ROARING CAMP, MAY 25, 2005
When my sister and I were young, we used to go and visit our grandparents in northern California for two weeks every summer. Grandma and Grandpa were pros at entertaining us, taking us to all sorts of fun places like the San Francisco Zoo, Marine World Africa USA, and the Exploratorium. One summer, when I was perhaps eight or nine, the Grands decided to branch out and take us to a new spot. They picked the now infamous Roaring Camp ( http://www.roaringcamp.com/). I wish I could describe the horror that was that day at Roaring Camp, but somehow words fail me. (Cathey, if you feel up to the task, go for it in the comments!) In fact, I’m not sure the dictionary has words for it. The only attempt I can make is to explain that, for years after the trip, to this day, in fact, it is the favorite family threat.

"Behave yourselves or we'll take you back to Roaring Camp" said Grandpa on many an occasion.

And it worked! Cathey and I would turn pale and do what was expected because god forbid we should be forced to return to Roaring Camp!!! Anything, no matter how vile, was better then Roaring Camp!

If you want to know more then that about the family day at Roaring Camp, you will have to come to Mexico, share a beer with me in the Zocalo of some old city or other, and ask to hear more. But I imagine most of you are skimming this thinking, “Oh for goodness sake, Elizabeth, I’m not logged in to read about your not-so-traumatic childhood experiences! Get on with it…” So I will. Believe it or not, there is a reason I’m thinking of Roaring Camp today!

Few geographical locales have left me as reluctant to return as Roaring Camp. Most of the time, I can find some sort of redeeming feature to every place I visit, usually redeeming enough to make me want to return. My blind enthusiasm fails me when it comes to Tampico, Mexico, where I find myself tonight.

Tampico is like the Roaring Camp of my current reality. If ever you want me to shut up and do something unquestioningly, just say, “Elizabeth, if you don’t, I’m going to bundle you into the car, drive you to Tampico, and leave you there!” You will not hear a word of protest about whatever it is after that. I would probably do anything just to avoid a visit to this place.

Tampico is an industrial oil town about 8 hours drive south of the border. In addition to being hot and humid (which isn’t in itself disqualifying as far as revisits are concerned), it is dusty and gritty in that sand-in-your-teeth-at-the-beach kind of way. After about half an hour in Tampico, you feel like every pore is packed full of fine dirt. And then there is the smell… Tampico is an oil refining town and smells it! The traffic is a nightmare, the people are unpleasant, the streets guarantee that you will be lost, and since you’ve driven all day to get here, you are not just lost, but also hungry, tense, and exhausted. Basically, it is a miserable place with as yet undiscovered redeeming qualities! If only I could bring myself to look, but...

On the up side, I found a comfortable hotel which, while lacking air conditioning, has a restaurant and free wireless internet! The best part is that it is only two blocks from the highway to Veracruz, which means I don't have to go anywhere near the town proper when I leave tomorrow!

The last few days have passed quickly and, for the most part, pleasantly. After leaving Nashville (where last I posted...), I drove 11 hours or so to Lucy and Guido's in Dallas. I spent a couple of delightful days there with them (And Billy the dog, Fizz, Merle, Guerro, Izzy, and Darcy the cats, and the three tanks of fish whose names I never learned!). We went out to a sushi restaurant and had my farewell sushi/martinis the night before I left. Much merriment! But sorry, no pictures....

I left Dallas and made the relatively short (only nine hours!!!) drive to the Holiday Inn in Brownsville, spent the night last night, and crossed the border first thing this morning. I imagine the scenery is quite lovely between Matamoros and Brownsville, but I only caught glances of it. My full attention was, unfortunately, needed for the "highway" that runs along the gulf coast. I am happy to report that thus far the drive has been utterly uneventful!

Tomorrow, I leave Tampico for Veracruz, spend a night there (my favorite city in all of Mexico! But more on that in another post.....), and then do the last, short bit up into the mountains on Saturday. With any luck, next time you hear from me, I'll be writing from "home" in Tonancintla!

Hugs,
E.

PS - Matthew tells me that if you do something called RSS (I'm sure I'm mangling the construction of this sentence, but really I have no idea what I'm talking about....), you can subscribe to my blog. The address is http://feeds.feedburner.com/Mexico06-07 and apparently it will tell you when I've posted something new.... For those of you who just can't wait!