I wanted to drive to Mexico and had reservations at a resort in Puerto Vallarta. It was a three day drive from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Puerto Vallarta. I had done some research and discovered it was something that was not recommended by the "experts" so in keeping with the Homeboy tradition, I decided to do it.

Monday, I left Oklahoma City at 10 AM on the drive to Laredo. I arrived at Laredo about 9 PM. I stayed at the Delores Motel. I visited with the brother of the owner and he was retired from Southwestern Bell the telephone company. The hotel was owned by his brother who was a former professional baseball player in Guadalajara until the Vietnam Conflict when he was called up. The motel was nice and comfortable.

The car ignition was skipping a beat on the way down to Laredo so I thought it should be checked before jumping off into Mexico. I was directed to the Houston Electronics shop that is experienced in trouble shooting electronic fuel injection. I had a bad spark plug wire even though the analyzer said that it could be the module. For about $100 it was fixed...I was ready for Mexico now!

The Houston Electronics shop that fixed my car in Laredo and the owner

From Laredo, after you cross Bridge Number 2 you are in Nuevo Laredo and you make a left turn and follow the signs that direct you along a circuitous route. You wind up at the customs and border patrol building.

I bought Mexican auto insurance the night before in Laredo at the Johnson Insurance Agency located at the Enron filling station. It cost about $150 dollars for 16 days which I estimated it would take me to leave Mexico. The price was more than is available on the Internet but I thought it would be cheaper in a border town. I was wrong. I also exchanged about $200 into Pesos.

For persons driving from the states to the interior of Mexico you will need to obtain two things. One thing is the tourist visa. You are directed to a stern looking Mexican Immigration type officer who after inspecting your passport, gives you a form to fill out. You need to have your own pen and take time reading and rereading the instructions on the back of the form. After filling out the form you go back to the officer who tells you to take it to the "banko". There is a window with the name of a bank and they enter $195 on it. I protested but to no avail and didn't have the form validated but went back to the officer who had given it to me. He didn't understand my protest but a fellow traveler behind me in line said it meant 195 Pesos, they just use the dollar sign. I went back to the "banko" relieved and after the tag license and tax gave them about 205 Pesos and this took care of my Tourist Visa for up to 180 days. They stamped the application and directed me back to the officer who told me to go to Window 3.

Mexico doesn't want visitors taking advantage of the "Mexican Market" to sell their cars while as tourists. Another Bank handles the registration. You present your title or pink slip along with documentation from your loan company saying it is OK to take the car into Mexico. All of this information including your drivers license is photocopied for a fee in Pesos which is a reasonable amount. With my photocopy and my original documents in hand I was directed to window 5.

There were about 50 people in line ahead of me to register they cars into Mexico and there were only 3 or 4 tellers. It was about 11 AM in the morning. It took about an hour and a half to go from the end to the head of the line and get the decal to place on the drivers side of the windshield.They require a credit card or check card and they debit a bond from your account. I think in my case since my car was a 1994 model they debited $234 dollars from my account. Upon leaving Mexico, they return the bond but you have to ask for it.

Upon leaving the Naturalization and Customs area you return to a boulevard you crossed in arriving. This boulevard takes you around Nuevo Laredo and ends at the highway to Monterrey. The highway is similar in urban areas with dirt roads running parallel to the hard surfaced highway. If it has rained it is full of pot holes of dirty water. You will pass modern factories of brands you recognize. A few miles out of town you come to a check point with signs telling you to stop and wait your turn. Well I stopped short of the speed bumps and waited. There was no one visible and a car behind me honked and motioned for me to go on and I did. On the other side of the 4 lane divided highway there was a line of diesels a mile long waiting for inspection. I was glad I was going rather than coming.

It started to rain and a few miles further I encountered water over the roadway where a creek had jumped the highway. I drove slowly through the 8 inch or so deep water for about a quarter mile until the roadway started uphill. Before I got to Monterrey I encountered a cuota (toll road). I had been advised to use them rather than the libre or free highways. The cuota are toll roads with less traffic and higher speed limits of 100 to 110 kilometers and hour. I think I paid toll twice on this road of about 66 and 83 pesos each time.

