San Fernando

I am in the town of San Fernando, 85 miles south of the border. I biked about 90 miles yesterday. So far this trip, I have biked about 2900 miles. I am staying with very nice family. In Matamoros at the bridge to the US, I met a couple of women, sisters whose parents live in San Fernando, and they gave me all the information to contact their family. I called them the day before arriving. It was a little tricky to find their house as their street had no sign and I had to continually ask people up and down the main street which street was ¨Iturbide.¨ When I finally got two answers in a row that were the same, I followed the directions and found the house.

The chickens out back of the Rodriguez house. They, and the ducks hatch eggs for the family. The rabbits, ducks and chickens eat the kitchen scraps and any food the Rodriguezes give them. And the Rodriguezes, in turn, eat any of the animals. Turning waste into product is a fundamental principle of environmental studies (my college major).

I´ve been told these flowers bring happiness to many.

Another cool plant out front on the Rodriguez property.

One of the many beautiful plants and flowers populating the yard of the Rodriguez residence, where I stayed at last night.

The family bicycle parked out front.

View of the house across the street from the house I stayed at. Those at the house consisted of Father (Margarito Rodriguez), Mother, with whom I talked most, single son in his forties or fifties, infirmed daughter in her forties--the other children had moved out and were married or living with one of their married siblings. Several live and work in the US--one works for a senior citizens home as a caretaker. The mother (well, really grandmother) commented on how seniors have many more benefits in the US compared to those in Mexico.

The house plate at the house I stayed at last night. Name of the family, house number, and ¨God is Love¨ at the bottom.

My lunch at the restaurant I stopped at. Eggs and potatoes, beans, salad, salsa, tortillas, grapefruit soda, salt. My cellphone, bike gloves, and napkins complete the picture.

Outside a restaurant at an intersection of highways where I had a nice vegetarian lunch. Here you can see the new arrangement of my handlebars. Feels a little more like a road bike now, faster and more comfortable.

A picnic table along the highway in the shade of some trees where I stopped for a snack and drink of water.

Keep the highway clean! With you it is possible.

One of the many horses, mules, donkeys and cows tied up to a fence post along the highway to graze. This one was quite striking. Other animals, such as goats, cows and bulls, walked to highway side, grazing loose! Obviously, they learned to not go out on the road!

¨Thank you for visting Matamoros, the great Gateway into Mexico!¨

I was expecting the distance between Matamoros and San Fernando to be 85 miles, so when I saw this sign, I was quite startled. I had a destination in San Fernando, a contact that could put me up. I simply could not make 124 miles before dark and I had no contacts in between. Could those I have talked to, and my maps, have been wrong in the distance? Was something amiss? And then I realized that the numbers were in kilometers. Whew!
An ornate-looking hotel on the way out of Matamoros. Some things are very beautiful; other things are very ugly--especially the air quality. Pollution from industry, autos, and just burning things for heat, cooking, get rid of trash, or simply for the sake of burning stuff causes the air to be chokey and sometimes foul. The emissions standards for cars must be much lower or non-existent. We are very lucky in the US for this reason, for relatively clean, breathable air. Greenhouse gases, on the other hand, are non-toxic, invisible, and odorless. They are emitted in direct proportion to the amount of fuel burned. And in the US, we consume more (electricity and gasoline), and hence we emit more GHG (greenhouse gases)/capita than just about any nation.
Mural on the wall of a Popeyes (pronounced ¨po-pay-ace¨) on the way out of Matamoros.

On the way out of Matamoros, I saw this car-washing clown with his rag. He would perform in front of the cars when the light turned red--flossing between his legs, etc. until he got a taker. Graciously, he posed for a photo.

This is a church in the town center of Matamoros, opposite the gazebo below. Also beautiful.

This is the gazebo in the town center plaza of Matamoros. Witness the Mexican flag above and the Christmas tree in the background. Beautiful.