August 16th, 2010 - Posted by Travis
Lost in the Fog

After my linguistic adventure I had a couple of tacos at the hotel then made my way outside to setup my tent. Everyone inside curiously watched me from the door window as I open up the flippac and toss on the rain fly. Rain began to fall turning the moist parking lot into a mud bath. I managed to get my gear from the cab to the tent. Then attempted to fall asleep, which proved to be difficult even for a small remote town. Locals revved their engines on all manner of vehicles from trucks to quads. Loud shouting was all over as well as if there were some nightly ritual starting at midnight. Eventually in the early morning the town settled down and I got a little rest.

Jolting awake from the sound of footsteps walking around the truck, I listen with intense pounding from my heart. Laying still I wait to figure out if the footsteps are a passer by or a potential threat. As loud as the steps were on the damp grass and mud they never seemed to reach their destination. Tromping along to nowhere. This went on for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually, my tired mind wrote the incident off as a hotel tenant working on something in the yard. Back so sleep I went.

An ominous blue glow filled the tent as light penetrated the rain fly. Morning had come and it was time to get up. The tromping was back and still not moving. Changing my clothes and packing everything away I emerge to start a new day lost in Mexico. To my surprise the mysterious footsteps turned out to not be footsteps at all. Standing precariously close was a massive bull tearing grass from the ground and chewing away with that familiar footstep sounding crunch.

August 4th, 2010 - Posted by Travis
A ride with Yosemite Sam

Down the mountain road a couple trucks were stopped blocking my path. I parked and hoped out to see what was going on. Apparently the lead truck had broken, but the owner couldn't get the hood open. A pry bar came out and was used to beat the hood loose. It took quite a while as the truck had been in some sort of front end collision previously. Bailing wire held what was left together. Since my Spanish isn't that great I wasn't able to communicate and didn't want get in front of the guy wailing the pry bar. So I headed back to my truck and sat in the drivers seat to look over my maps. After a while an older guy in the group who looked like Yosemite Sam walked down to me and started talking. I replied, "poquito espanol." Then I asked him for directions in my poor attempt of Spanish and showed him the map. He motioned me to pass the other trucks. I started to pass and he slapped my passenger window a couple times. Stopping abruptly I rolled down the window to see what he wanted. After a couple words looked up in my translation book I figured out he wanted a ride. I agreed and off we went.

The drive was quiet for a while. Then I asked "quantos kilometers a ciudad?" He motioned with his hand five. Then he started, well what sounded like rambling. A few words I did catch were hotel and duerme. I kept my composure, though it was hard not to laugh having Mexico's Yosemite Sam sitting next to me acting out sleeping and repeating "duerme." "No gracias, yo acampar" I replied. Though I don't think either of us knew what the other was saying most of the time. Continuing down the road I was starting to pick up speed whipping around the curves. He began to shout a word over and over again. "Great," I thought, "I've pissed off Sam and he's gonna try and shoot me with his rifle like a no good varmit." I slowed and came to a stop. He motioned to look to the right. Positioned right off the road was a small Military installation. Which I almost blew passed. That would of been very bad.

The old man motioned me to continue forward where we pulled into a small mountain village. In a short bit had me stop and yelled through the window for someone. An old lady came out of a rickety old shack and they began to talk about a hotel. I followed his lead up to a concrete building missing a few chunks here and there. We got out and went inside to the first room, which was the hotel's kitchen. Sam had a few words with the small group of people inside. The cook turned to me and we muddled around with poor translation and what I was doing there. At some point during the flipping around in my Spanish book and trying to figure out how to string a sentence together quickly Sam had disappeared. I was left in an unknown place with some more unknown people. Eventually someone popped their head from around the corner up. "Is that English?" I turned to the guy and started laughing. "Yes," I replied, "Can you help me translate? My Spanish isn't very good." He agreed, though he did say his English isn't good as well. This should be fun.

July 14th, 2010 - Posted by Travis
Mountains in Mexico

July 12th, 2010 - Posted by Travis
Carne Burritos

First official night of camping. Found a nice spot south of Creel before the Copper Canyon turn off.




During my trip today I passed a small burrito stand in Yecora. The lady cooking was very friendly and made me up one carne burrito. It was so good I order three more for the road and tossed them inside my fridge. When I finally settled down at camp I pulled them out....




And proceeded to chow down...

July 11th, 2010 - Posted by Travis
Guaymas to Creel

The next morning I headed for the mountains and Copper Canyon. Along the way I passed tons of logging trucks and small villages where the wood was cut down into boards.




Beautiful small villages dotted the mountain tops seeming to be a place lost in time. Green pastures filled with grazing cows, horses, burros and other animals fueled the towns ambiance of years past.




After heading east most of the day I turned south towards Creel. A very similar mountain town as to what I've encountered, although with staggering scenery. Granite boulders cover the landscape giving the area a stone age appearance.

July 10th, 2010 - Posted by Travis
Crossing the Border

Before I headed across the border I stopped in at Sierra Expeditions new shop to pick up some small QuickFists. I wanted to mount the Maxtrax inside so they wouldn't disappear while walking around towns.




The next day I headed south crossing at Nogales. At kilometer 21 I had to stop and get my temporary vehicle import permit. I spent about 3 hours going between the Immigration office, the bank and my truck. After all was said and done I had my vehicle sticker and immigration papers. Only cost me $35 USD for the vehicle and $20 USD for immigration. Very nice as I was expecting about $250 for everything.

After I was legal to drive in Mexico I headed south on highway 15 to Guaymas. Stopped in town for dinner at a downtown taco shop then headed out to find a camp. Ended up parking right off the highway on a farm.

June 27th, 2010 - Posted by Travis
Racing in Utah

June 23rd, 2010 - Posted by Travis
I'm off to Panama

As much as we may research and plan out the events in our lives, we can never truly escape the randomness of the world. With the slightest gesture of a stranger, our paths can change inevitably to an unknown route. Unnerving as it may feel, the unpredictability of life is what keeps me going. While not completely adjusted to the new mission at hand, simmering on the stove, for what seems to be an eternity, are the essential ingredients. The stew of preparation is ready for the first serving.

Quite ironically two years ago today I began the lengthy process of extending my truck's cab and researching for a round the world trip. Riddled with highs and lows of learning new skills, set backs, building components and rebuilding components. I have emerged, poised on the window of opportunity. Tucked away in the dark, my truck sits ready for departure. With personal effects loaded, I open the final doorway blocking my path to the world. Mixed excitement and nerves run their course with nothing left to do but turn the key, crank up some music and hit the road to Central America.

I'm off!

June 18th, 2010 - Posted by Travis
New Clutch

Yesterday I changed out the clutch along with replacing the pilot and through out bearings. When reinstalling the transmission I got the bright idea to try and do so without lifting with a jack. I actually pulled it off, though was pretty difficult.

June 15th, 2010 - Posted by Travis
Yellow Fever