By reh on 1/27/2004

January 27, 2004, 11:00 AM, Tuesday

Epilog

Afoot and light-hearted, I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
A long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose.
Henceforth I ask not good fortune-
I myself am good fortune;
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more,
Need nothing
Strong and content, I travel the open road
Walt Whitman, 1856

A poem commonly quoted by travelers. A poem I have always liked, but no
longer fits. I have already gone way too far down that brown road to claim
I am only starting, and I accept my good fortune with quiet humility, not as
an affirmation.

I think a more contemporary poet captures my mood and
better fits my station in life:

I have faced ... Read More »

By reh on 1/26/2004

January 26, 2004, 7:00, Monday Ate a slow, relaxing breakfast. Set up the bike for shipping, got a plane ticket for tomorrow.

On street urchins: I pray the same God that guided me through a fool’s errand of my own choosing will guide a dirty little girl with straight teeth, dark freckles on brown skin, and no smile, on the Honduras border. Surely it is obvious to Him that she is more deserving than me. If you prayed for me, while I was on my trip, then pray for her. Surely your prayers helped me during my folly. Possibly you prayers can help her.

On border crossings: The border crossing process is a scourge to Central America and a real source of embarrassment to those Central Americans that know the system. Most Central Americans never cross borders so they aren’t aware of this national scandal. Most travel books refer to the quaint process where one gives his passport to a runner who gets them through the ... Read More »

By reh on 1/25/2004

January 25, 5:30 AM, Sunday No message from the Beemer riders. I decided to press on. If I wait for them to get up, the Costa Rica group may have already left, and I would be alone with a late start. I wanted all the daylight I could get, just in case. I was on the road at 6:30. To go around Managua one goes about 5 kilometers east of the airport and Best Western motel, away from town and then turns south. You turn southward at Tipilapa. Then southwestward at Masaya. Next, turn a little more westward at Catarina and meet up with CA-1 at Guanacaste. Managua’s version of a bypass. The road has some potholes and lots of pedestrians so I did not rush. In Guanacaste I decided to fill up one last time before the Costa Rican border, which is 120 miles ahead.

I filled up and paid the attendant. All through Central America there are attendants to pump gas and collect the charge. I then pulled away from the pumps and parked on the macadam apron so that I could go inside for a bottle ... Read More »

By reh on 1/24/2004

January 24, 7:00 AM, Saturday The Managua Best Western motel is directly across the boulevard from the airport. It consists of several hundred “bungalow” style rooms in a large fenced compound with the obligatory bars, restaurants, work-out room, etc. The rooms are filthy and the help, while outwardly pleasant, is not helpful. The only reason this place prospers is because of its proximity to the airport (you know what they say about location).

The super-bike races would be this evening. We had parted the previous evening saying we would meet around the restaurant during the morning to arrange plans for the evening bike races.

7:00 AM
I left a load of dirty laundry at the desk with the assurance that it would be back by 3:00.

9:30 AM
I met one of the riders and his wife and daughter at a patio-restaurant. He intended to spend the day shopping with his family. We determined that we would meet ... Read More »

By reh on 1/23/2004

January 23, 2004, 6:30 AM, Friday Josi drove up with Tony, his sister and his mother. I assumed they were going to shop in the city for the day. We loaded the bike. We all piled in and off we went!

Poverty increased. Any evidence of reasonable living conditions decreased. About 30 miles south of San Salvador, Josi pointed to a dirt road and said he was raised three kilometers up that road. He said that the flatlands we were going through were once planted in cotton, “It once looked like an ocean of white when the wind blew. Now look at it (reclaimed to desert scrub brush)”, Josi commented. “What happened?” I had to ask. “The war came. One side would say ‘Plant’. The other would say ‘Don’t plant’. If you took a side the other side would kill you. We moved to where my mother now lives.” Josi continued, “I left for the States at 17 with $25. That was in 1976. I took advantage of the Reagan amnesty deal, and am a US citizen.” I asked if coming home is a good feeling. “It alway ... Read More »

By reh on 1/22/2004

January 22, 2004, 6:30 AM, Thursday (I think) I didn’t sleep too well last night. John’s observation and advice didn’t go down well. It didn’t fit with my observations either.

