There is a first time for everything. Several words I swore I would never say......come on David Locklear !
Post the final chapter of this Ill fated journey ! Sent from my iPhone > On Dec 25, 2017, at 1:56 AM, David via Texascavers > <texascavers@texascavers.com> wrote: > > I left out the part that I was renting a room in Wild Bill Rupley's townhome > in west Houston. I am sure he regrets that. Wild Bill was still working in > his grandfather's fur-coat business ( yes, In Houston if you can fathom that > ) That is his story to tell. It is my theory, that he helped fuel the > campfire rumors then that maybe some of my marbles were slightly loose. > > Anyways, > > Rolf Adams and his girlfriend Anne agreed to meet me at Terry Raines' ranch > around mid-December ( I think ). I just recall a fuzzy memory of a > dome-shaped wooden structure with a grand piano and some old clutter. I > think that might have been my first real formal introduction to Terry Raines, > although I had met him and read dozens of his adventures. It was dark when I > got there, and I think that I had spent an hour just trying to find his house. > > I recall a female caver maybe renting a bungalow there that was maybe a > Jazzercize instructor ?? > She was good-looking. I forgot her name 25 years ago. > > I arrived there from Houston in "The Speleo-Stationwagon." A 1972 Ford > Country Squire with a 1976 400 cu in ( actually 6.6 liters ) V8 that I had > proudly installed by myself. The money and time that I spent on that car > over a two-year period was way way beyond super-retarded. But in those days, > I could not afford an Isuzu Trooper or other fancy SUVs that cavers were > purchasing. I had purchased it for $ 200 from my grandpa in 1987 and it was > my first car. So I had some really weird sentimental attachment to it, > partly because he and I had years of memories in it prior to that. It once > had an 8-track player mounted to the floor, and a CB-radio. > > > Upon arriving at Terry's ranch house, things were quite chaotic. Terry was > very intensely preoccupied with the finishing touches of his newest book - > one that he was hoping to present two weeks later at the First Mexpeleo in > Ciudad Valles, entitled - "The Caves of Mexico." > > Terry quickly showed me the rough draft, and I can't tell you here what my > first impression was. But it was or would have been today the equivalent of > 100 Wikipedia articles on the major caves of Mexico - had he had some > assistance and more time ro work on it. > > The 2 Aussies were no where near ready to leave and suggested waiting another > day - maybe something to do with their newly acquired beater jalopy - a > Datsun pickup ( $ 400 ?? ) [ ~ 1977 ] > > So I drove into San Marcos to get more supplies. There, suddenly my > drive-shaft fell off after the rear U-Joint shattered. I spent most of the > night by myself in a parking lot of AutoZone in San Marcos fixing that. ( no > internet or cell-phone ) > > I drove exhausted back to Terry's ranch only to break the front U-joint about > a half-mile from his ranch. > > Someone claimed you need to replace both U-Joints. I have no memory of how > I fixed that or even if I did. > > It must have been morning time by the time I made contact with the Aussies > that I had a unexpected setback. I was so wiped out. > > The rest of that day and the next gets very fuzzy, but wherever I abandoned > The Speleo-Stationwagon ..... was across the street from Nancy Weaver's house. > > Maybe she has a better memory of that than I do. She was not a happy > camper, as I think it was abandoned there 3 weeks ( or maybe 3 months ?? ). > Plus it was in a fairly ugly state of modification at that point. Meaning, > it belonged in a junk-yard crusher. > > I guess the 2 Aussies and I and the Datsun pickup left Terry's ranch > uneventfully. I rode in the back of the camper in a fetal position in a > space not any bigger than a large suitcase while breathing toxic fumes. > > I am guessing that was my 2nd of four times to cross the border by car at > Matamoros. > > We drove 18 painful hours non-stop to a beach just outside a very tiny town > called Nautla in the northern part of the state of Veracuz. > > We camped alone on a very secluded remote beach with no worries whatsoever of > being beheaded by a cartel member. We never saw anybody there. > Unfortunately, we slept the whole 5 hours that we were there and never saw > the pretty beach in the daylight, except we probably left just after sunrise. > I doubt I pitched a tent, but they did. > > https://goo.gl/maps/AvaNxXw5TCH2 > > That area sure looks very tourist-friendly on the Google map link above after > just 28 years. > > Our next stop was a quick lunch at a taqueria in Orizaba where we quickly did > our final shopping. At that point, I recall wasting money, that I would > need later. Had I just had about $ 40 more, I would have managed the trip > without any bad memories. > > We eventually arrived in the capital of the state of Puebla, and traffic was > insane - much worse than other small cities I had visited. Volkswagen beetle > bug-taxis by the hundreds. All white ?? > > Then we continued south towards the rural base-camp area that I can only > assume was an "ejido." > > I think we set up camp in the dark, however we had very little in the form of > camping gear. > > I seem to recall waking up in a giant hilly pasture surrounded by cattle, > sheep, goats, chickens and maybe even a turkey. > > To be continued ... > > > _______________________________________________ > Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com > Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: > http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ > http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
_______________________________________________ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
