Return to Veracruz

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May 3, Sunday

Up early, packed and on the road prior to 8:00 am, the earliest departure so far. We had an easy day's run into Veracruz from here, only about 160 miles, and the road was a lot more twisty than most of the Yucatan penninsula, much more like a relative of Chiapas. We stopped for lunch at Catemaco, in the same restaurant overlooking the beautiful lake as before with Rafa and friends. More good food here, and we watched the baby ducks feed, the little boat taxis run in and out, and finally decided to continue on. The last several miles into Veracruz was bumper to bumper, but we found the hotel I'd been aiming for with only a small amount of backtracking. Hotel Suites Mediteraneo, actually located in Boca del Rio, is just across the street from the beaches, and it has a nice pool, lots of nice suites, and seems to be a favorite among the natives. After a dip in the pool and a shower, I hopped back on the bike to scope out how to get to the BMW dealership, to Rafa's motorcycle shop, and the La Parroquia restaurant where we get the best coffee around. Finding all three, plus a Wal-mart, I returned to the Hotel, picked up Deb, went back to Wal-mart so she could buy another bag to carry her stuff home in, and we later met Carmen, Carla and Neder at La Parroquia's for supper. It was a nice reunion, and I showed Neder a few of the things I've discovered wrong on Bear. I might have mentioned that the rear mud guard had broken a connection, but Neder told me when he had been riding behind us in Chiapas, he saw the cross-bar of the Micatech side bags bouncing low enough to strike the mudguard when we popped over the topes. Bummer. Another problem we discovered was that the shelf for the top box had two small cracks in it, most probably due to the bouncing of the no doubt overloaded top box. Second bummer. On the good side though, I'm not too broken up about the broken mudguard, I don't think it had much effect anyway, and the top box will be much lighter now, as Deb is flying home to Canada tomorrow, and I can move most of the weight to the right side box.

May 4, Monday

I rode over to the BMW shop this morning, hoping to get an appointment for the routine maintenance that is slightly overdue, but the sign on the door said due to Governmental request, the shop will be closed until Wednesday. I guess I'll be in Veracruz a bit longer than planned. I'm pretty sure they can do it right away, as I've had two people contact the service guys to let them know I need quick service. I don't want to put more miles on the bike by having the service done in Texas, and it will be about half the price here in Veracruz anyway, still with a BMW certified mechanic. I then rode over to Rafa's shop, and his man washed my bike, low pressure hose, soap... all the good techniques... it looks almost ( but not quite ) brand new again. I tightened up a few bolts on the side bags just to be sure the weight and jouncing hadn't loosed up anything. I paid Rafa 60 pesos for the wash ( about $4.80 USD for a hand wash, extra attention, job) and made a date for him, me and Deb to meet for coffee tonight, again at La Parroquia. Rafa told me tomorrow evening is the BMW club meeting, and I plan to get my BMW MOA mileage contest entry signed by a couple of the members. Deb took off with Carmen to go "shopping" and do girly stuff, and she appears to be almost all packed and ready for her flight home tomorrow morning. I walked the beach for a bit, had some food and later Deb and I met Rafa and some of his friends for coffee. We were into our beds a little earlier than usual, as we have an early wake up tomorrow.

May 5, Tuesday

Up at 5:00 am for showers etc, then we took a taxi to the airport for 150 pesos ( 11 or 12 bucks) We ran into one of Rafa's friends, JP, who works the counter for Continental. Deb had to get a medical screening for the flu, then immagracion stamps to get out of the country, then security gates. I grabbed another taxi back to the hotel, this time it was 165 pesos. Weird, but I guess the airport has to take a cut. Once back at the hotel, I repacked the bike trying to balance out the weight a little better, and get the top box as empty as possible. I took a ride along the waterfront, stopped at the historical plaza and walked around a bit, had a bite to eat, and rode over to Rafa's shop to see if he was around. No luck there, so I went back to the hotel, hung out by the pool for a while, then later in th evening I rode to La Parroquia to the Veracruz BMW club meeting. I met a few more guys who spoke very good English, and was able to understand enough of the Spanish being spoken to realize they were teasing each other for much the same reasons we tease each other at the Indy club meetings. Guess the guys are all alike no matter the language in use. They are planning a big shindig here, a national type rally that is semi-sponsored by BMW itself, in July, but it's the weekend after the MOA rally in Tennessee, so it would be a quick ride back to attend.

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Photos

Outside Rafa's Shop
Bear badly needed a wash by this point.