On Day 4 we have decided to be very American! After numerous days dry camping (no electric or sewer & only the water we carried into our tanks), we desperately needed showers, some laundry done, real beds, and a bit of privacy from each other (ahem).
So we checked into a very upscale Holiday Inn in Tampico, TAM. I know. I know. Pretty damn American. But we all felt much better after a shower and spent the night & the next day regrouping.
Truth be told, I lost Jim that day.
Figuratively that is.
He was crispy around the edges after the disappointing and dramatic changes to our plans. Quite frankly, he was ready to go home. I was dismayed as we had just started and I had spent months researching and putting this trip together. I was NOT ready to throw the towel in yet despite our considerable set backs and the reality that what we thought we knew about this part of Mexico we didn’t actual know.
After scouring the maps and our Mexico camping books and websites, we created a new plan. I promised Jim that if it didn’t get better, we would turn back, but I secretly hoped I would not have to honor that promise.
Our plan was to head to Poza Rica andĀ Papantla which are in the state of Veracruz. I was hoping that getting out of Tamaulipas with its scorched economy would help but honestly I wasn’t sure. There was no guarantee that the places we planned to stay at, whether campgrounds, resorts or hotels, would be open for business or in a reasonable state of repair. All we could do is go there and find out first hand.
As for Tampico, this is a large industrial city with much of its economy attached to the oil and gas industry. The hotel was filled with workers from Europe, Australia and America working or consulting on the large oil derricks in the Gulf just off the city’s coastline.
Lots of English speakers so we could take a break from Spanish for a few days. The hotel felt very much like a traditional American hotel so it was actually a perfect place to regroup.