At Monterrey the cuota meets up with the regular highway and again you are given the choice of the cuota that will take you around Monterrey or the two hour drive through. Again I took the advice of my waitress at Pancho's Mexican Buffet in Oklahoma City.

West of Monterrey where the cuota loop meets the road to Saltillo, I was waved over to be inspected by the Mexican Police. He asked for something in Spanish but not being a speaker I pointed to the badge on the windshield and said tourist. He asked for my visa which I retrieved from the glove box. He asked if I owned the car and I said yes and he waved me on. Monterrey is in the mountains and it reminds me of driving around Albuquerque New Mexico. Don't worry about not speaking or understanding Spanish. You will do fine!

Along the divided highways there are ample opportunities to turn around if you are not sure and the signs say "Retorno Monterrey" etc... Warning signs may have the keywords "velocity" which means slow down. If you are behind a slow moving vehicle on a two lane road watch for the vehicles turn signal. They will turn it on when it is safe to pass. Like in America, a solid yellow line in your lane means no passing.

I had hoped to travel from Laredo to Zacatecas Mexico and spend the night there but that proved wishful thinking since I was delayed by car repairs in Laredo and the customs delay in Nuevo Laredo. Saltillo was a welcome sight and I arrived about 4 in the afternoon. I found a motel called the El Paso Motel.

The El Paso Motel is managed by an old line aristocratic family whose ancestor who was Mexico's third President. Like early Presidents he was assassinated and the family had to flee to the United States. Two brothers manage the Motel with one running the restaurant. When I checked in I noticed a restaurant and smelled the nice aromas of the food drifting into the office. I returned in a few hours for dinner and met one of the brothers and his wife. I told them of the nice aromas of the food and had a Corona while we chatted about their history. The waiter brought some chips and some salsa which I enjoyed while we talked. Saltillo has a new General Motors plant and a new Holiday Inn and cable TV.

During the course of the conversation I told the owner I enjoyed the aroma of the food and wished to have the same meal. I was told it was fish and vegetables on rice with a cream of cauliflower soup and dessert. I was famished not having eaten since the night before in Laredo. The waiter was very attentive and the presentation of the food was timely and as soon as one dish was finished, that plate was removed and another arrived. The soup was heavenly puréed with the distinct flavor of cauliflower in a cream base. It was seasoned perfectly. The main course was a plate of filleted fish covered in sliced carrots and olives in a tomato sauce, on a bed of rice. It was seasoned perfectly also. The bread was a small loaf of freshly baked white bread and margarine. The dessert was a homemade piece of lemon pie that was similar to lemon cheesecake on a pie crust. The pie was made from three kinds of milk and had no cheese. Fresh milk, evaporated milk and sweetened condense milk with lemon juice flavoring made the filling. It was delicious.

I turned in early after watching the weather in Spanish but noted that a hurricane was bearing down on Puerto Vallarta my destination. The motel has 20 rooms and only 2 rooms were rented that night. The furnishings were new and it was spotless.

I awoke at 3 am and started the next leg of my journey finding a gas station open next to the place I was supposed to turn to pick up the highway south. I had a cappuccino and was off. The major streets have the signs giving the place the road goes to but I took a wrong turn and found myself following a local bus down a winding road that was headed west to Durango when I wanted to go south. In some smaller communities the traffic is divided to separate one way streets and encountered one at 4 AM. Well it was a barrio and I had to find the other half of the highway to go back to Saltillo. Once I had backtracked to Saltillo I began to see the signs for the city south I wanted to take. The nice divided boulevard turned into a narrow two lane road that winds through the mountain range south of Saltillo.

