Day 69 Tapachula Mexico

Day 69 (March 20) – Tapachula, Mexico

Only 70 degrees in our camper this AM. It is amazing how cool it feels. Off to the races; another border day. Speaking of races, we drove by a number of bikes having one. The scenery throughout the day was very beautiful if you discount the smoke from sugar cane burning. From fields of sugar cane to palm, banana, papaya and nut trees, where the hills and valleys continuously change. There was a cow chewing a black plastic bag, pigs, horses and cows tied along the roadside with no water in sight. Guatemala has many beautiful rivers and creeks. Most of them have water flowing and people knee deep doing the laundry. One woman I saw today had a homemade shelter in the water so she was shaded. The size of some river beds and dikes makes me think Bill and Gerry better start growing webbed feet!! I'd just made a note of how great the road and not five minutes later the pot holes became the norm. Must be in Mexico!! Overall, through out the day, the roads were really quite good. The living fences serve several purposes. Fence, beautiful flowering trees and wood for the house. I observed two men trimming the trees, then cutting the branches into firewood lengths and stacking. Along the way were a lot of places drying tobacco leaves. Also several buzzard conventions. There were the usual topes. I figure we should have them at home. Just think of all the people that could be employed selling stuff at teach one. The fruit stalls were numerous as were the little stores in the towns, all selling pop, gatorade, chips, cookies and a few incidentals.

We've all seen lots of little shanty homes made with tin, cardboard, black plastic or whatever and it makes on sad yet so happy it isn't' them. Today, however I saw what appeared to be three families that looked truly homeless. Big and small, they were all dirty, sitting on the ground around a s small campfire. They had a ripped piece of black plastic with some sticks holding it up. I could see a few possessions and two old tents. Very sad indeed.

The funny thing for the day was an 18 wheeler with his tinted windshield. In the middle of each side was a clear spot. They were each shaped like half a pair of cat eye sunglasses. For those of you too young to remember cat eye glasses, believe me, it looked hilarious. Border towns are usually crowded and dirty. This one was no different. However, getting through went quite quickly.

Arriving at Sam's Club, most went shopping. Several of us decided to sit in the parking lot and share pizza, which was enjoyed. However our group of seven grew to seventeen. Ed topped the evening by supplying ice dream for one and all. A great end to a nice day.


Rig #18, Gail and Tim