Bridget the Midget

We drove out of Vegas early Sunday morning and made good time heading north towards Carson City and Reno. After around 80 miles we turned left heading for Death Valley National Park. This is one of the iconic drives in the USA that motorheads must do similar to the historic Route 66. It is supposed to be one of the hottest areas to drive in although I had some doubts about that after being in Pakistan and Australia.

Bridget started out well with no misfire or hesitation. Approaching the turn to Death Valley I thought I had fluffed the gear change when there was a grinding of gear cogs, but then I found it extremely difficult to shift into any gear. I pulled over and sprung the bonnet catch. Getting out and lifting the bonnet I removed the top of the clutch master cylinder. Sure enough it was almost empty! When on earth did I last check the level? Apologising profusely to Bridget for such behaviour I fetched the clutch fluid from the boot and topped up the cylinder. I crossed my fingers it would not require bleeding. However it became obvious that it would need to be bled but I hoped we could at least get to San Francisco before having to do it.

We passed the original Nevada desert nuclear testing site and the morning’s temperature was rising. Bridget’s temperature gauge stared climbing and whenever there was an incline it was going into the red. Not being able to change gear easily was making things difficult. As we passed Bad Water, a huge salt lake, there was a signpost warning of ‘Extreme Heat for the next 20 miles’. It was not exaggerating and to make things a little more difficult we had to climb a couple of thousand feet before dropping down the other side and then doing it all over again. Half way along this road there is a water stop, comprising of public toilets and a water supply for radiators but not for drinking.

I decided to stop in the shade of a tree and allow Bridget’s engine to recover. There was a old Ford camper van already there and the occupants where a young couple from Torbay in the UK who are motoring around the states for six months. With there assistance I tried a quick fix bleeding of the clutch master cylinder which didn’t work very well, but improved things enough for me to decide to continue to San Francisco. Bridget will be due another service there and I will fix the clutch at the same time.

Death Valley lived up to its reputation as being extremely hot and Bridget’s engine was at the very maximum of her temperature range several times. I had to nurse her up the hills in third gear which helped bring the temperature down just enough to continue but it was touch and go.

Several miles further on we drove through Kern River Canyon which is stunningly beautiful. The mountains tower over the river on both sides as it meanders down the canyon floor with stretches of white water. It also looked so cool.

We arrived in Bakersfield at 5:00pm and will strike out for San Francisco in the morning.

The drive to San Francisco was interesting in that it meant driving through the American Fruitbowl area. This is just mile after mile, after mile, of apple, orange, and lemon trees. There are vast acreages of grape vines, for California’s wine industry and also large areas producing almond nuts.

Road and weather conditions were good and Bridget ran reasonably, with her gearbox almost back to normal. We arrived into Frisco at 3:00pm.

My first impressions were that this could be a fun city and that is what I found to be the case. There are the famous names such as Alcatraz, Fisherman’s Wharf and the Golden Gate Bridge and it has more than its share of ‘characters’. I made contact with the North California MG Owners Club and immediately received an invitation to dinner by a couple who are members and are planning a trip in their MG to Europe. Craig and Kim supplied wonderful hospitality as well as helping me out by changing Bridget’s oil which because of disposal is always a potential problem for me.

Whilst driving over to their home I was on highway CA-24 and became aware of a white saloon keeping pace beside me. I looked over expecting the usual photo opportunity and saw two lads in the front and a girl in the back. They waved to me which I happily returned and then without warning the girl ‘flashed’ me. I’m warming to this city already.

Bridget now has fresh oil, new spark plugs and all the fluid levels have been checked. The clutch now seems fine and I have re-adjusted the carburettors again because she was misfiring slightly. On Friday I contacted the local MG Specialists “Collins Classics” to see if I could get replacement gaskets for the carburettor float chambers. Not only did Tom Collins supply and fit them he also kindly replaced a couple of other parts in the float chambers, adjusted the height of the floats and then balanced the carbs for me as well. To top it all he wouldn’t take anything for his efforts, what a top guy, thanks Tom. 

On Sunday we start the trip north to Canada. I am reconsidering the route from Winnipeg as I am now back on time and might to Chicago then onto New York and ship Bridget home from there, or possible stay in Canada and drive over to Toronto. I will just have to see what takes my fancy.

