Day 13, Sorry this thread is going to jump around a few days
Some days we don't have internet and get behind. So I'll do my best to get you all back up to speed. Day 13 (corrected) We woke up early to the loud call of the roosters roaming around the orphanage. There was one brave soul that decided to parade around under our tents, "Cock-A-Doodling" at the top of his lungs. We could help but laugh out loud as it continued with the wake up call at 6:30 am. "Choot em"! I yelled. Bernard got out of their tent and chased some roosters around trying to get a photo and mainly just trying to aggrevate them back. They dont realize how much we like chicken, fried chicken, grilled chicken, chicken tacos, chicken tonight....I guess we now know what the term "up with the chickens" truly means.
We were up and had the tents put away and in the Rovers before 7 pulling out of the driveway. The kids were scheduled to be in school so we wouldnt have a chance to see them. We made several remarks that what a short day we had planned as far as traveling goes. It was suppossed to be only 4 hours to Villahermosa where we had reserved hotel rooms. "We will be showered and ready to eat before noon", Angela said. Tammy agreed, "I can handle 4 hours, Im ready for a shower". This was not to be the case.
We jumped on the highway and was sailing along at great speeds, 50-60 mph, no problem. As we neared the exit to the road we saw on the map 187 North, it was clear the scenery was about to change again. The landscape was very lush, rivers and streams were bursting over the sides. The sun was bright, and we were on a two lane quiet road. What a nice change of pace compared to the desolate, desert feeling we had seen in other areas. The speeds were slowed to about 30-40 mph, because the roads were winding and even climbing up some hills. Checking the elevation, we were only about 500-600 feet up, but the hills still made for a slower pace. There was no oncoming traffic, at all and about one vehicle we could see occasionally ahead.
All of a sudden, we rounded a corner and there were several cars brake lights shining. We came to a halt. It looked like possibly a police stop as there was a Federale car quite a ways ahead, but due to the traffic now, it was hard to tell. We put the car in park and prepared to wait our turn for whatever lie ahead, but we never moved. Well at least not for nearly 25 minutes. People were getting out of their cars, some talking, others just standing. Suddenly, traffic from the other direction began to flow. No wonder there wasn't any oncoming traffic, it had been held up here. After closer examination, it appeared there was a wreck or tuck turned over. When we finally got our turn to go, we slowly drove by the scene of a truck that apparently lost control and rolled backwards into the ditch, spilling his load. What a mess. Diesel was pouring from the truck, being captured only by a 5 gallon bucket being emptied every now and then. Everyone seemed ok, but it was going to be a slow process and wow, where did all the traffic come from on this little two lane road?
We finally passed the wreck and got back up to decent speeds again for a half hour or so. Then traffic began to slow again, as we were climbing and winding our way through the hills.Bernard was right in my rear view mirror as I slowed down quickly due to rounding a curve and finding a girl flagging traffic down for construction. Heavy equipment was clearing the road, and working on the shoulder. I hugged the inside rock wall of the large mountain that loomed next to us, to keep a safe distance from the workers. We have had the windows down on the entire trip to reacclimate ourselves to the heat. Going from 60 degrees when we left to degrees now, it is taking some time. The rear window on the passenger side was down, when Angela and I heard at the same time, a heavy rustling sound! We both immediately knew something was coming down the mountain at us. I saw out of the corner of my eye, dust, gravel and debris falling. All of a sudden, A loud thunk, and then impact enough to shake the Rover. I quickly mashed the gas and swerved to the left. i looked in the mirror, Bernard also had swerved to the left. The road was uneven and rough. Paranoid. I felt like the rear wheel was wobbling and bent, so we pulled off to the side to inspect. I asked Bernard where it had hit. He said the boulder fell and hit the rock slider on the lower frame rail. We looked everything over. It seemed fine. We were just a little shook up, hearts still pounding, thinking of the possibilities. I installed the rock sliders before we left for this trip. They were intended to protect the body and frame from crawling over rocks. I never dreamed it would protect us from rocks falling from the sky! Angela said, " I will never give you a hard time about installing rock sliders again". Fortunately Bernard was able to avoid getting hit. Wow, what else can we expect to encounter on this trip?? The rest of the trip to Villahermosa was uneventful. We finally arrived a little later than planned, but got a hotel for a much needed down time, as I was fighting a headache, and Tammy was not feeling well. Unfortunately, there were not many pictures taken as we were busy fighting to survive! Headed to Gringo Dave's campground in Chetumal next. We are almost out of Mexico ready to cross the border into Belize!