BIENVENIDOS A MéXICO!

After a foggy departure from Carrizo Springs, TX, we finally made it to Mexico, crossing the Rio Grande at Eagle Pass/Piedras Negras.  Because of our naïveté we took the wrong lane at customs and had to turn around, pulling the trailer, in a two lane road with traffic going in both directions.  We must have set off all the alarms because they wanted to inspect the trailer.  Due to the Grandes Topes (big speed bumps) everything was on the floor.  It was a mess, we had “trailer stew.”  The customs inspector was completely dismayed and overwhelmed when we opened the door. She looked at a couple of things, shook her head and asked, “La camioneta?” (The truck?)  Finding nothing of interest there, she gave us the go ahead.

We drove through brush and cactus covered plains with a view of mountains in the distance.  Our first night in Mexico was spent at a 24 hour truck stop with big rigs all around.  Not exactly a romantic tropical paradise.  But there was a decent sunset.

We drove through a yucca forest or two

The next day, we continued on to Saltillo where we made the huge mistake of driving into the center of the city pulling the trailer.  We’d hoped to find a place to park so we could explore our options.  That was not to be.  Home for the night was the parking lot of a gas station/convenience store.  It was located near some large middle class subdivisions of tightly packed apartments and townhouses.  

 This was not the lazy Mexico of the guidebooks, but it was an interesting view of modern Mexican life.  One of the most interesting features of the housing complex was that each and every unit was topped with a huge water tank for heating water.  I’ve never understood why solar water heating is not widely used in Florida.

The trip so far has been an adventure.  We will push on to the historical and picturesque town of Zacatecas.

MONSTERS, FLYING PIGS AND SERPENTS

             

We left Grayton Beach to continue our route around the Gulf Coast.  We made a brief, if somewhat disappointing stop in Mobile.  I’d always heard that the French Quarter there rivaled the one in New Orleans and was a lot less commercialized.  Well, it’s smaller and the streets are not lined with hawkers for strip bars.  There are a few wrought iron balconies and some French restaurants.  But, like the fine old mansions of Mobile, it’s been swallowed up by the modern city which is getting more modern day by day. 

Some of the modern architecture is as stunning as the old.  We had a fine meal at Wintzell’s Oyster House, a mainstay of local eateries.  The walls there are covered with quotes, many quotable, many not.

They serve up a dish invented in Mobile, West Indies Salad.  This is a version of the various ceviches served throughout the Caribbean.  This one uses fresh crab meat marinated with onions in vinegar for 24 hours.  Different, light and fresh.  I still prefer conch salad!

            We drove along the coast through Biloxi.  This is apparently the place to go to see some fine old mansions! We’ll definitely stop there on the way back.

            We stopped in Cajun country near Lafayette, LA.  We pulled up on the side of the road at a city park in Breaux Bridge.

Our “campsite”  was across the street from an above ground cemetery so common in lower Louisiana.  The city park on the banks of the bayou is shaded by huge live oaks dripping with Spanish moss. The hours and half hours were marked by the Big Ben chimes from the nearby church.

Breaux Bridge is located on the Bayou Teche.  “Teche” means “snake.”  The story goes that there was a huge venomous snake that terrorized the local Indians and caused considerable damage.  The chief got his men together with the intent to kill this monster.  Of course, they only had bows and arrows.  Not having flint, they tipped their arrows with the head of the Gar fish.  It took many days to subdue the creature, after all, it was over ten miles long.  As it lay there in the throes of death, it twisted and turned and wallowed until its body made the long twisted, depression in the earth that is now called Bayou Teche.

            Breaux Bridge was where a Cajun settler by the name of Firmin Breaux put a small suspension bridge over the bayou.  Over time, a community grew around the site.  When steamboats and packets began to navigate the bayou, it became necessary to modify the bridge so a portion of it could be raised using ropes, pulleys and mules.  Today, there is a mechanical lift bridge there.

