2008 Woodie Awards
Once upon a drive through Mexico: Roadtrip trials and tribulations
Cory Williams
Issue date: 3/18/05 Section: Features
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"You're not going," quipped my roommate Morgan Mueller. "It will never happen." She ended up sitting next to me in the car.
"That's crazy," my dear mother said. "It's not possible to drive to Mexico. You won't make it." A little over 30 cramped hours later, I was at a hotel in Monterrey, Mexico, proving her wrong.
Driving to Mexico was not that difficult. Driving in and around Mexico was an experience to say the least.
It did not take us long (us refers to Kyle Brebner, Morgan, Aaron Saunders, and myself) to learn the two cardinal rules of driving in Mexico: Do not hit anyone and do not get hit by anyone.
At one intersection, five cars pulled up next to each other, taking up both lanes. When the light changed, the cars spread out covering every possible direction.
Once we understood the rules of the road, we had to deal with the car itself.
While driving down a semi-paved road, we saw a hand-painted sign for the beach pointing down a dirt road. We decided to investigate, hoping to find that elusive, picturesque beach you never see in person but always see on postcards.
On the way, the car- a lowered Volkswagen Golf- stalled in the middle of a very deep puddle.
Instead of basking in the sun on a secluded beach paradise, we were stranded on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere.
Fortunately for us, nice people still exist. A few local security guards stopped and offered us help and eventually a tow.
They towed us to Poncho's house. Poncho is a full-time security guard, amateur carpenter, and in his spare time, he collects ancient Aztec artifacts.
This wonderful man let us stay at his house with his wife, mother, and three beautiful children for the better part of two days until we could get the car fixed.
After repairing the car, our confidence soared and we hit the road anew. Our next destination was another beach town, this one closer to the border.
While driving down the highway, we heard a bumping noise from the rear, passenger-side tire. Our spirits were too high to let it really bother us.
Eventually the noise stopped and we attributed it to a stick or something caught under the car. We reasoned the noise had stopped because the foreign object had fallen out.