Page, Arizona is a small and very young town. It really didn’t exist until it was decided to build a dam, creating Lake Powell and the town was officially incorporated in 1957. It also has a copper mine but the major income earner for the town today is tourism.

It is a great jumping-off point for the Grand Canyon, both southern and northern rims, has a fascinating and quite unique canyon called Antelope Canyon and lots of water sports on the lake.

The people here are genuinely warm, hospitable and friendly, and they are also well aware of the outside world.

The owner of the local radio station, Dan Brown, a fellow MG owner (2 in fact, a MGB and a TD), contacted me through this website and invited me here for a couple of days R & R. I thought this was very kind of him and that was before I knew that he had arranged a number of activities for my delectation.

One in particular I want to mention was a tour of the Antelope Canyon (or Slot Canyon as it is sometimes known due to its extremely narrow passage). The canyon has been formed by flood waters and wind carving out the passageway in the red sandstone. With sunlight streaming in from the top the walls which are smooth, but striped by different formation layers and shaped with wind carved undulations, the resultant effect is one of artistic spectral design.

I have uploaded to the Gallery section a special selection of photographs that I took which have not been in any way altered or enhanced by filters or artificial lighting (I wouldn’t know how).

During the afternoon I recorded an interview for the local radio station and then appeared at a local community event raising awareness and offering support to families affected by crime and drug abuse.

During my second day in Page I worked on Bridget during the morning and have overcome the misfire. She still gets a little hot and the carburettors are not perfect but we will continue the way we are.

Late in the afternoon I was given the opportunity to try riding a Sea-Doo for the first time. I always knew these as a water scooter and remember seeing one in a motor cycle shop when I was a mere slip of a lad. Since then I had always wanted to try one. My teacher, Janet, was marvellous and I had an absolute ball, even managing to show off and stand up on the seat whilst going full belt. Another ambition achieved.

We left Page on Thursday morning feeling considerably refreshed and I would recommend the resort of Page to anyone planning a trip to the Grand Canyon area as they can offer so much more than just the canyon.

We ventured on towards Vegas and a last minute change of mind meant we did not go to the northern rim of the Grand Canyon, however we did pass through the Zion National Park which is another fabulous area of mountains and canyons. A second location on the trip well worth seeing is the Virgin River Canyon, once again dramatic, rugged sandstone cliffs and mountains with a good MG driving road. We arrived in Las Vegas at 3:00pm and are in our 4^th state, being Texas, Arizona, Utah and now Nevada.

Last day of July and the drive from Dallas to Amarillo went well. The first 100 miles was a little worrying as I kept smelling petrol which has occurred previously. Eventually I pulled into a service station and lifted the bonnet (I don’t want a repeat of the Volvo’s fate). Instead of the trickle that has happened before it was running out quite freely. I switched off the engine and removed the carburettor bowl, where the leak appeared to be. The gasket looked OK but I wasn’t totally convinced and so I checked my stores for a spare. Unfortunately it was not one of the items I had but I did have some ‘instant gasket’ which I used. I also refitted the old gasket and since that I have had no further problem. The remainder of the journey was really straightforward.

As today’s drive is fairly short I started rather lackadaisically but Bridget was very ready to go. She accelerated smoothly and easily as I tried to detect any of her previous problems but we seemed to have, at last, cleared them. The air was cool and the sun bright when we left Amarillo but the temperature soon climbed as the miles slipped by.

With only about 60 miles to go I passed a white 4×4 at the side of the road and noticed the logo on its side KRQE News 13. I watched it in the rear view mirror as it pulled out into the traffic lane and accelerated quickly. As it drew level I realised it was just keeping pace with me so I looked over and sure enough the window was wound down and the driver was gesticulating. We pulled over onto the hard shoulder and the other driver jumped out and came back to Bridget and me to introduce himself, Ian Schwartz. He wanted to know “Are you really driving around the World?” So I told him about the adventure and we met up again in the late afternoon to record an interview. It all helps to spread the word.

Unfortunately after our encounter on the highway, when I restarted Bridget the misfiring started again and she is losing petrol from one of her carburettors again. It may be temperature related so I will see how things are in the morning.

I removed and refitted the carburettor float chamber first thing and Bridget has been as good as gold all day. The drive to Flagstaff was only just over 300 miles but it was very hot again so I kept our speed down to around 55mph. Several people along the way have said they saw our television interview which is nice to know.

