended up at the Market Street Brewery and Public House, which had a definitely upscale and also contradictorily, a British feel to it. Carol had Fish and Chips and was pleased to see they had malt vinegar on the table. They had Bangers and Mash on the menu, as well as Shepherds Pie, but I went more American with an excellent Rueben sandwich; corned beef is not common in Mexico. We washed these pub fare treats down with an excellent nut brown ale, brewed right on the premises, which is partly what drew us to eat here. All simple fare but quite good! No wonder the place was packed. As a side treat they were showing two of the three remaining quarter finals of the NHL playoffs, Buffalo vs Philadelphia and San Jose vs St. Louis. Of course with Ottawa already eliminated, it was not a good show for us. The sound was off on the sets because a live Blues group was playing for our entertainment, guitar and harmonica, loudly amplified. That was another plus, as both Carol and I much prefer Blues to Country, and all you ever get on the radio around here, as well as live all along Broadway here, is Country.
The walking weather was perfect for a light sweater or jacket, which is what we had on and we really lingered soaking in the atmosphere, but finally, well relaxed from our trip, we headed back to motel for a good night's sleep.
Friday, April 20, 2001 - North to Toledo
We slept in, and then stopped for breakfast, resulting in our departure from Nashville at 10:30 am. The temperature was 61 F and it was overcast again. We headed due north on I-65 and soon crossed into Eastern Daylight Savings Time, losing another hour. Then on to Louisville Kentucky, where we were treated to an air show by four bi-planes flying in formation. It was now 2 pm Eastern and we switched over to I-71 headed for Cincinnati.
Now, we were noticing the reverse spring phenomenon again. The leaves were getting a lighter shade of green as they were younger. As we approached Cincinnati, we chose to go through the center of the city instead of the recommended long circuitous bypass, and just breezed right on through for a significant time and distance savings. Then on to I-75. Now the leaves are starting to disappear in favour of bare branches with some buds. Dayton was doing major surgery to their downtown portion of I-75, but it was not too bad. I don't think we lost what we gained in Cincinnati.
At this point we decided that we would make our final destination for today at Toledo, Ohio, where we had stopped last year. We arrived there at about 7 pm and stayed at the same place as last year. Then we went for our supper also at the same place as last year, the Croy's Supper Club in Perrysburg, and again without a reservation. This time we were given a choice of waiting 45 minutes, or eating in the bar. We chose the bar, and it was very pleasant. No leather tablecloth, but still leather chairs and a great ambience.
This time the waitress was friendly, attractive and young. Again, a year later, the Friday night specials included a fresh grilled "Yellowtail Tuna, Cajun Style" which Carol ordered. Something new was a "Steak Diane", made with two filet mignons covered with a mushroom Diane sauce. Both were delicious. This time we tried a different California Pinot Noir, this time a bottle of the 1999 "Coast" version from Beaulieu Vineyards, also excellent. Finally we topped it off with the same "Kentucky Bourbon Pecan Pie, a la mode" as last year, again the right choice.
We will have to make this another annual fixture. It is just too good to miss.
Later, on TV, we found that Quebec was under siege; tear gas, concrete and fence barricades, international protesters in ski masks and gas masks, President Bush, our Prime Minister, Jean Chretien and probably President Fox. The scene looked ugly.
Our GPS device now tells us that we are 485 miles from home, as the crow flies, but we will have to stick to the highways, so it will be a little further for us. The safe bet is on our getting home tomorrow.
Saturday, April 21, 2001 - Another Border and Home
Another good breakfast and then we left Toledo at 10 am in 61 degree overcast weather. By 11:15 we had crossed into Canada, from Detroit to Windsor. Custom's started with the usual "Are you both Canadian Citizen's" and then when they got to " And how long have you been away" and got "5 months" as the reply, they suddenly lost interest and after a few more perfunctory questions, waved us through.
As soon as we entered Canada the rain started up, fairly heavily. Temperature hit 17 C. As we headed along the "killer strip" part of 401, getting close to Woodstock, where the multi eighteen wheeler pile-up stopped us last fall, we encountered another accident: an SUV lying on its side in the passing lane, with two other cars, seemingly undamaged stopped nearby. We couldn't figure out how it happened, and two ambulances arrived as we were slowly inching by. Probably one of those unstable SUV incidents, as it was too cold for a Firestone tire failure problem.
As we got to Toronto, the rain let up a bit, but as we continued beyond it returned. A cell-phone call home gave us the news that the sun was shining in Ottawa, but we saw none of it. At Toronto the temperature had dropped to below 9 C, but when we got to Ottawa, at 7:30 pm, it was gently raining and a warm 19 C. As we drove along the canal in Ottawa, we noticed that it was not filled yet, still drained for the winter skating. At the shady parts of the drained canal there were still large patches of snow. Speaks of a heavy winter.
Gas here is 79.9 Canadian cents per liter!
It feels great to be home again.
Statistics
This trip was our fastest yet by two days, 6 days instead of the best previous 8. The elapsed hours (engine time including local excursions) was 48 hours. The distance was 4,711 kilometers or 2,940 miles. An average speed of 61 mph or 98 kph and an average of 8 hours driving per day or 490 miles per day or 785 kilometers per day.
Time for a car wash and an oil change.
April, 2001
