4 December 2017 – Before I left this morning I had to turn
in to the cleaning lady the: air conditioner remote, TV remote, and the Hotel
Rio monogrammed towel. I had to sign for that towel when I checked in. Sheesh.
So, off we go. It was one of the best riding days I’ve had
in weeks. I gas up and I notice my rear tire was a little low on air. I checked
it. 24 lbs. a little low so I put some air in it. I’ll have to watch that. It
may have a slow leak. I hope not. I enjoyed mostly straight 60 Mph / 100 Kph
riding. I was going places and it felt good.
At the first toll booth, I asked about purchasing an
electronic pass and the people thought I was nuts. Nobody could seem to get the
idea I wanted to purchase a pass. So much for translators... I bet they had a
bunch of laughs over that. I stopped at a second place and asked about
purchasing the electronic pass. No luck there. They thought I wanted to add
money to my existing pass. Finally, the lady called up her daughter, who spoke
excellent English. I mean good, American English. I talked to her and she translated
for her mother. Once her mother realized what I wanted, she said they didn’t
sell them at her store. So, I bought some stuff for the grief I caused those
ladies and left.
After I left the building another guy approached me and
asked if was having any problems. He thought I was out of money and needed
help. I explained the whole electronic pass thing and told him I didn’t need
any money. He thought I could buy one further in to the city but he didn’t know
for sure. Why are they so hard to find? I was hoping to get an electronic pass and
then activate it tonight but that didn’t happen.
I was about 9 miles / 15 Kilometers out of the city. I got
Blanche tracking correctly and I watching her carefully that she didn’t
deviate. Everything was looking good and then she picked Hwy 15. Everything was still looking ok, but something
didn’t seem quite right. Within about 6 miles / 10 Kilometers down the road I
was in downtown Guadalajara Centro. Lots and Lots traffic. I was stuck in
traffic and couldn’t get out of it. Deeper and deeper into the city I went.
Here we go on another adventure. Finally, I got to a side street, totally lost.
I pondered my situation and finally just decided to follow her directions to
the point I put on her map. It was a crazy ride, but I got there.
The nearer I got to the point, the more I began to smell a
familiar smell. The area I was in smelled just like the Crystal Sugar Plant in
Grand Forks, North Dakota. What I was smelling was sugar cane being processed
into sugar. This area I was in is an industrial area so I thought there would
be a slim chance of having a hotel in the neighborhood. So, what do I do now? I
looked at the clock. 5:00 p.m. with heavy traffic. I thought I’d just check to see
where the nearest hotel was and drive to it. It was a .6 Mile / 1 Kilometer
away. I drove to it and at first glance I thought I would pass on it. Then I
looked in and it looked real nice.
I went in and checked it out. The receptionist showed me
around and I decided to stay. We couldn’t seem to come to an agreement on the
price of the room due to language problems. Mainly mine. So, she called up her
supervisor who spoke English. We agreed on the price and that I was to leave by
9:00 a.m. tomorrow. It was a done deal and I paid for the room. The room comes
with its own garage, mood lighting, king size bed, security portal, a beautiful
statue in an all-tiled garage and a nice bathroom. Basically, it’s for people to
have secret rendezvous. The car is out of sight of prying eyes. You don’t sign
in. You pay cash. No one needs to know anything. Even the guy that delivers
pizza or booze can’t see you. The money gets put in the portal and turned 180
degrees. The food / booze then gets put into the portal and spun back around
180 degrees to the customer in the room. Too bad it didn’t come with Wi-Fi so I
could find my way out of this town a little more easily. I don’t think I’m too
far from Mexico Hwy 23 so I should be able find my way out of town. We’ll see
how helpful Blanche can be. It’s time for bed.
These kind of stops are the sprinkles on your traveling cake! How great that you were able to find it when you needed it! Valerie
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