Mexican commerce uses the highways to move goods and they like to travel at night. I safely passed several trucks but encountered a truck that was moving slowly and we were approaching fog. I stayed on his back bumper as we wound around the mountain road until he slowed to about 20 MPH because the fog was so very thick. At the top of the pass we encountered some cones in the roadway and the truck I had been following pulled off and I pulled around him. The roadway was OK but the shoulder was rough as you hopped from one pothole to another. Eventually, the cones led me back up to the roadway and was back up to speed as the fog lifted and I came down out of the mountains.

Continuing on I could see lights on the valley floor where street lights were on in the communities I was approaching. I have traveled Australia extensively and in the bush you see very few houses with electricity unless they own a generator. Mexico seems to have a power grid making power available to most wanting it. Rural communities have bus stops where local folks catch the local buses which take them to the nearest major town to shop and work. At 4 in the morning you begin to see more and more folks at the stops as you pass.

On the highway you will see speed limit signs when you approach a community and you had better slow down because the town policeman is waiting to wave over transgressors. Become acquainted with the small numbers on the inside of your speedometer because the speeds in Mexico are in kilometers as well as the distances.

About 9 AM I arrived at Zacatecas, which I had originally intended to stay my first night in Mexico. The highway wound through the hills and mountains of the city of multicolored houses. I stopped at a Pemex station for petrol before heading on to Aguascaliente.

Aguascaliente is a very cosmopolitan city with malls and a huge Nissan factory. Aguascaliente is known for their fabrics. I continued on south to the cuota to Guadalajara. The highway from Saltillo to Zacatecas is highway 54 but you take highway 45 which also includes the name Mexico in addition to Aguascaliente. Another highway number 70 also must take this same route because one sign will say highway 54 and another will say highway 70. Leaving Aguascaliente you have no clue that this is the road that will take you to the cuota that takes you west to Guadalajara. Highway 45 has a stop sign and you have to cross a major intersecting highway that is difficult to cross so that you can enter the cuota ramp. Be careful at that intersection. I stopped for petrol before the intersection to the cuota.

I arrived in Guadalajara about 4 PM in the afternoon and followed the traffic bumper to bumper through the city using the road signs as my guide. If you are traveling to Puerto Vallarta you follow the Tepic signs. At one intersection I failed to turn so had to go down and turn around and come back and have another go at it. At the intersection I failed to turn at, I was waiting in the left turn land and I saw a little girl of 8 or 9 licking a piece of an orange or some candy. She came to each car and begged. Rejection was used to her. As she turned to go back to her place on the center median I noticed the dirt on her little dress and tears came to my eyes. As a child myself I had heard of the street urchins in Mexico who beg and eat out of the rubbish bins but this was my first encounter and my heart was broken.

Continuing on toward Tepic on the cuota you have to cross a mountain range and close to Tepic you see the sign Puerto Vallarta to right. This connects you to highway 200 which continues across the range up and down mountains many times completely covered with canopy from the trees. You encounter several villages along the way. Take it easy and keep you vehicle under control. The road connects north of the city about 30 kilometers and turns into a 4 lane boulevard. You pass through Bucerias, Nuevo Vallarta and then Puerto Vallarta following the coastline of Banderas Bay.

My reservations at the Meza Del Mar weren't until the next day so I had to find a room for the night. It was about 8 PM when I arrived so I drove to the south edge of Puerto Vallarta and back until I found a Motel that happened to be full and was directed to one back up the highway to Bucerias. On the way a cow crossed the boulevard and I barely missed it. Shaken by this I saw some flashing lights ahead and saw a black cow that had been hit by a SUV and the police were there. Continuing on I found the Cactus Inn Hotel which had motel style parking. I got a room on the third floor that was brand new for 280 Pesos about $28 US. I slept very well and the new room air conditioner worked great. I hadn't eaten since the previous night but didn't seem to be hungry.

Early Morning in the Cactus Inn Hotel Parking

The next morning about sunrise I continued back to Puerto Vallarta. Puerto Vallarta is in the same state as Guadalajara which is called Jalisco. Bucerias where I spent the night is in Nyarit an adjoining state. At the border there are the diversion cones and conditional inspection if you are waved over but if not you continue on your merry way.

