Driving through Mexico day 2, San Luis Potosi to Coatzalcoalcos

We knew we would have a long trip today, as it was supposed to take more than 9 hours to get to our destination for the night.  So, we got up earlier than usual and hit the road by 7:30 AM.  In my research ahead of time, I had found a hotel called Hotel Terranova, in the riverside town of Coatzacoalcos, which is a little further than the recommended stop in Minatitlan.  But by looking at Google Earth, I had discovered that there was no way we could stay at the one hotel in Minatitlan, because it required driving through an archway into the interior parking lot, something I was sure would not be fun with the trailer.  So I had made a reservation last night for a room tonight at the Terranova.  Looking again at this hotel on Google Earth I could see that it was kind of a country club set up, with a lot of green space along the river, tennis courts, a large palapa party area, and a free form swimming pool.  And a lot of parking area!

 
The terrain changed quite a bit during this day's drive.  As we were going up in elevation, there was more greenery.  Ahead, we saw a snow capped mountain, something we did not expect to see in Mexico.  The picture below is the mountain, but the clouds are obscuring the snow.

 As we kept driving, we headed up these mountains, near the town of Orizaba.  We almost thought we were in Washington state, as there were pine trees and lots of fog along this section.  Most of this road was under construction to repair landslides that occurred during the last hurricane that passed through Veracruz...I'm guessing as it headed west these mountain areas received a lot of rain.

 We made it over the mountains alright, but on the way down we suddenly heard a large "boom" noise, and Lowell could tell we had just lost one of our tires.  Luckily he was near an area where we could safely pull to the side (much of the road through the mountains had NOWHERE to pull over).  Getting out of the car we saw that the right rear tire was completely blown and flat as a sheet of paper!  It was 2:30 in the afternoon, with plenty of daylight left.  We got out the manual and figured out how to release the spare which is stored underneath the car, and with some difficulty Lowell got it free.  Then, reading the manual again, found out where to use the jack, jacked up the car, took off the blown tire and put on the new one.  Neither of us has had to change a tire for a LONG time, but luckily Lowell is a jack of all trades and managed fine.  In an hour we were back on the road.  We are lucky the Escalade comes with a full size fully inflated spare, not one of those little hard tires used for spares in smaller cars.  We had just purchased 4 new tires a month before leaving on this trip at Discount Tire, and Lowell had agreed to the extra insurance for them, so this will pay off!  We had also purchased a new spare tire for the trailer, which is what we expected might have a flat, but the trailer tires held up just fine.  We may have had too much pressure in the rear tires, and the extra weight of the trailer, plus the elevation changes going over the mountain all combined to make this tire blow out.

So, on we go toward the Terranova.  There are 3 different exits toward Coatzacoalcos around Minatitlan, and by the time we get there it's already getting dark.  We miss the first exit and try to take the second one, but it doesn't seem like we are going the right way.  We stop at a Pemex to try to get help, but no one there speaks English.  We are both getting crabby by now, and keep driving.  Somehow we get to the third way into Coatzacoalcos, and I recognize the river, and that we will be heading in the opposite direction to get to the hotel.  I had studied it so much on Google Earth that I knew what landmarks I would see, had we taken the first exit.  I knew I'd see the same landmarks in reverse....sure enough we did, and made it into the hotel parking area, several hours later than our expected arrival time, but we had a reservation!  We get checked into our room with no problems, and go to the hotel's restaurant for a nice dinner.  Some people at the hotel speak a tiny bit of English, and with our tiny bit of Spanish everything works out.

The next morning we can see the property in daylight.  Lowell and I took a stroll around to see the river, the pool, the huge palapa, etc.  We wouldn't mind staying here again, for more than one night in order to use the pool.

 

This was a day that shows that extra planning can come in handy!

Today we spent 1200 pesos for gas ($97) and 1351pesos for tolls ($109).  The hotel Terranova was about $70, plus another $30 for the dinner and tip.