Day 20 - An eventful one in Mexico

Got up and got going, I was glad my milk and OJ hadn’t soured, so I had some Wheat Chex I had brought for breakfast because nothing was open when we got started. In a about 100 miles we got onto an expressway, and for the rest of the day we were on those good toll roads. The road passed through some lowlands south of Veracruz where I saw some horses and cattle grazing – and standing in water up to their knees. It was disconcerting. We stopped outside Villahermosa to eat and decide if to push late and try to get to Escarcega, the next town with good hotels. I was glad we stopped and ate.

We were back on the road at about 8 PM, and at about 8:30, BAM! The left tire on my trailer blew out. Very fortunately I was on an expressway which has a shoulder, and I was able to pull off so the wheel wasn’t in a travel lane. I was glad that after the trailer axle broke in Mass. I had purchased a reflective triangle and some road flares. David did not see my flashing headlights in his rear view mirror, and was through the toll booth about a kilometer away, and over a rise, before he noticed I wasn’t there. I was glad I had multiple mounted spares for the trailer, and put one on the trailer without being killed by the traffic rushing past. Got going, and met up with David again just past the tollbooth. We were off again.

Half an hour later BANG! The right had side of my truck dropped down and I quickly pulled to the side of the highway while flashing my headlights madly in hopes David would see me. Got out and looked with my flashlight, since by now it was 9:30, and my tire and rim were gone. Wheel had dropped to the pavement, and the brake assembly had been torn away. I thought; “Oh, shit,” . This was a big problem, beyond David’s ability to help. I faced a day or more of dealing with a mechanic I would have to find, struggling to communicate. Was my truck dead? What about the boat? What to do, what to do.
David had seen my signal early, pulled over and walked back to see what the issue was. He recognized right away that the studs in the wheel had sheared off. So the solution was to replace them. Using his 8 ton hydraulic jack and my truck jack we got it jacked up out of the gravel.
Again, I was grateful that in my truck, and accessible, I had wrenches, hammers and punches, and even a can of washers and screws. I even had a big spotlight in the boat to provide good light. We (David) needed them all. He punched out the stud studs, and now had a sample for sizing. By now it was 10;30 or later. He went back to his truck and headed off to see if he could find a mechanic or shop open that had studs.
I then went looking for my rim & tire, and pieces of my brake assembly. The tire had rolled across the highway and was up against the center barrier, with part of it in the passing lane. I retrieved it, grateful once again that it was not in the middle of the road where a truck or car would have swerved to avoid it and crashed in to me or the boat. I noticed I was right at a pedestrian overpass over the highway, and that there was a bus waiting shelter 100 yards behind me. There were a few lights in a village on the other side of the highway, but no signs of life. Best to stay put. I set out the reflective triangle, got in the cab of my truck and waited.
David got back about midnight, no luck. We spent the night sleeping in our trucks. The passenger side of his cab was as full of stuff as mine. This was definitely a step down from the hotel the night before. I was grateful I had brought my pillow, and it was accessible in the back of the truck. The boat was too full of stuff to sleep in. Trucks roared by through the night, one of them so close it destroyed the triangle I had set out on the white line on the edge of the road. Again, got an estimated 4 hours of interrupted sleep. Was glad I was so tired from the night before.