Getting our swerve on

We started out early today and figured we’d enjoy our surroundings a bit by pulling off early at Mazatlan. The landscape changed dramatically as we dipped south of the Tropic of Cancer. Finally, out of the desert, and into the jungle. Suddenly everything was thick and lush and much more interesting to look at. All was well until a few kilometers after a toll plaza. Noah went to pass a truck and we suddenly felt a weird shimmy. Just like that bang! One of our rear tires disintegrated, sending us into a wild fishtail, leaving us to hold on for dear life, as if we were in some kind of sick carnival ride. The back end started to come around, but Noah did an awesome job correcting and keeping it pointed pretty much straight. I’m still not sure how we didn’t hit the truck next to us, but luckily we missed him. Once we came to a stop on the side of the road, we both looked at each other, took a deep breath, and could only say ‘that was intense!’ Of course the toll road we were on was the first road we could go over 60, so we were humming right along when it happened. After swapping out the full spare, and congratulating each other on being alive, we cautiously pushed on to Mazatlan.

As we entered the resort city of Mazatlan, our first order of business was to get another tire. We were coming up on the end of the day, and we were afraid we wouldn’t get to a shop in time and then have to wait until Monday before we could be back on our way. After searching around town and trying three or four different shops, we finally found one that was still open and had the size we needed in stock. Next it was off to find our hotel. Twenty minutes later found us in air conditioning and checking out the patio that overlooked the beach. Tonight we would sleep well! No bugs, a hot shower, and a cool room!