The countryside is now taking on a new look with desert and mountains appearing. The desert here is different from those in Australia, Peru and Pakistan. It is populated with lots of small trees or bushes, I am not sure which although I think some are Tumbleweed, but they give the landscape a speckled appearance. The hills that we first came across are in New Mexico and are bright red sandstone, similar in colour to the outback sand in North Queensland, Australia.

As we passed the city of Gallup the colour changed to yellow. The shapes of these hills are typical of what I have seen as a youngster in western films with steep cliffs and plateau tops. I was half expecting to see Tonto anytime. Approaching Flagstaff the first real mountains came into view, more ragged than those in the Himalayas or southern Andes.

Bridget celebrated her own special achievement today as we crossed the State line from New Mexico into Arizona, her odometer completed its first 100,000 miles and this evening displays 000161.

We left Flagstaff early in the morning and headed to the Grand Canyon’s southern rim. This is the part most commonly visited although I am hoping to see the northern rim also. The morning was bright and soon became very hot. Bridget was running well again although we still have a problem at the higher revs.

It was only 90 miles to the canyon and what a spectacle it is. I had been prepared to be disappointed after all the other natural wonders that I have seen, but the Grand Canyon is spectacular whatever else you have witnessed. It is not just its vastness although that is impressive, but the size and shapes of all the hillocks, or whatever the correct name is, in the canyon. I am told you get a quite different perspective from the other rim and so I look forward to that later in the week.

From the canyon we drove on to Page, a small town some 90 miles further north. A kind gentleman that owns a radio station there has organised some R & R for me.

So what are my initial observations on the USA. It’s funny how some of the things we observe are the most insignificant items. Clearly the significant items are geography, flora and fauna and culture, and these are unique in each part of the world. So it is extraordinary that two things I repeatedly have noticed are the large number, and length of the trains; and the whispering trucks.

Firstly the trains, for those that do not know, are anything up to a mile or more in length with 2, 3 or 4 engines pulling and/or pushing the wagons. The whispering trucks is a reference to many of the large trucks, or rigs as they are known here, that make very little noise but just hiss slightly as they pass, even at speeds of 70 mph. They are a terrific improvement over those in Central America that make an unholy din caused largely by poor maintenance.

As I say the significant things are those given to us by nature and after Australia, South and Central America I have noticed that there are considerably fewer birds and their colouring tends to be largely browns and black. The scenery I have already described so that leaves the people. Those I have met so far are just what I had expected from my previous visit to the States. They are outgoing, friendly, confident but also somewhat insular. Many have little understanding of what life outside of the US is like although they are more inquisitive than I previously found them.

After a fairly slow start, they are now aware of Bridget and the journey we are attempting and suddenly lots of offers to help have been received. It just remains to see if they will join in with some donations for UNICEF. It occurred to me that if everyone that viewed the CNN IReport news item about us gave one dollar we would have reached our target by now. It’s very easy to donate just click the UNICEF logo in the side column and you the page will take you through the process, but have your credit card ready. Every dollar helps!

Exiting from Mexico was far easier and quicker than I had ever expected. In fact I just drove straight out without getting an exit stamp in my passport or anything, I just passed straight through the customs area and over the ‘International Bridge’ to the US entry point. I am not at all sure if I was supposed to do that or if I accidentally short circuited the system but if all signs are in Spanish and you don’t understand the language what can you do?

I was also pleasantly surprised how quick and straightforward entering the States was by road. I had expected all sorts of paperwork and searches but again it was very easy with the exception of purchasing car insurance. This did present some difficulties that took me several days to resolve. Each State has its own rules regarding auto insurance and in Texas insurance is compulsory, which is pretty much universal, but to purchase it you need to have a Texas residency. The only exception to this is a ‘non residency’ temporary policy which in most cases requires your vehicle to be licensed in Mexico! When you turn up with a UK registered car and are touring the whole time then it causes difficulties. I was only able to resolve the issues by using my hotel address which is not strictly correct as that is also where the car is supposed to be garaged.

We made our way from the border to San Antonio, home to Davy Crockett, The Alamo and all that…. Bridget’s engine was still far from well and so I set about trying to resolve the problems. On inspecting the spark plugs I found them all covered with heavy carbon deposits that suggest either poor ignition or the fuel being too rich. The latter is what I thought to be the problem. I removed the air filters and as I did I noticed that they were in poor condition and looked as if they had sucked in a lot of oil. This was probably caused when the gasket failed the other day and I decided they needed replacing. These I had to source directly from K & N as the local distributors didn’t stock the correct ones for Bridget. I also adjusted the mixture control on both carburettors and will wait to see how things are driving to Dallas.

