Day 7: Miles traveled so far. Well as with any adventure, sometimes things dont go as planned. We got up without hurry as it was only a 3 hour drive to our next stop in Poza Rica. The continental breakfast was ok, but glad it was free. We headed out of town over the Tampico bridge, and through the toll. It cost $30 pesos each. About 10 miles past the toll, my check engine light came on. I carry my trusty code reader in my vehicle at all times, and it paid off. I read the code and saw that it was a multiple misfire situation. After diagnosing the situation, we decided to head back through the toll and over the bridge to get back to Autozone. Fortunately we had passed one in Tampico. Long story short, it appeared maybe a coil pack was bad. After checking availability, we were planning to stay another night to wait for it to come in the next day. I bought 2 spark plugs and decided to give them a try. Upon pulling the plug wires. one came apart in my hands. I repaired it, put the plugs in and fired it up. After clearing the code, we drove around to test it out. No misfire! Great news. Fortunately, I hadnt ordered the part yet. By now it was 2 pm. We wanted to get on the road to get to our next stop before dark. Crossing through the toll bridge again (for the 3rd time, both ways), we rested knowing we did our part funding the road and bridge work. The roads were noticeable narrower and rougher, very reminiscent of the hummingbird highway in Belize. After about 50 miles we came to a completely new section of road that was being built. This will definitely be nice when complete! One thing I like about many roads in Mexico, is that there is a large shoulder with dashed lines. This is for cars to straddle to allow other faster cars pass without having to enter the oncoming traffic lane. It is a very efficient and much safer type of road in my opinion. I also notice that signs, one way streets, double lines, speed limits, and general rules are merely suggestions in Mexico. If its convenient, follow the rules, if not, do what you like. This is my kind of driving! :) The roads smoothed back out and smooth sailing to Poza Rica where we crossed through another toll booth that cost $14 pesos. Along the way, we encountered many friendly people. Even the Local police got into the mix, checking out our vehicles at the Pemex fuel stop. The guy pumping gas, stopped for a quick pose for the camera, with a big smile. I paid $5 pesos for a uick bathroom stop, and we headed down the road. We are staying in Poza Rica tonight at the Poza Rica Hotel. Before you ridicule, we are camping in our roof top tents. They have electric and water hook ups in the back parking lot. Plenty of trees for privacy and over all reasonable at $300 pesos/night. This includes the use of the spectacular pool, hot showers, and free wifi. We fired up the propane hot plate and cooked up some cajun sausage and boudin left from our trip through Louisiana. Life is good right now. We are getting ever closer to our border crossing into Belize. Stay tuned!
Posted on: Wed, 09 Apr 2014 02:16:22 +0000
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