My hotel was the Meza del Mar. It is to the south of the Cuale River and an almost impossible place to find the first time. I got checked in about 2 PM and was assigned a suite overlooking the beach about 50 meters away. I could see the folks enjoying the sunning and pina coladas on the hotel beach house verandah.

Typical Standard Suite at the Mesa Del Mar

Upon arriving in Puerto Vallarta I had registered with a local ISP, Pvnet.com. The cost was 173 Pesos for the 10 day stay. The first evening I was able to connect but not go anywhere. After an early to bed in the evening everything was fine in the morning. I slept with my patio door open and could hear the surf getting louder as the early morning came. Even my friends in Australia, commented how loud it sounded on my microphone when I spoke. During the evening the hotel slid a note under every guests door notifying us that the weather channel said that Hurricane Kenna would be 220 miles off shore from Puerto Vallarta from 8 to 11 AM Friday, the next day, and to keep our drapes closed and not to go to the beach or any boating activities.

The hotel was all inclusive so all of the eats and drinks were included in the rate. Breakfast and dinner are served beside the pool, on the roof of the beach front building. Lunch and snacks are served at the beach.

Since the restaurant is on the rooftop we could see the whitecaps on Banderas Bay coming a little closer to the seawall each new wave until the violent waves started jumping the seawall. My car was parked next to the hotel opposite the beach under my balcony.

Hurricane Kenna 2002 Surf Scenes

When the waves started jumping the seawall the street I was parked on became awash. I rushed down to move the car and walked on the curb because there was 10 to 12 inches of water in the street. I entered the passenger side from the curb. The car started OK but in the rush I didn't get it in gear the first time. About that time a huge wave jumped the seawall and crashed on the drivers side of the car, with the shear force of forcing the car into the curb. I felt the car start to float but evidently the front was heavy enough so I was able to get traction and pull forward about 50 meters where an incline up into the underneath side of the hotel was. After I got out of the water on the incline I got out and looked around and my comrades at the restaurant railing told me not to stop but go to the top of the hill. Hotel personnel were watching since this was a private road up to the housekeeping and refrigeration equipment for the hotel. They let me pull inside.

When I returned to my room I walked out to my balcony and visited with some of the others who were on their balconies also and they said just as I moved the car a cast iron bench got caught by a wave and slammed into the door I went through to rescue the car. I looked down and the door frame and all were knocked out of the opening and the bench was resting where my car was parked. Our electricity went off and the hotel generator just supplied emergency lighting and elevator service.

My neighbor I was visiting with when we got the evacuation order.

The hotel called for an evacuation of the beach front building I was in and asked for us to report to the desk. I didn't rush and went back up to the restaurant railing to observe the chaos. We were getting very little rain and the wind was just moderate, nothing like you would expect in a hurricane. After about an hour the hotel sent a search party asking all the spectators what their room numbers were and presenting those who were in the beach front building a note requesting our presence at the front desk. I was assigned a suite on the same floor as the restaurant and the hotel staff did all the moving. My new room had a huge bedroom, huge living room, dining and kitchen and seating for thousands. I was flabbergasted.

The reason for the move was that it wasn't thought that power could be restored in the beach front building for several days where as the high rise should be restored in a few hours. After all of this excitement I felt my pillow calling even though was hot and humid without air conditioning. When the power was restored the ISP Pvnet did not answer.

The parts of Puerto Vallarta hit hardest by the storm surge was the Old Town and the area around the Sheraton Buganvilias. The next morning, Saturday the skies cleared and things were beginning to dry out. The street next to the beach where I was parked before was full of debris and what was once cobblestone was not sand. I wanted to move my car from underneath the hotel to the street the main entrance is on but I would have to remove enough debris to clear a path. When I finished clearing a path about 100 meters long to the closest street corner I saw a couple of guys boarding up an Internet cafe. I asked them how bad it hit them and they said there business was a total loss but they had been downtown when it hit and a flash flood submerged their SUVs and totaled them.