Driving conditions are now excellent with no concerns about the road surface or general driving standards.

We left at 8:00am under a cloudy sky although the temperature remained in the 90ºF’s. I discovered again that the American oil companies have little trust in the honesty of their customers; a situation I personally find disreputable. If you wish to pay by credit card it has to be an American card with an American billing address from which you have to supply the 5 digit zip code. If you have any other international card you have to take the card into the cashier and she charges your card before you fill up, but that is not practical if you do not know precisely how much fuel you are going to take. The only alternative is to use cash.

Bridget ran well as long as I kept the engine revolutions below 4,000 per minute otherwise she started missing. When she ran at the lower revolutions she was very smooth. I will now check all the fuel supply parts as this trouble was first noticed after filling up at a Mexican service station and we may well have got some dirt in with it.

We have now completed 30,000 miles and Bridget will soon require another service. I did source and fit her with new air filters and I will try to get some replacement points. Unfortunately having tried e-mailing three MG clubs in the southern states we have had no reply, so it would appear that where I had thought they would be as helpful as my friends in Australia, I was sadly mistaken. No matter we ran from England to Southern India with almost no help other than from the Maharana of Jaipur, so I am sure we can manage here.

Dallas, like most American cities, is very spread out and using a car to go anywhere is the only real option. As someone that enjoys walking I find this a little irritating particularly as they construct groups of hotels in the same area but there is little if any facilities within walking distance. It is the only country in the world that I have visited where this happens; even in Australia where things have become decentralised there are shops and restaurants around the hotels.

I have decided to up-stakes and move on a day early from Dallas. I have removed Bridget’s carburettors and there was indeed a great deal of dirt in one which I am hoping was the cause of the trouble. Certainly her engine is sounding good whilst stationary and she ticks over beautifully, but tomorrow we will find out if that has cured the problem. We will be on the road to Amarillo; I can hear the song already!

We drove from Guatemala City up to Huehuetenango just 30 miles from the Mexican border. From a mileage point of view a very relaxed 180 miles, however the road from 20 miles out of Guatemala city was really poor and just to test my flexibility my new found ‘travelling companions’ decided to see how my relationship counselling skills were. They fought from first light to early evening with her threatening to walk off in the middle of a rather beautiful range of mountains because of some comment he supposedly made. She is definitely a fiery Costa Rican and it took almost half an hour to coax her back into his car for the remainder of the journey. How do I get into these things? Give me the Taliban any day!

The last 50 miles of Guatemala is mountainous and beautiful. The crossing into Mexico was unexpectedly straightforward with friendly, helpful officials. There is a spectacular gorge that is narrow but very deep with a river several hundred feet below one side of the road and a dam created lake on the other. Unfortunately, as is often the case in these countries, the dam is classified as a military installation and photography is forbidden.

The 200 mile drive to Tuxtla was hot, beautiful but otherwise relatively uneventful. My ‘groupies’ were keeping up with me and appear to have called a truce, however I am not used to thinking for three! I am afraid Ted has no idea about travelling and has to ask advice on most things except food and drink.

I wanted to keep moving and set out early from Tuxtla for Oaxaca. Once again the whole journey was surrounded by lush green mountains. Many were clearly volcanic and the varying shapes made a fantastic vista. We have been stopped by police a couple of times including once at a roadside police station. As I pulled over to the side of the road for the officer to take a closer look at Bridget, I looked over to the building and realised it included a jail! The structure was literally a caged area measuring around 8 feet x10 feet plus a covered area of approximately the same size that offered the prisoners shelter from the blazing sun, but it was an all metal building so the heat must have been awful. One prisoner noticed the car and suddenly all the inmates were hard up against the metal mesh of their ‘cage’. I quickly discovered that at least two could speak English when they commented on the car. One asked if I would take him with me, but I replied, “You wouldn’t all fit in the car”. He said, “Never mind them, just take me”.

Further on during the early afternoon, a fuel tanker travelling towards me threw a stone into Bridget’s windscreen leaving a nasty crack. I will probably need to replace it in the States.