Josi and Tony guided me to the San Salvador Holiday Inn where I got a room. Josi is a cook in California. He has been there for 25 years and comes back about twice a year to help his mother and sister maintain the home-place. He needed a pickup for a few days. Day rental rates are half as much as a week rate. He said that if I were willing to rent a pickup for a week, he would agree to haul me, and the bike, to the Nicaraguan border. He would stay with me until I was in Nicaragua (that’s two crossings), whether it took one day or more.

An aside: I thought I needed Spanish so I could get directions, order food, etc. Not so, some finger pointing and jesters are sufficient. Fluent Spanish is needed to get past border crossing clerks.

Josi and his f ... Read More »

By reh on 1/21/2004

January 21, 2004, 7:00 AM, Wednesday. Left the motel. At the border crossing by 7:15. There is an odd procedure for getting through Central American border crossings. All of the border crossings are full of thieves, leaches, and rogues. The many clerks (numbered in the 10s) that must act upon various paperwork is confusing to even the seasoned travelers. Clerks are totally unsympathetic to foreigners who speak poor Spanish. They bark out a command and move onto the next person (I will never be critical of US bureaucrats again). I was compelled to give my paperwork (passport, license, insurance papers, etc.) to one of the hundreds of “runners”. Young men, from 15 years old to 35 years old, who run from station to station getting necessary stamps, copies, authorizations and requiring money for every step. When the runner was done with my paper work and having spent $180 of my money, he stood about three paces away, holding my passport and demanded $50 dollars US! My choices were.....
< ... Read More »

By reh on 1/20/2004

January 20, 2004, 6:30, AM Tuesday

I left Oaxaca. Rode south staying in the high basin that is Oaxaca then traversed 100 miles of curves with the added third dimension of steep ups and downs. All well maintained two lane roads. I did not ride aggressively; my mind was with Elise in Oaxaca. Lost altitude rapidly until I was traveling along a coastal plane. The rather flat, almost deltaic lowlands run from around Magdelena in Tequisistlan province to Arriag, which is a coastal town in Chiapas Province. The road turned east and gradually climbed into nondescript foothills, neither coastal nor the Sierra De Soconusco Mountains.

The day before leaving the Doctor had left a message that I should stay at the Kamico Hotel in Tapachula. After arriving there, I should ask for John. He will ride with me for a while.

Tapachula is a very old, primarily Indian city. It is close to a porous border that runs from a narrow ocean coastal plane ... Read More »

By reh on 1/19/2004

January 19, Monday Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is widely read but, in my opinion, seldom understood. Many think it is a story of a turbulent relationship between a man and his son. Not so. The father simply wanted his son to understand that he (the father) is not crazy, though society says that he is and the son simply wanted his father to affirm to the son that he (the father) wasn’t crazy. Others think it is a chronicle of a cross-country bike ride where the author describes every malfunction of the bike. Not so. All of the breakdowns were minor and easily fixed. The journey is a backdrop for Pirsig to explore some philosophies of life. He concludes that there are two components of a meaningful life: Quality and Value (as in worth doing, not dollars). Oaxaca is Pirsig’s city.

January 19, 2004, 9:00 AM, Monday The Guzzi dealer in Oaxaca is too far from the hotel to walk so I rode over. The storefront and showroom are very clean and well lit, very up-scale. I ... Read More »

By reh on 1/17/2004

January 17, 2004, Sunday Elise and Becky arrived at 10:30 PM last evening.

9:00 AM We were all up and walking toward the main plaza eager to explore.

The main plaza and other plazas in the city are developed for, and cater to, family life. Each is surrounded by buildings built since the arrival of the Spaniards but older than any major buildings in the US. Early post-Columbian history permeates all of the city.

