Carmen and Other Buddies - 20 November 2017

20 November 2017 – I got up thinking about how to get up that hill this morning. How am I going to do it?  Should I carry my tires and one bag to the top of the hill, come back down and then ride my motorcycle up? That would be complicated and more work but would assure I would get to the top safely. The other way would be to load my motorcycle normally, take my chances, ride up the hill and be gone. Should I fall over that would be a mess. Really, that is not a pleasant thought. I finally decided I would load my bike with all the bags and tires and take the risk. I went over to say goodbye to Carmen. I don’t think I ever said that she is the person who hooked me up with the internet so I could send all my pictures home. Thanks Carmen. Just as a precautionary measure I asked her to watch me go up the hill and if I had problems could she come help me. She agreed she would. I told her if I made it to the top of the hill I would sound my horn and be off. That way she would know everything went well. I took one picture of her comfortable-and-keeping-it-simple look. I bid her a hearty goodbye and took on the hill. I kept good forward momentum, rode around the 90-degree corner and continued to the top of the hill. I beeped my horn for Carmen so she knew I was all right and rode into town.

I drove into town looking for a food market. I was quite hungry and needed to stock up on water. I drank a one liter of water. That made me feel better. I also found some apples and beans which I could eat. I filled all my water containers and while doing this, an 86 year old man came up and talked to me. He was a Canadian from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He told me about the town and the old prison in the town. It’s now gone. He said he walked through it after it was closed down. The only words he used to describe the place was horrible. A miserable place to be incarcerated in. The quintessential Mexican prison. He also said jails are places where you go and get educated when you want to become a better criminal. We parted ways with a handshake and a goodbye.

I stopped at another food market down the street but they didn’t have what I wanted either so I got another liter of water and two Snickers candy bars. I ate one of the candy bars and saved the other one till later. I sat out of the sun and my buddy showed up. It was a female German Shepard dog. She wanted a lot of pets and of course food. If I would of had some type of real human food I would have given her some but not chocolate. She was my buddy till I walked off. Time to get rolling.

I was going to ride to Loreto and maybe as far as Ciudad Constitucion. I drove through Loreto and was continuing on. I wanted to find a roadside restaurant and get something to eat. I never found what I was looking for and finally I just settled for a convenience store with junk food. I bought some rolls with enough preservatives in it that when I die I will be preserved like an Egyptian mummy. It took the growl out of my stomach. While eating, besides the flies, I acquired three more friends: two Chihuahuas and I think a Jack Russel dog. I shared a few bits with all of them, which made them happy. Anyway, I finished up my water and left. I couldn’t believe it after I gave the hounds food they barked at me when I left. I thought they were a little inconsiderate. Silly Hounds.

I continued on till I reached Ciudad Constitucion. A very nice clean town. I found a hotel with a 300 peso ($15) room. A very nice room. I unloaded my motorcycle and drove into town to find a restaurant. I found just my kind of restaurant: a sidewalk restaurant. I ordered the usual Huevos Rancheros with refried beans. Oh, that tasted so good. I was returning to the hotel when I saw an Auto Zone Parts Store. I stopped to see what kinds of oil they stocked. I like to use Shell Rotella 15 w-40 in my motorcycle and I was just wondering if they stocked it. Nope, so that kind of tells me that Mexico and probably Central America don’t carry Shell oil products. I saw some other oils that I might be able to substitute for the Shell Rotella I use.

As I was walking around I felt my motorcycle helmet brush and kind of hook my pant leg. I thought that odd and I looked at the two side plates that hold my visor and face shield on. Everything looked in order there. So, I forgot about it. I got on my bike and left. I exceeded 40 Mph / 65 Km, pulled my visor down and the next thing I see is my visor and face shield flapping in the wind. This is not good. I stopped to check out the problem. Oh my god, one of the side plates is missing off my helmet. I am almost 300 yds / 300 meters from Auto Zone and it’s getting dark. I had to get back to Auto Zone Parts Store and check to see if the side plate fell off in there. I checked the store and it wasn’t in there. I was feeling really sick right now. I walked outside now and it was really getting too dark to see this black side plate. I was standing there pondering my situation thinking I would walk along side the road with my flash light looking for this side cover hoping it hadn’t been run over. As I was standing there I was looking under the front of the cars and there it was. It was under a car next to the left front wheel undamaged. I could not believe my luck. Oh my god……….I did the happy dance. I cannot tell you how many times I thanked God. I can’t really ride without a face shield because of my glasses. The problems this would have posed would have been great. Thank you, God, again. I put the side plate back on the helmet and I was good to go. Note to self: Check side plates and make sure they’re in the correct position daily so this never happens again. I came back to the hotel and told the receptionist about it. She couldn’t believe I found that side plate either. Just unbelievable. What a stroke of luck. I called it a day.