andyc740
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Part I - Corpus Christi to Saltillo
I live in Corpus Christi, Texas and ride a 2001 Trophy 1200 (since christened Rocinante). I've posted a number of ride reports to a Triumph forum, but decided to start posting here. TWT seems more active and more interested in reports such as these. The guys on the Triumph board are convinced I'm crazy. Here, I'm convinced almost everybody is crazy.
In September 2007, Lefty, a friend and CMA (Christian Motorcyclists Association) buddy, and I decided to take a motorcycle trip from Corpus Christi to Mexico. Lefty grew up in Eagle Pass, on the border, and I lived a few years in Central America, so we both speak Spanish and are somewhat familiar with Mexico, we just hadn't been there on bikes. We were both very much interested in going.
We spent some time reviewing maps and decided to make Saltillo our base for a loop south. It looked like there was a nice loop through the mountains, we could come out near Matehuala, south of Saltillo on Hwy 97, spend the night, ride back up to Saltillo, spend another night, then head home, for a total of four days in Mexico. Once we decided on the route, Lefty made some hotel reservations for us over the Internet, we boned up on requirements to get travel papers and did a bit of research into the area. Lefty was determined to have some cabrito during our trip and said the area around Monterrey, including Saltillo, specialized in cabrito. The trip plan would also have us in Saltillo for Mexico's Day of Independence celebration, beginning the night of September 15th and ending on the 16th.
We left on a Thursday morning, September 13, 2007, from Corpus Christi, waited in McAllen for my birth certificate to show up via FedEx (I couldn't find mine 2 days earlier and had ordered another to be overnighted to our Valley office) [Passports are now required to reenter the US from Mexico], crossed the border about 1:00 at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, picked our way through the outskirts of Reynosa, did the 120 miles of divided highway to Monterrey, rode through Monterrey at rush hour and wound up at our hotel in Saltillo about dark. We were surprised when the tolls to Monterrey came to about $25 apiece and decided to avoid toll roads for the rest of the trip.
The nervous but excited newbies ready to head out.
We wound up at Hotel Urdiňola about two blocks off the main square in Saltillo, a nice little hotel with rooms around an enclosed courtyard and adjacent, enclosed parking. We wandered by the plaza, then asked at the hotel about a restaurant serving cabrito. They steered us to one nearby, Restaurant El Principal. Man, the picture reminds me how good the food was. The cook was happy to pose for a picture.
The Saltillo Plaza Central was decorated for Mexico's September 16th Independence Day celebration.
Back at the hotel, we admired a nice BMW G1150GS in the parking lot outfitted with aluminum cases and Georgia license plates and were curious about who was riding it, but didn't find the mystery biker.
In the morning, Lefty needed to find some superglue to fix his glasses. I didn't think we'd find any at the convenience store we tried, but they had it, right next to the condoms. I thought that sounded like a recipe for trouble; superglue and condoms. After fixing his glasses, we wandered out looking for some breakfast, without much success, finally finding a restaurant where, since they didn't have a breakfast menu, we ordered some eggs, meat and beans. The tab came to a bit more than we expected. Oh well.
The cathedral by morning light:
I live in Corpus Christi, Texas and ride a 2001 Trophy 1200 (since christened Rocinante). I've posted a number of ride reports to a Triumph forum, but decided to start posting here. TWT seems more active and more interested in reports such as these. The guys on the Triumph board are convinced I'm crazy. Here, I'm convinced almost everybody is crazy.
In September 2007, Lefty, a friend and CMA (Christian Motorcyclists Association) buddy, and I decided to take a motorcycle trip from Corpus Christi to Mexico. Lefty grew up in Eagle Pass, on the border, and I lived a few years in Central America, so we both speak Spanish and are somewhat familiar with Mexico, we just hadn't been there on bikes. We were both very much interested in going.
We spent some time reviewing maps and decided to make Saltillo our base for a loop south. It looked like there was a nice loop through the mountains, we could come out near Matehuala, south of Saltillo on Hwy 97, spend the night, ride back up to Saltillo, spend another night, then head home, for a total of four days in Mexico. Once we decided on the route, Lefty made some hotel reservations for us over the Internet, we boned up on requirements to get travel papers and did a bit of research into the area. Lefty was determined to have some cabrito during our trip and said the area around Monterrey, including Saltillo, specialized in cabrito. The trip plan would also have us in Saltillo for Mexico's Day of Independence celebration, beginning the night of September 15th and ending on the 16th.
We left on a Thursday morning, September 13, 2007, from Corpus Christi, waited in McAllen for my birth certificate to show up via FedEx (I couldn't find mine 2 days earlier and had ordered another to be overnighted to our Valley office) [Passports are now required to reenter the US from Mexico], crossed the border about 1:00 at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, picked our way through the outskirts of Reynosa, did the 120 miles of divided highway to Monterrey, rode through Monterrey at rush hour and wound up at our hotel in Saltillo about dark. We were surprised when the tolls to Monterrey came to about $25 apiece and decided to avoid toll roads for the rest of the trip.
The nervous but excited newbies ready to head out.
We wound up at Hotel Urdiňola about two blocks off the main square in Saltillo, a nice little hotel with rooms around an enclosed courtyard and adjacent, enclosed parking. We wandered by the plaza, then asked at the hotel about a restaurant serving cabrito. They steered us to one nearby, Restaurant El Principal. Man, the picture reminds me how good the food was. The cook was happy to pose for a picture.
The Saltillo Plaza Central was decorated for Mexico's September 16th Independence Day celebration.
Back at the hotel, we admired a nice BMW G1150GS in the parking lot outfitted with aluminum cases and Georgia license plates and were curious about who was riding it, but didn't find the mystery biker.
In the morning, Lefty needed to find some superglue to fix his glasses. I didn't think we'd find any at the convenience store we tried, but they had it, right next to the condoms. I thought that sounded like a recipe for trouble; superglue and condoms. After fixing his glasses, we wandered out looking for some breakfast, without much success, finally finding a restaurant where, since they didn't have a breakfast menu, we ordered some eggs, meat and beans. The tab came to a bit more than we expected. Oh well.
The cathedral by morning light: