Back to Boca del Rio/Veracruz!

Up this morning in Villahermosa with the intention of trying to get to San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan and the 16^th head.  However, fate – in the form of a 2-hour traffic jam, had other ideas.  So, while we can say we tried, we didn’t really get very far! 

 About an hour out of Villahermosa, the traffic stopped … and when I say stopped, it was incredible.  It just … stopped.  We literally inched along for almost two solid hours before we came to the problem.  This part of the highway was divided.  We, going north, were on the lower road, while those heading south were on the upper.  And apparently, a semi on the upper road somehow went off it – I’ve never seen such a huge section of guard rail just taken out – and the semi came down the hill and ended up on the north bound side, with the semi part of the truck spread out all across the roadway and median strip in between.  R took some photos – we had plenty of time to observe!  I didn’t think we were ever going to get through that jam.  And the other problem is, you don’t know if it’s a jam, a toll way, or what’s going on because we can get no traffic information!  Compounding the problem, the toll roads here have very few exits, so one is stuck.  And even if more exits were available, there are no alternate routes.

 

After 2 hours, we finally reached ... this!

  

HUGE stretch of guard rail taken out!

Traffic jam getting to and over the bridge!

  

Lots of sugar cane trucks WAY overloaded!

Once through it, we proceeded about another 20 minutes – and then things stopped up again!  Why this time?  Well, this time, it turns out, it was construction on a suspension bridge – they’re replacing the cables, and the normally 4-lane bridge was reduced to two lanes – one in each direction.  But with the huge number of trucks – of all sorts, some going very slowly – this took about another 40-45 minutes to get through.  I couldn’t believe it!  Oh, yes, and did I mention that it was also raining a lot of the day?

 We finally pulled into the Marriott CityExpress in Minatitlan about 1:30 pm – but they were very firm that check-in wasn’t until 3 pm.  We were exhausted already, but the thought of just sitting in the lobby for an hour and a half didn’t appeal to either of us.  So, we went back to the car, put the cases back in the trunk, and headed out again, for Boca del Rio, as I made a reservation at the Hampton Inn.  Granted, another 3½ hours, but better than sitting in the lobby, especially as neither Minatitlan nor the hotel impressed either of us!  So, on we pressed.

 In all, we spent 8 hours in the car today, although as I say, it wasn’t all driving!  Wish we could have gotten to San Lorenzo; maybe next trip?  At any rate, we arrived back in Boca just a bit after 5 pm.  Our room at the Hampton Inn, 403, is absolutely freezing, and at this point, we’ve had enough of hotel rooms without any heat!  Apparently, even though January is the coldest month, it isn’t considered “necessary” to turn on – or even HAVE heat in hotels because it’s not “that” cold – averages around 64 degrees – which for we Tucsonans is REALLY cold!  We decided that enough is enough, and have changed our reservations to head home tomorrow rather than Friday.  We’ve collected 15 of the 17 heads; had some wonderful food, and now it’s time to return home!

 So … packing up in the morning and heading to the airport, and hopefully reporting tomorrow from San Diego!

 Oh!  Dinner tonight!  Went downstairs to the hotel’s small restaurant.  Again, no such thing as wine in this area apparently, so it’s Limonada again (although I definitely needed something stronger after a day like today!) and hamburgers for both of us!  Actually, they also had cheese, bacon, tomato and onion and were pretty good, I have to say, along with some wonderful fried potatoes!  Now we’re back upstairs and I, for one, am heading under the warm covers very, very soon!

 

 Much love,

m

xxx