Tuesday morning- time to put on my big boy pants and plunge into Mexico.

*Actually on Sunday I crossed the border to get my paperwork for what I’d hoped was a next day crossing after making a fast trip to San Antonio for a second tracking device. We already know that didn’t go fast enough.

So saying goodbye to Luke, I departed looking for a final gas fill up, pesos and hopefully a quick crossing. All these went well and I made the crossing into Nuevo Laredo in the state of Nuevo Leon. I felt strange and slightly on edge since I don’t speak any real Spanish and was trying to learn what many street signs were conveying. I had some good info; more like info overload.

But I was on my way to Santiago in Nuevo Leon. Hank (of Hankmoto in Dilley Texas) suggested this city as a overnight; it’s one of many older, colonial architectural designs. You may have seen the photos on Facebook. It was on the way that I realized my international debit cards didn’t work. YIKES!

It was good reflection riding again; I reflected many times throughout my long riding periods actually. Questions like “what am I really hoping to accomplish,” “what is my faith in God really like,” and more were swirling around such as “is this trip really going to have positive return benefits?”

I found my first daunting task in Mexico when navigating through Monterey. Now I had to see signs for a city called Linares. I found that I could maneuver my bike quite nimbly when I had to. Traffic was snarled there. I ate beef jerky and chocolate; I was hungry anyhow. I eventually found my way out of the city and was quite impressed with the mountains and the very modern lifestyle. Of course I knew each was there; but I felt like saying to folks back home -see, they are just like us.

In no time it seemed I found Santiago. Found my recommended hotel, my first Mexican meal and settled into what would become rain all night.