Esperando el fin del mundo: The road to here.

Oakland, CA
We leave. Finally. We fixed the van. Buy some shit. Drank some stuff. Drank too much at the Command Center. High winds on the Grapevine!

Los Angeles, CA
Not as much traffic as we thought there’d be. Ate burritos and drank Tecate to prepare for Mexico . Next morning, friend of the guy we stayed with told us a story. Mexican guy was in prison and got into fight. He got stabbed. Stabbed to death. Apparently, his last words were, “You made me miss 2012.” Weird.

Drove through sandstorm in AZ and NM. More crazy, gusty winds. I have a feeling it’s going to be a theme on this trip. Mazda is holding up.

Austin, TX
Met up with some old friends. Ate some barbecue—likely the last of the proper American food on this trip for a long while. We spent a lot of time securing the car. Used Liquid Nails to glue the license plate to the car because we were told the Federales like to take them for ransom. Also, we have a huge box on top of the car that is now held in place with 6 padlocks. We feel safer.

Went to a softball game in a park, heckled some folks, drank some Lone Star. Good times.

Laredo, TX
We decided to stay the night on the US side of the border. Used proper internet service. Had a good, American shower, watched Curb Your Enthusiasm on the laptop. Drank California wine. Definitely saw the best hotel ever. Super old, giant rooms, only spoke Spanish. Only problem was no wi-fi so we had to Super 8 it.

Nuevo Laredo, MEX
Crossed the border. No problems at all in dealing with either the American or Mexican Imigration Officials. Immediately chased by Mexicans who wanted to help us with our immigration papers. Got through the red tape all on our own. We felt strong. A fading feeling.

Unkown City, MEX
Drove for miles through the desert. Though we were driving on the “toll” road, on what we supposed was the major Mexican highway system, there were sections where we were waved through detours that involved driving through piles of dirt and rubble. It’s clear we’re in a foreign country now.

Ate 7 tacos. At the hotel, we watched the only TV available—a scrambled cable broadcast of “Kill Bill Pt. 1”. Also, more Tecate.

Next morning, we installed a power inverter in the van while the locals slaughtered a pig and changed a tire on a truck. By locals, we mean 13-year old kids.

Leaving here, we passed at least 5 miles of desert that were populated by Indians selling snake skins on the side of the road. We plan on buying some on the way back.

Mexico City (D.F.), MEX
Met up with friends. Stayed at a beautiful hotel in a cool part of town. It’s a huge city and we definitely got the impression that we’d never see it all in the short time we had there. But we had some good times there. Went to a party on the rooftop of a fancy hotel sponsored by Bacardi. It was a Halloween party. We went as ZZ Top. (see pics) We definitely got that “Who are these guys and how did they get in?” look we are all too familiar with. Later, we crammed 9 people into a Toyota taxi cab and went to a house party. Much better there. Made more friends.

Also, there was great TV in the hotel. Hardcore pornography and our new favorite channel, “De Pelicula”—all Mexican movies, all the time.

Ate 15 more Tacos Al Pastor.

Did some test shooting with the camera, finally. It seems to work.

Our friends, Max and Paula will hopefully be joining us in Guatemala soon.

Oaxaca, MEX
The road to Oaxaca was the first of many truly heroic drives. We are learning more Spanish now. Apparently, “No Pase, Curva Peligrosa” means “Drive as Fast as Possible around huge buses on blind turns.”

Beautiful city. First night we arrived was 11/2—a date significant to the Day of the Dead celebrations. At the foot of one of the many historic churches there, we walked in on the end of some kind of show that involved fireworks and dancing zombies. Cool stuff. Next day, we found some great music at a local store. They sold exclusively unlabeled DVD-Rs with photocopied cases. Cherengue rules!

Being that it is Mezcal country, we felt obligated to drink the local booze. Tried the expensive stuff. Still cheap for us Americanos. But the next day, I went to a Mezcal shop and asked for something that was made “aqui”. Guy pulled a plastic jug out from behind the counter. It was covered in grease and had the word “Especial” written in magic marker; he said it was his own “producto”. He poured it into a used, half liter water bottle. It was delicious.

I got a haircut and proper shave from an old-fashioned barber. One of the best I’ve had.

Dan says the lady at the hotel was a prostitute. I believe him.

Lots of VW beetles here in Mexico. Guy at the hotel was really into his. Must have been every five minutes he was coming out to check on it. It did make us feel better about leaving our own car outside.

Bought some locally made chocolate at the market. A couple days later, when we’d get searched by the Federales, one officer would find it and agree that it is delicious.

First night we arrived we couldn’t find a bar. The next morning while walking to find breakfast we found multiple bars open and full of patrons. It was clear that drinkers get started early and end early.

While Dan was driving, he exclaimed “that car is driving sideways!” He later explained that there was a car in oncoming traffic that must have had the rear axle broken, so they set the wheels in a forward direction, and had to steer the front of the vehicle sideways, so that the body of the car was actually travelling at least 15 or 20 degrees off of center.

Driving out of town the roads are getting crazier. The turns are getting sharper, the roads narrower, the drivers more fearless.

Mexcal farms everywhere. And factories too. In Mexico, a Mezcal factory is generally 3 piles of bricks and a piece of tin overhead. We have to come back and taste more of this stuff.

Puerto Paloma, MEX
One thing we forgot to mention is that not driving at night in Mexico is highly recommended by anyone who has ever done so, drawn a map, or written a book on the subject. We learned this lesson a few times on our own. This time we decided that any beach town was a good town and drove down a 5 mile road (no pavement with lots of pot holes and dogs) to nowhere. This wasn’t supposed to happen after dark but since we were thoroughly searched by the Federales twice we had no choice. This town was too real. We had to turn around and drive back tormented by ideas that every car we passed was going to stop and kill us. We no longer qualify for a No Fear bumper sticker.

Puerto Arista, MEX
Getting here was a hell of a trip.

Swam in the Pacific Ocean this morning. Beautiful.

Dan finally figured out what that banging sound in the back of the van was. Only took ten days. You figure it out.