On The Road To Torreon

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

Took off this morning for Torreon. Without a second car I decided to take the bus. I left the house at 8:20. I caught the bus at 8:30 from the house to the bus station.

It took about 40 minutes as I was on the express bus. Once there, I looked for a bus line that was of good quality and also had "primera" or "ejecutivo" service. I found the Coahuilenses line that got me out of Monterrey on the 9:30 bus. I spent quite a good time talking with the bus driver. There were only four passengers on the bus to Saltillo. In Saltillo I bought a sandwich and a diet Coke before we took off again after about 5 minutes (11:30).

The driver talked mostly about his job and some of his most interesting experiences. For starters, his bus has a Mercedes engine. He says he gets 8.5 miles to a gallon and a tank can get him from Reynosa (McAllen, TX) to Ciudad Juarez (El Paso, TX).

View from my front row seat.

Bus interior, nice restroom, hot water, soap, towels. Two in route movies.

Our bus with a Mercedes Benz engine.

One thing I didn't know, is that he has to have an anti-doping test everytime he comes to work. So, he says he can't have anything alcohol for three days before going back to his shift. He makes about 1200 dollars (after tax) a month plus benefits and bonuses.

He claims the company takes pretty good care of him. This year however, his profit sharing benefit was very small, apparently the company is having hard times and ridership is down.

The route we took from Saltillo to Torreon is part of the Ruta 2010 and part of the crosscountry route that will run from Tampico to Mazatlan. There is a lot of road work being done to accomdate the route. Mostly road widening and bridge work. You can also see a lot of work going on, on the new autopista from Monterrey to Saltillo.

Imagine boondocking out here in the desert with all the stars!

We arrived in Torreon at 2:00 p.m. safe and sound. I caught a taxi to the Holiday Inn Express and took a nap. Quite disappointing, I brought my swimsuit because I know they have a great pool here. As I got on the elevator to go to my room I saw the maintenance man out there checking the flow rate as they were draining the pool. Bummer!

Took my nap ( I always manage to get my nap in before 3 p.m.) and then went across the street to the Soriana shopping center. I found a great place in the food court and ordered some Lebanese food for dinner with some red wine.

My body has practically frozen up on me. I haven't been to the gym since Friday. Shame on me. Now I know why people moan and groan. Get out there and exercise, move, lift weights, run and walk. Stretch your butts off, take a pilates class or ride a bike. Tomorrow I go to the gym here at the hotel.