I didn't know how well my front wheel drive car would do in the soft sand that covered the street but did quite well until I got to the corner to turn. Someone said a person had gotten stuck there. I was person number two but I saw a guy I met from San Francisco called Frank and I looked around and there where 5 guys pushing me until the sand turned back into cobblestone. I found parking on the street right by the main entrance.

Later in the morning I ventured back over to the ISP taking back roads and the tunnels across town since the water was still deep in Old Town. I found the ISP crew with buckets and squeegees trying to mop up the mud and moving their soaked furniture and computers out to the street. I pitched in to help. Water was about 4 foot deep inside the office and the only equipment salvageable was the rack mounted equipment above the water line. The power supplies for the telephone lines was fried also since it had been under the saltwater and mud.

I worked with them until about 2 PM about the time my pillow started calling me so I called it a day.

The next day,Sunday, the ISP still didn't have their dial-up equipment on line so I went back and found them still cleaning and the owner was just beginning to rewire the rack mounts and the telephone company had delivered some temporary batteries to power the phone lines. I cleaned the windows and made them shine.

Thank Goodness that the rack mounted equipment was above the waterline on the wall!

After leaving Pvnet on Sunday I wanted to walk through the same malls I had visited Thursday since the hotel travel agent said he lived in a unit above the mall and the mall was devastated.

On Thursday I walked through several of the malls of shops near the ISP killing time and I had met a nice lady who had a restaurant in the hallway of the Genovese. I told her that I had heard a hurricane was coming but like many in Puerto Vallarta they didn't believe it would hit since so many had turned away. I was looking for the ISP then and she looked it up in the telephone directory and gave me a cup of wonderful coffee.

Her hopes and dreams for a successful restaurant....are on hold until...they can find some money.

A part of Puerto Vallarta heavily damaged was the area north of the Sheridan hotel, and behind and including the Genovese shopping area. The makeshift sea wall was breached and the force of the surge raced inland for 1/2 mile as evidenced by the final resting place of the jetskis.

The full force of the Mexican government, federal, state and local took part in the cleanup. Puerto Vallarta is just a destination that is tourist driven. Hurricane Kenna was just a hiccup in the life of a great destination.

When the storm surge breached the seawall it was instant flooding.

Federal Police inspecting the damaged seawall and truck caught in the wash.

At 4 AM Monday morning Pvnet dial-ups came alive once again.

A Walking Tour of the Malecon

Puerto Vallarta isn't a sleepy beach resort town anymore. It is a thriving city of commerce devoted to tourism. The cast of workers comprise of hundreds of thousands of honest, hardworking citizens. If you want a parking place you have to come early and park on the back streets.

I took the walking tour of the Malecom or the beachfront of Old Town. Traffic from the north generally routes by the front of the Malecom before crossing over the Cuale River. Since the storm surge of Hurricane Kenna came over the sea wall at the Malecom, an important traffic artery has been temporarily closed until the Army finishes cleaning up the debris. Today, the international media was present.

The Rosita Hotel was hit hard as well as the other properties within a couple blocks north of the Malecon but miraculously, the McDonalds is open for business. Cars still litter Mexico Avenue.

What effect has the storm had on Puerto Vallarta? Not very much in the long term. This storm brought out the best in the Mexican community when the Police, Army, Navy federal, state and city governments mobilized to cleanup. Hurricanes are not the norm here. Within a matter of days the cobblestone streets were cleared and all the favorite sights are still here.

Puerto Vallarta has Internet cafes all over and if you want to bring a laptop, Pvnet is available so you can keep up with your friends around the world online from your hotel room.

Want to do a cruise to Los Arcos or take a cruise on a sailing ship, or perhaps a safari on ATVs?

I've heard that Puerto Vallarta has a nightlife in the La Roja district. My next report will investigate that rumor.