The Desert Expedition 2007
Friday Night
My Bicimaps didn’t provide any better info about the streets of Muzquiz than
it did about Acuna. It was about 10 p.m. and we were flying blind
again, looking for a motel and someplace to eat. I kept asking people
on the street about a motel but my Spanish just wasn’t good enough for me to
make sense of their lengthy answers and arm waving. As I was asking
the 5th person where a hotel might be a young man with 2 buddies pulled up
in a pickup and asked me in English what we were looking for. What
luck! His name was Paul and he was an answer to the single prayer of 6 very
tired loco motos. I explained the situation and he offered to guide us
to a motel that he knew. A short ride later we were in the courtyard
of said hotel, but they had no vacancies. Off we went, completely lost
as Paul drove this way and that through town. Finally we arrived at
the Hotel Rodriquez. With Paul’s translation assistance we finally were able
to negotiate 4 rooms for 2 nights.
Scott & Paul - photo courtesy of Scott
Arriving at the Hotel Rodriquez - photo by Scott
“What are you guys gonna do now?” Paul asked.
“Get some beer and find something to eat” we replied. We hadn’t had a
real meal since 8 a.m., more than 14 hours ago.
“I know where we can get beer and I know a good place to eat. Want to
follow me on your bikes? Or you can all pile into the truck and I’ll
take you there. Whatever you want to do.”
None of us really wanted to get back on the bikes. Especially not at
11 a.m. at night in a strange town. Should we take Paul up on his
offer? Was he just being a really good Samaritan or should we listen
to the natural suspicions that accompany the feelings of vulnerability from
being in a strange place amongst people we didn’t know? After a brief
huddle we decided risk a ride in the truck with Paul and his 2 buddies.
We piled in and off we went to the beer store. After securing
sufficient Nectar- of-the-Gods to refresh ourselves, Paul drove us to a
small food stand on the main town plaza. At 11:30 p.m. we finally
enjoyed our 2nd meal of the day. Hamburgers & fries never tasted so good.
Food! - photo by Scott
Dusty & tired, but now we've got food and drink - photo courtesy of
Scott
Later Paul hauled us back to the motel and, after expressing our heartfelt
thanks, we bid him goodnight. He refused any payment for his services
so we insisted he join us the next evening at 6 p.m. so we could buy him
dinner. He agreed and off he and his 2 buddies went.
Paul was a good guy and certainly made Friday evening much better for us
than it would have been without him. But...there were a few things
that caught our attention as the night progressed. He seemed to
consume quite a lot of beer. And he was driving. Hmmm, is
drinking and driving illegal in Mexico? He never appeared or acted
intoxicated and his driving was fine. Should we have been more
worried? And, we were all starting to wonder about his 2 buddies…they
didn’t really seem to be buddies. They seemed more like personal
assistants or bodyguards. There were also some other things about the
whole situation that just weren’t adding up. Things that were just
kind of nagging at us but we couldn’t quite put our fingers on what it
was…Oh well, it was too late to worry about it tonight so off to bed we
went. Today had been an epic day, but tomorrow we had to ride.
Saturday -
disaster strikes
