Tuxpan

When I got to Tuxpan de Rodriguez Cano, I saw a street sign for “La Playa” which I followed. It led to a good divided road that followed the north coast of the bay and ended at a beach on the Gulf of Mexico. It was Sunday and many Mexicans were enjoying their beach. They parked their cars on the beach near palapas that the beach restaurants had provided. So I did the same and drove the rig on the beach.

Since my cell phone indicated “Roaming” that meant that I couldn’t connect to the internet using it. I decided to set up my dish on the beach. This was only my second time setting up the dish. I had some problems mainly with the OPI meter (Outdoor Pointing Interface). It kept showing “8L8” instead of the strength of the satellite signal. In my papers provided by Dusty Foot, I found an errata that indicated this was a problem in programming the satellite modem that can sometimes be fixed by rebooting the modem and the computer, which I did. After getting an 85 strength signal, I tried get the modem recognized by the Hughes Network. I made the mistake of not removing the OPI before trying this. The result was too many tries to transmit and was locked out so no internet connection.

Some of the locals were curious about the rig and satellite dish and came over to talk. A couple wanted to see the inside of the rig and afterwards gave me a beer, a “Modelo”. The beach venders were selling beach toys, drinks, coconuts and food. I bought 4 ham and cheese croissants for twenty pesos so dinner was only about $2.

When I drove to the beach, I saw a spot by the bay that might be a good place to park for the night so I went back there. I backed the rig right up to the bay and had a great view. I washed the back of the rig which had accumulated dirt from the muddy roads we had traveled. With clean windows, the view was great. I stayed the night with no problems. This is almost a perfect situation. I can park for free with a great view in the evenings and then drive ½ mile and park on the beach for free and set up the satellite dish. Plus I can practice my Spanish with the beach vendors and locals on the beach.

As I write this I am back parked on the beach waiting for the tide to recede some so I can move closer and set up the dish.

Finally, I got the dish set up correctly and I am now on line. I hope this process will sink in and I will be able to set up the dish in the future quickly with fewer problems.I plan to go back to the same spot I stayed last night and come back to the beach tomorrow to work on my tan and my Spanish. Of course, it is also great to take a dip in the gulf. I may just stay here for awhile. Maybe I will meet somebody who can direct me to someone who can build a new hinge for the refrigerator door. This town is large enough that there must be a bank with an ATM so I can get some more pesos. Also I would like to find a paper map of Mexico to buy.

Here's hoping I'll see you On the Road with Gary.