            

 Breaux Bridge is a Cajun town in the heart of Cajun Louisiana.  It is the “Crawfish Capital of the World” and crawfish étouffée is de rigeur!  At Shuck’s, a Cajun restaurant in Abbéville a few miles away, the crab cakes are beyond delicious and the red pepper, dill cream sauce heavenly.

  Nearby is Vermillionville, a reconstructed Cajun/Creole village where hosts in period costume show and tell how life was for the Acadians who settled the area.

RAIN, SNOW AND SAND!

We are well past 1000 miles into our winter trip.  After several delays due to bad weather and a family emergency, we finally left home and headed south.  It rained all the way to Florida!  After arriving in Ft Pierce, we hardly saw 2 days in a row without rain for over 2 weeks.  Then, we had to wait for a diver to clean the prop so we could move the boat the short distance to the boatyard.

            Even with the rain and occasional cold snaps, we enjoyed our stay in Fort Pierce.  After all, it wasn’t freezing and there wasn’t any snow.  Truly each day was another lousy day in paradise.  The numerous permanent residents of the RV park were friendly and made us feel right at home.   

 The occasional cold spell gave us the chance to test our super-duper flower pot heaters. 

 These things are amazing!  Powered by a few tea light candles, they put out quite a bit of heat.

            We finally got the prop cleaned and motored from Harbortown to Riverside to haul the boat out of the water.  At last, Westward ho!  We stopped in Palm Harbor, FL to visit Theresa, Kathleen’s sister.  It seems that The Tampa area is an endless sea of suburbs and traffic is crazy enough without pulling a trailer.  After several miles of strip malls, shopping centers and automobile dealers, we emerged from the urban sprawl into the swamps and bayous of rural Florida.

            Our next stop was the Newport Campground near Crawfordville, FL.  This is a county run park located on the St Mark’s river.  There’s a lot to see in the area, state and county parks and national wildlife refuges. 

This was a good thing since I had to leave Kathleen, Bruno and the camper to fly back to Kentucky to help Mom move into a nursing home. At any rate, right across the road from the campground is the St Mark’s area wildlife refuge.  Several miles through the refuge and at the end of the road is the Gulf of Mexico and the St Mark’s light house.  

 When we visited, it was a dreary, misty day and the haze gave an unreal appearance to the landscape.

            When I flew back to Kentucky, I arrived just in time for some of the coldest weather of the season and for snow!  I helped with Mom’s transition to the nursing home and headed for Subtle to check on the house.  It has almost become routine that when we are gone for an extended time we will find branches and trees across the driveway.  This time was no exception.  The tree was too big to move and I wasn’t interested in walking to the house in the dark and cold and in sandals.  Since the tree was only 4 inches or so in diameter and there were no branches extending from it, I decided to treat it as a speed bump.  I carefully drove over it.  It’s a rental, right?  When it was time to head to the airport, the snow was falling thick and fast.  Within an hour, there was an inch on the ground and I was concerned that I might not be able to make it out the driveway.  Indeed, there was a bit of tire spinning but I made it up the last hill and headed for the highway where there was only one set of tracks to guide me.

            Kathleen didn’t escape the cold blast either.  It got down into the 20s and she unhook the water hose from the camper to keep it from freezing.  Fortunately for her, the weather warmed up nicely and she and Bruno were able to do a little touring.

            We left Newport and followed the coastal highway to Grayton Beach State Park.  It was a leisurely drive with occasional views of the Gulf and the inland waterways created by the barrier islands.  Grayton Beach is amazing.  The beach itself is just your run of the mill white sand beach.  OK, maybe I’m a bit jaded.  But when you’ve seen the beach on Highborne Cay or the beach at Harbour Island, it takes a lot impress me. 

 The dunes, however, are another story.  White sand dunes, covered in patches with sparse vegetation pile up one on the other to create a fairyland.  They present a truly unique landscape.  The campsites at Grayton Beach are relatively close together but each is separated from the others by a band of foliage giving the feel of being alone in the jungle.

            We are taking our time as we work our way around the Gulf of Mexico and are looking forward to Louisiana and points west.