The Main Plaza is bordered by a huge and beautiful Catholic Church on the east side (I think). The Governor’s mansion is on the opposite side, and up-scale hotels and shops are on the north and south sides. Areas repaired after earthquakes, during re-modeling, and expansion are obvious on all sides of the church because of differences in rock or brick type and masonry characteristics. The Governor’s mansion is a large gray-stone structure with a row of stone columns forming a porch on the ground floor and the w ... Read More »

By reh on 1/17/2004

Pancho Villa actually purchased several motorcycles for his revolutionary army in 1913(+/-). It seems that he bought three or five Indian Motorcycles while in Albuquerque and had them shipped to Mexico (talk about a porous border). General “Blackjack” Pershing, the leader of the Buffalo Soldiers, was issued 20 Harley Davidson motorcycles at approximately the same time. These two leaders played tag along the border but there is no evidence that the bikes were involved in any action.

January 17, 2004, Saturday, 7:00 AM Slept well, slept late. Got on the toll road and headed west. There, abruptly in front of me, were the steepest most rugged mountains. Fortunately, I turned in for the night when I did because I was way too tired the afternoon before and there is no way off the road until the top.

The road twists and turns up these mountains. Around one curve and I look across to four switchbacks up the side of the next incline, and this is a divided highwa ... Read More »

By reh on 1/16/2004

Pancho Villa actually purchased several motorcycles for his revolutionary army in 1913(+/-). It seems that he bought three or five Indian Motorcycles while in Albuquerque and had them shipped to Mexico (talk about a porous border). General “Blackjack” Pershing, the leader of the Buffalo Soldiers, was issued 20 Harley Davidson motorcycles at approximately the same time. These two leaders played tag along the border but there is no evidence that the bikes were involved in any action.

January 16, 2004 , Friday, 6:00 AM On the road. As I turned inland and started climbing into the foothills, there were many road changes. Road sign markings were poor to non-existent. GPS was off by 1000 right or left of the actual road too much of the time. I was compelled to stop and ask for directions often, which may have been a good thing. Everyone I talked with was helpful and personable and talkative. Stopping for directions became a pleasant diversion.

While the roads ... Read More »

By reh on 1/15/2004

January 15, Thursday, 6:00 AM At the border crossing between Brownsville and Matamoras. Drove into the inspection area behind the main border crossing checkpoint. The inspection area is an enclosed parking lot with larger than normal parking spaces. Walked inside the building and started the processing procedure which took almost no time. At the first window, a man checked my passport, driver’s license, and copy a credit card (which does not leave one with a real comfortable feeling). I paid a $25 fee. I carried paperwork to another window where a clerk did some processing, and charged a $25 fee. At the inspection site, there was no one on duty so I just drove through. The moral of this story is to get to the border crossing before normal work hours.

Matamoras is a typical US/Mexican border town with some appeal to a day tourist, but just another border town to ride through for me. I was well south of the town and riding through the countryside within 35 minutes. The terra ... Read More »

By reh on 1/14/2004

January 14, Wednesday, 6:00 AM Finished driving the final 165 miles by 10:00. I stored trailer and car at a guarded lot (actually the Greyhound Bus station parking lot). Unloaded the bike from the trailer. Got a room at the Holiday Inn Express. Picked up my Mexican Auto Insurance. Spent the afternoon relaxing (and resisting the temptation to head south).

The intent is to ride from Brownsville Texas south to Tampico, Mexico, west across the Sierra Madri Mountains through Puebla then southwest to Oaxaca. Rest at Oaxaca while the bike is given the once-over at the Guzzi dealer (the last one I know of going south). Then ride to where I will catch Central America Highway #1 (CA-1). I will follow CA-1 through Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and finish up in San Jose, Costa Rica where I will meet some friends who are Costa Rican nationals and my daughter who will fly down. I will ship the bike and fly back.

I set up the Guzzi for this trip ... Read More »

By reh on 1/13/2004

January 13, Tuesday, 6:00 AM Left the house. Tailored bike to Corpus Christi. Stayed at a low class motel. The tedium that is driving 840 miles on limited access highway is known by all. I drove the 840 miles today so that tomorrow would be an easier day. There is nothing more to say.