When I woke this morning there was no thinking about trying to get back to sleep. Travel days bring an underlying level of energy and excitement that propels me into motion. With the travel ban going into effect in the US, PJ’s flight was effectively cancelled so she won’t be able to fly in and join me. The decision was made that I will make a run for the border and join in the hysteria on the other side of the wall. They’ve just closed schools here and things could get ugly if the economy tanks. Tourism is already taking a big hit. I sipped some hot tea under the restaurant palapa while loading the post from the day before. My biker bros were starting to stir when I came back to Wilson and began to pack up the RV. Neto was tightening up some loose nuts on his makeshift chopper but didn’t have the right wrench, so I set him up with some tools while I packed.

By the time I got everything stowed and tended to, I was good and sweated out from the tropical heat. I went for a body surf to rinse myself off and brighten my outlook before saying goodbye to the crew and paying up my tab. I squeezed out past the overgrown trees reaching out to grab the RV on the dirt road out. After a quick stop in Los Llanos for a garrafon of water, it was back on the highway to the turn off to the toll road to Uruapan.

Goodbye, La Saladita

A long, relatively easy drive climbing in altitude up to the high plains. Having to pass lines of slow trucks was the only drawback. Pemex must have unleashed a fleet of tankers because I got to see myself reflected back from a lot of their shiny backsides while waiting for an opening to go around. A large river followed the route with lots of yellow bridges. There must have been a 50% off sale on yellow paint when they built the road. Yellow bridges, yellow guard rails and yellow guide posts.

Coming into Uruapan, the traffic was thick. I crept along always trying to get in the lane where my next turn would initiate from. At the top of a hill, I had to make a left. It looked like one road went up like a lateral lane while the other road stayed low so I turned into the low road only to realize that it was two lanes coming at me. Luckily, oncoming traffic was held up at a red light. There was a street to the left that I quickly bailed onto which led me back around the block to get it right the next time.

Hotel Pie de la Sierra was just a short drive from there and I was soon parked up in their parking area in the front. I set up and took a nap. At six o’clock I got dressed and caught a cab into town with Jose Carlos. He dropped me at the central park by the cathedral. We made arrangements for him to pick me up tomorrow morning then I walked around to see the city. I like Uruapan, old school charm with lots of character.

I got busy doing errands. First the pharmacy then a visit to the calle de los antojitos, the area of the marketplace that houses the food stalls. I selected one that looked nice and clean with a good crowd of locals eating at it. La Guera Carpio cooked me up a big order of enchiladas with a side of chicken and potatoes. She cooked it up on a wok like cooking basin, putting together the enchiladas from scratch in the cooking pot rolling them up expertly with a spatula and serving it up hot and fresh. Awesome meal for under three bucks. A few more chores; hitting the bank, buying a memory card for the camera and picking up a hat that I saw at the market. A fun evening in town then a cab ride home to get ready for Paracho tomorrow.

Texting her BFF