My First Roadtrip
It is usual that the first roadtrip is full of accidents, shortcomings, misunderstandings and alike. Mine was no different.
I was supposed to hit the road for Guadalajara on a Sunday, but a tropical storm hit Monterrey and the trip was delayed until Tuesday, when I thought the weather had given in. Maybe the worst had passed in Monterrey, but along the way there was rain just as strong.
Driving in the rain is no joke. At first it was light rain, just enough to obfuscate my vision and didn’t think much of it. I thought the wind was quite strong compared to the rain since the car felt like it was being pushed sideways but it didn’t bother me that much. A couple of kilometers down the road something strange happened, it felt like there was something stuck in a back tire. I pulled over to see what was going on and surprise, surprise: the tire was completely ripped.
I don’t know if this happens to everyone but it did to me, though I’m a bit of an anxious person: I lost it. “What the hell is going on? What’s gonna happen to me? Just where the hell am I? What if a narco passes by and makes me disappear?”. But I was not alone – avoid traveling alone every time you can.
Borre – my friend – got out of the car to help me reverse the car to a safe spot at the side of the road, I was so shocked I actually hit him with the back of the car. He was also nervous so didn’t mind. So, we pull over and check the trunk to see what we have at hand for the task: the spare tire, a crank and a jack.
"Now what?"
We lift the car but can’t really take the tire off. It’s starting to rain so I decide to call my dad for help… No service. Shit.
Okay, I’m starting to panic. My legs are shaking. What’s that accross the road? A house! Perhaps they can help out, let’s hurry. I run accross and find a lovely family with about 10 dogs – I hope they don’t bite.
The man is an angel and helps us change the tire without hesitation and gives us direction to the nearest vulcanizadora. We need to get there soon as it’s never a good idea to travel long with the spare tire. So forth we go.
So we get to the vulca. While we wait Borre and I start walking through our situation and I say I’m really he came along as I wouldn’t know what I would’ve been of me if I was alone. He shrugs as if not understanding what I mean, but he was there. And that’s more than you can ever ask from someone. Soon enough the mechanic says he doesn’t have a tire for the size we need. We need to make a detour, we’re pointed to Concepción del Oro, which is about 60 Km down the road so we go slowly as to not challenge fate once again – at least it’s stopped raining.
We get there and at first glance we can see that it is a mining town. I’ve never been to a place like this so I’m amazed. Such deep valleys and majestic mountains. We may have had a rough start but this detour may have been worth it. We get a new tire and get going.
After about an hour we get to a gas station and stop for a bit. Soon after that a hard rain hits us like wrath from god but makes me feel so alive in spite of the so real danger I feel.
After about half an hour the rain finally ceases and find beautiful country sides, ever extending landscapes of red dirt. I remember reading about Zacatecas being a territory filled with nomad tribes that had constant conflicts and was, in layman terms, a lawless region. Suddenly I’m haunted by visions of all the death and spilled blood – could that have turned the soil red?
After a while we get to Aguascalientes and yet another storm hits us but this time the rain is so heavy that it seems like the thickest fog is in town – but it’s all rain and we can’t see more than 5 meters ahead.
After driving for a while we decide to stop and wait for the rain to pass. We found a mall and park there for a while. Soon we realize the rain will not budge and start looking for a place to stay (AirBnB is/was still in business!) which was not very difficult, thank goodness. When we try to get going we find out the car’s battery is discharged and can’t actually leave. At this point we just laugh – of course this was bound to happen.
After about an hour we ask for help from yet another marvelous stranger who assists us to transfer power to our car and manage to get going. We get dinner and call it a day – finally.
The morning gets to us but we’re slow to get up, we want to enjoy a little before we go, we may not come back here in a while. One more cup of coffee before we go.
The road between Aguascalientes and Guadalajara is mostly straight and have no setbacks (we make sure NOT to turn off the engine), after about 2 hours we get into the city and start the deadly commute – it feels the longest under these circumstances.
But we get there, we’re home :)
