made it over!!!

Well gang...tonight is going to be very minimal as i am really, really wiped out. First let me say the crossing was effortless. Because we had the permit already and I was able to hand the guy a list of evrything we had that I had written out the night before, it was a snap. He even walked with me to show me where the bano was. Cool! We happily drove out only to realize we were actually in Matamoros...one of the most dangerous places you can possibly be....ohhh and here we have somwewhere around 15 police and federales cars...something is going on....we move on past.....befor long we are out of the city and into a beautiful countryside..Greta drive. It was supposed to be three hours toTtampico and we had a recommendation for a hotel...cool. Cruisin along...listning to music..oh, discovered the i-pod adapter does not work...oh well...hour 4,.....hour 5.....HOUR 6...7!!! poor john is tired, we are both exhausted. we were so keyed up from the stress the night before we got about 4 hrs of sleep and because we had been driving all day we hadn't eaten since breakfast . It was a desolate though beautiful countryside. there really were no stors or hotels or anything so our only option was to keep going. Finally, we near tampico. Just before that, about 6 Federales came flying up behind us a pulled into a gas station. a few miles later they flew by us again. we stopped at a best western but they didn't have wi-fi so we decided to find the one that had been recommended. BAD CHOICE. No sooner do we pull out , we get pulled over. The cop tells John he was speeding- which he was- he has him pull over further,,,to where?? we are on a super busy crazy road.. we do. Bugs are flying in the window and biting us. he has John get out and takes him to the front of the car. This is where it starts to feel like a scary movie... they talk and i can only hear bits and pieces because of the cars and trucks roaring bybut i already know the drill....usually its about giving them money but this feels a little different. After a while they come around to my side and john says if we don't pay the ticket he will be taken to jail. The cop wants $1000.00 american dollars. Can everyone imagine how that felt? Dark, busy mexican roadside, exhausted, hungry, driving for 7 hrs straight...Oh ny god...I was expecting $20.00 or so- I've never heard of this much of a bite. I think if it would have been light and he had gotten a good look at the truck he would never have asked for that. anyway after what seemed like an eternity of talking and dickering- at one point he actually kind of put his hand on Johns arm and said he would spend the night in jail- we ended up giving him $95.00.John got back in and we set out. By now we were pretty sure we would never find the hotel. it was too dark and we were way to rattled so a few miles down the road we saw a Holiday Inn. John went in while I waited, and waited. finally he came out and said he didn't want to stay here because it wasn't secured parking. i told him I didn't think we should go on and he went back in to see if we could park in an area behind a gate we saw. I waited, and waited, chewing my nails and getting really anxious about the thought of us going back out on the road. Finally John came back and said we would just have to park out front, that he had paid for the room. A bell hop came out to help me while John parked. I was so relieved to be going in, it all kind of hit me and as we walked to the room I told the bellhop "policia es mal!" the cop is bad...and explained what happened. " We don't have a lot of money" as he helped me unload our "luggage" which included a cardboard box of touletries, a plastic bag, a plaid plastic market bag and our two suitcases. Then the tears came...damn! Ihate when that happens....well, that's what happens when I get right to the edge of exhaustion! I took a long, hot shower while John went out and got us a sanwich. After I ate, I checked e-mails, facebook and then posted this. We are both wiped out and we have a very long drive tomorrow and the next day. Our little house in Santa Clara will be a welcome sight... On the positive side, we didn't get shot in Matamoros, we didn't get in a wreck and we still love each other and it was a pretty drive . So, tomorrow we will get up and start over again...you may not hear from me for a couple of days now. Unless of course I need some money......