I have been without Internet connection since Sunday and I will pos this when I can but I have kept a diary form of the journey.

Sunday 23rd March I left the campsite around 10am and it was a long day of driving mainly on expensive toll roads but also on very slow roads through small villages with many Topes. The weather is still not great overcast and cooler, which I suppose, is good for driving.

I am definitely on my way back and I covered about 300 miles this day and as it was getting dark I found this Pemex gas station outside of Veracruz to spend the night. It had a huge parking lot and Ramona headed for the corner and had a very quiet and good sleep.

Monday 24th March and I didn’t wake up till 8am and I was on the road by 8.30am. Same kind of weather as yesterday with the roads being pretty good and traffic not to heavy.

I had to go through Veracruz central because I missed the turn off for the by-pass, No comments from you MALCOLM PEARSON!!!!! Other wise I shall just mention that I am the scrabble king! I knew I was in big trouble; lots of traffic; huge city and I did what I had done two years ago when lost in a big city. I pulled over got out with my map and stopped the first taxi driver. Explained where I wanted to go and I wanted him to drive and I would follow. Paid him 50 pesos and away he went and he was very good about making sure I was behind him at every junction and within ten minutes he had me on the road I needed heading out of the city, painless!!!!

I had already decided on which route through Mexico I am taking and I wanted to see the last ruins of this trip and I am now parked in a grassy field by the parking lot of the ruins of El Tajin in Veracruz State. They are supposed to be impressive and I look forward to seeing them in the morning.

The closest town about 5 miles away is called Papantla and is famous for two things. One it is the centre for the vanilla market of Mexico and the second is their famous Voladores. I have posted photos of these men. They are the ones who climb up a high pole and attached to a rope they descend upside down and twirl around the pole 13 times heading to the ground. This is a very sacred ritual and as with most things in this area the 13 times they go around the pole is significant in the Mayan calendar of days, weeks and years.

I had a great supper, did a few chores and after writing this, time to watch a DVD of a soccer game that Malc brought over for me.

Tomorrow I continue north and also go inland a little and I am heading, I think, for the Big Bend County in Texas. The long-range weather forecast for Texas and southern Arizona is great so I shall see some part of the area before returning to the cold and rain of Nanaimo.

Tuesday March 25th and a very happy birthday to my niece Sam; hope you have a great day!!

This morning the sunshine is back and a very restful night it was. I was at the ruins by 8.45am and had the whole site to myself; I think you know by now how much I enjoyed that. These were the last ruins on my trip and again different from the others. The 365 niches building is prominent here and I just gazed at the architecture and tried to visualize the work and effort and skill that went into its design and building. This was a very large complex with many small buildings and I enjoyed the time I spent here.

It is now 9pm Tuesday evening and I am again parked in the back corner of a Pemex gas station. I am fed, showered and all cleaned up and ready for a movie and bed.

This was quite a frustrating afternoon and evening and all started after I left the ruins. It started to rain and then I went on some dirty and muddy roads and Ramona is in such a need of a shampoo and wash. MALLY COME BACK AND NAVIGATE!!!! I promise I won’t mention scrabble. As a preamble to this let me tell you again that the road signs in Mexico leave a lot to be desired. They are in a bad state of repair and the road numbers are completely worn off and then of course at the next important intersection the road signs disappear of the face of the earth. Well I faced this dilemma this afternoon, driving merrily on my way to Cuidad Victoria and a fork in the road appears and no signs at all. I took the left fork and knew right away I was wrong but the road was narrow and absolutely no way to turn around even in a smaller vehicle but Ramona had no chance and I had no options but to keep on trucking.

Then the small villages with 5 or 6 Topes each began appearing and now I was far enough into this road I had to keep on going. Could it get worse? Yes, then the military check points started. At this juncture let me state that if I ever find out which of my readers tired of my incessant banter of “It’s a great day sunny and hot” decided to call the Mexican Embassy and instruct their Military to stop Ramona and the white haired old man driving her and search for hidden contraband, they will serve a 7 day blog ban!!!

So now I was lost, on small tope invested roads, with Ramona begging for a wash and then Military checks. I went through 13 Military checkpoints this afternoon and early evening and at every one was inspected to a degree quite thoroughly. Now before I go on and rant about this I realize I am a guest in this lovely country and these young men are only following orders and have a difficult job to do but, 13 checks in about 5 hours and two of those check points were like a mile apart. They opened every drawer and cupboard in Ramona and looked everywhere, what for I don’t know. They were always very polite and always smiled and waved me on but I was left thinking to myself not one of them at all ever asked to see in the locked outside compartments. It was just getting a bit tedious but I am sure all will be well with my mental attitude tomorrow.

I have had three hard days of driving and I am about 50 miles away from Cuidad Victoria, a fair size town with a campground. So the plan is to arrive there mid morning and take the afternoon off to relax and do chores and shop and find an Internet place so I can post this.

Thank you for listening to my tale of woe, which really is only small stuff, Pura Vida

Now Wednesday 26th March and I am in the RV park in Cuidad Victoria, all settled and had breakfast and it is about 9.30am. I think there is an Internet place a few blocks away so will walk there soon and hopefully post this.

The rest of the day relaxing, washing Ramona, doing chores and plotting my route into the USA and yes if I get a chance I will enrol for a map reading course!!!