4/24/2022 Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico

Tampico was the next checkpoint we set while making our way around the Gulf of Mexico. It was a fairly large and crowded city, and we have already learned that accommodations offering relatively secure parking are more easily found on the outskirts of the cities. That said, we settled into Hotel Esmeralda, which provided a locked garage for us to park the steeds for the night. Although we scored a win with secure parking, we suffered a loss in the form of a dirty room. Overall the place was a good value, but neither Mike nor myself have 15 inch long brown hair, which was nestled between the tightly laid bed sheets, in relatively copious amounts. Gross, but we lived. 

We went for a walk in search of a pharmacy to buy doxycycline (just to have on hand), and along the way we found a young boy practicing soccer by himself in the street. Mike being quite the athlete, he stopped to play with the kid and help him refine his goalie skills. Later, the boys mother opened the front door of the house and was thrilled to see someone practicing with her son. After their brief game, we continued onto the pharmacy and bought what we needed.

That evening the local middle school was having some form of celebration, with the students dressed in what appeared to be traditional clothing, the streets lined with food stands and the whole neighborhood out to celebrate. I tried my hand at a game that resembled ski-ball only much smaller, and I ended up doing well. I am NOT an athlete like Mike, and have minimal coordination, so this was a big win for me. With my winnings I chose a small toy pistol that shoots suction cup darts, and having no need for the toy, I gave it to a young kid who seemed to really like it. He and his mother seemed happy about that.

We spent some time walking around just taking in the sights before heading back to the hotel. Nearly all the way to our hotel, we came across two women trying to carry a large CO2 cylinder up the hill to one of the food vendors. We offered to carry it the rest of the way for them, for which the expressed their sincere gratitude with a bunch of Spanish we didn’t understand. One threw a little English at us, “thank you very much!”. It has only been a few days, but English speakers have been virtually non-existent, so we get excited when someone understands us!

We are still waiting to get better photos to share, but so far the scenery is still relatively the same, dry shrubs and flat land, but tomorrow we start getting in to the hills.