The Desert Expedition 2007
Sunday - headed home
The last thing Scott said to us on Saturday night was that he wanted to
leave for Texas at 9 a.m. I inwardly groaned because that meant we had to
get up at about 7:30 a.m. because we still had to fix Bill’s flat tire, plus
pack everything up, and eat. The previous two days and, more
importantly, two evenings were starting to take their toll on me. Six
hours of sleep wasn't going to be enough for me and I knew that I was going
to be wiped out by the time I got home on Sunday evening.
I woke up a little after 8 a.m. Sunday morning and dragged my sorry butt out
of bed. Uncle had made it home safely from the night before and was hidden
beneath his covers. I wandered outside to find Bill already working on his
bike so I pitched in to help.
Sunday morning bike repairs - photo by Bill
A little after 9 a.m. the bike was done. Everyone except Scott was up and
packing their bikes by this time. I wandered down to his room and
hollered through the open window.
“Scott, it’s after 9.”
Scott, whose sleep I had just disturbed, hollers back, “I meant 9 a.m.
Mexico time” (This part of Mexico is an hour behind Texas time.)
I could have slept an extra hour...
With some time to spare several of us wandered off in search of breakfast.
Yesterday everybody in town was up and about by this time of the day.
Today, it was a ghost town and everything was closed down. We stumbled
upon the only restaurant that we could find open and had a quick breakfast.
About the time we were finished packing up Paulino stopped by to say
farewell. We exchanged goodbyes and then, after a couple of false
starts, everyone was ready to roll, so off we went. I had originally
thought we could do some unpaved road exploration to get back to Texas.
But considering our tired condition, uncertainty that Bill’s tube would
hold, the lateness of the time, and the light rain that was falling, we
decided to take the direct, paved route to Eagle Pass. 100 miles later
we pulled into Pedras Negras to check out of the country. After
completing our paperwork, we crossed into Texas at Eagle Pass. Our
finally group event was lunch at Pizza Hut as we watched the skies open up
and soak the area with rain.
Federales checkpoint outside of Pedras Negras
Converting Pesos to Dollars
It had been a heck of an expedition. It started with rain in Del Rio and
ended with rain in Eagle Pass. We rode some great roads, learned some
important lessons, overcame a difficult situation, made some new friends,
and enjoyed some strange times. Can't wait till next time.
