Blanche: Friend or Foe? - 3 December 2017

3 December 2017 – Hotel Rio was not only a nice hotel but it also had really good Wi-Fi. It was the best Skyping Wi-Fi Mary and I ever talked over. So I was a little hungry this morning and I had eaten all my French bread.  I buy French bread at the Mercado because it holds up better in my saddle bags. I only had a little peanut butter left and that wasn’t cutting it for the next 24 hours. I needed to venture out and find some food. I got out my computer and looked for a supermarket. I found one nearby and drove over to it. Turns out it was only a convenience store. I bought a loaf of bread and a liter of water. Then if I’m getting on those toll roads tomorrow, I better get some money. I had Blanche search out an ATM for me. She found one down a couple of blocks and to the right.

As I was driving there I saw several outdoor restaurants and a supermarket. It was the largest Mexican food market I’ve seen in a long time. I stopped in the restaurant and ordered breakfast. It was the first time I was served food on cracked and chipped dishes. The food was really good and it stopped my belly button from rubbing on my back bone. I went back to the market / mercado and bought some apples, bananas and peanut butter. I loaded up my bike, stopped by the bank, purchased some pesos and went back to the hotel. A successful outing.

The rest of the day I studied my Mexico map along with my computer looking for a route around Guadalajara and Mexico City. By 5:00 p.m. I had found one. The trick now is to get Blanche to buy in on the route. She can get real stubborn about wanting to follow her directions only. I wrote all my directions down on my masking tape that I stick to my motorcycle gas tank. I compared Blanche’s maps to Google Maps and marked a point on her maps that she can navigate toward. I marked two points and double checked each of them. That was for Guadalajara. I figured out the route for Mexico City but didn’t make any entries for that yet. I have to get around Guadalajara before I’ll worry about Mexico City.

I finally got that all sorted out by 10 p.m. I made myself two peanut butter sandwiches before I went to bed. Tomorrow I will have to be on top of my game before I tackle Guadalajara. Any mistakes and I won’t know where I am. Scary, isn’t it? I don’t have any maps for the city and can’t speak the language. I have to trust Blanche and that’s even scarier.