Back in the States

After entering Mexico on Sunday afternoon we set our sights for the U.S. border. Compared to most of the other Central American countries Mexico has pretty nice main highways which allowed us to make good time through the country. On Monday we were trying to make it near Veracruz to a BMW dealer so Kevin could bike up some parts for his bike. On the way there we were running out of gas and it didn't look like there were going to be any gas stations coming up anytime soon. I said a little prayer asking God to provide gas or allow our bikes to make it to a gas station with the little bit of extra gas we had with us and before I knew it we came upon a road side stand that was selling pineapples and wouldn't you know it he had about 17 liters of gas which was enough for each of us to get to the next gas station. Before we got to the gas station however, we ran into our first road block of the trip. I guess some of the locals had set up a road block to protest something, so there we were stuck beside a long line of trucks, buses, and other vehicles. Not wanting to wait for the road block to clear we began to pick our way down through the traffic. Laban decided to make the first move and try to go between two tractor trailers. Things were pretty tight and he managed to make it almost between them, but he ended up getting wedged fast mere feet from being through. So, with a little tugging and pulling we were able to get him free and pull him back to freedom. We found another way around and ended up making it near the front where there was a gas station. After filling up we found an alternate road past the road block and continued on our way.

On Tuesday we made it to Veracruz and thankfully they had what Kevin needed. They even pulled the parts right off of a brand new bike that was on the showroom floor, so we were very thankful for that. After leaving Veracruz we ran into an incredibly strong wind that was blowing at 30-40 mph with gusts over 50. It was quite miserable to say the least but we eventually made it through it and ended up finding a hotel near Tampico.

Wednesday morning we left quite early and started making our way towards the border. It was smooth sailing all the way to the border and we arrived in the early afternoon at Matamoros. After finally finding where the actual border crossing was we got our bikes checked out of Mexico, got our passports stamped and crossed over the Rio Grande into Brownsville, Texas. We spent Wednesday night in Kingsville just a little south of Corpus Cristi. Yesterday we rode from Kingsville to just north of Dallas where we stayed last night with one of Chad's friends.

 One thing that we have definitely noticed as we have started to ride north is the cooler temperatures. We have found ourselves bundling up when it is only 65 degrees out, so I'm not quite sure how I'm going to manage when we get closer to home and it is in the 30s. I guess it looks like I will be purchasing a lot of thermal underwear and bundling up quite a bit.

Today me, Nate, and Kevin are heading up to Yukon, OK to stay with some friends of mine. Chad and Laban are getting some things done to their bikes today and will meet us in Stillwater, OK tomorrow afternoon. From Stillwater we will start working our way east, with stops in Tennessee and Virginia along the way. We should be arriving back in PA by next weekend, so we'll see everyone soon.

-- Dwayne