We arrived in Oaxaca around 5:00pm and started looking for a hotel when I suddenly realised that Ted’s Volvo was no longer behind me. Thinking that he had been stopped by the traffic lights I pulled into the side of the road and waited. After around ten minutes he still hadn’t appeared and so I walked back a little way but could see no sign of him and I didn’t like to leave Bridget at the side of the road with all my belongings inside. So I returned to the car and waited a further ten minutes before deciding that he must have turned off and was probably lost. I thought that logically if I found the Holiday Inn which we had discussed staying at, that he would eventually turn up.

There was a week-long festival in Oaxaca and so hotels were very full but fortunately the Holiday Inn were able to give me a room and just after 7:00pm I went out for a meal. Sure enough when I returned the Manager said that an American had turned up looking for me and that he thought they had gone to a restaurant next door. They looked none too pleased and not surprising as it transpired that Ted’s Volvo had caught fire and was completely burnt out at the side of the road. Lots of Mexican people in the area helped them get all their belongings out of the car and generally assisted but the car was a total write-off. They are planning to fly on to the States from Oaxaca on the first available plane, but it must have been very frightening.

All the excitement meant that I never got to see much of the city which is rich in colonial architecture and archaeological sites.

The next morning I got back on the road this time to Pachuca, which avoids going into Mexico City. The total distance we covered today was 423 miles including a 90 mile unscheduled detour! Although such a detour was inconvenient it was made worthwhile just to see the stunning scenery. It also included driving down one of the steepest paved mountain roads that I have been on and it was exhilarating, however once I discovered we were going in the wrong direction I realised that we would have to climb back up the same gradient. Bridget excelled again, not only taking the climb in her stride but also enduring the heat (mid thirties) and traffic. She has now motored at least 7 hours a day for each of the last 7 days and has two more to go before getting a rest.

My error in navigation was discovered when I spoke to a policeman at one of the many road toll booths. He asked where I was going and pointed out that it would be quicker to go in the other direction. So I turned around to head back and the toll keeper wanted me to pay to go back through the gate. I felt that this was a shoddy way to treat a poor lost tourist who after all had only turned around and so refused. We had a short stand-off before the rapidly lengthening queue of honking traffic persuaded him to waive the charge.

What should be the pen-ultimate day in Mexico started well when we found the road out of town towards Cuidad Victoria. Often an hour can be wasted trying to find the correct highway out of town. The first fifty miles passed without incident and then we turned off the main highway, which went to Mexico City, and headed north. The scenery was stunning with huge mountains all around and I would happily nominate this route as the best MG driving route in the world, if only the authorities would remove the ridiculous speed humps in every village, and often as many as twelve in a row. Considering the total lack of any road worthiness requirement on the vehicles and the lack of police to enforce any sort of driving standard I am at a loss to understand the reason for these irritating and damaging lumps of concrete.

The road surface itself is in reasonable condition for most of the route and it is beautifully banked making cornering perfect. If the local authority could be persuaded to close the road to traffic for a day it would make the best possible 150 mile MG race event.

However with all the speed humps it made the first 200 miles of our journey painfully slow, taking almost 5 hours. Then during the late afternoon I thought Bridget was sounding rather hoarse and noticed the oil pressure was unusually low and the temperature high. I decided to stop and check the oil level even though I had checked it before we left. Just as well I did because I found oil leaking profusely from the valve cover. When I removed the cover the gasket was in two pieces so I replaced it with a spare from the boot and replaced the cover. Although that has helped, the engine is missing at low revolutions and the tick over is poor. I will need to check the carburettor settings as I believe they may be running too rich.

Our last complete day in Mexico was fairly straightforward with Bridget running well as long as I kept the revs over 2500. The temperature was well in the thirties but the road surface was smooth and so we made good time.

Whilst at a filling station at a village called Linares between Victoria and Monterrey a lovely couple stopped to talk and tried hard to persuade me to stay in the village for at least a short time. They were obviously very proud of their community and before |I left they gave me a small token of local marzipan. It’s things like that which makes everything worthwhile.

We are spending the night in Nuevo Laredo and intend to get to the border early in the morning.

My apologies but there is no photo with this diary page due to a technical hitch. Meanwhile we drive on ……..

The drive from Panama City to David in the north started well enough. We left around 8:00am and quickly found the Pan American Highway. Traffic was fairly light and the weather was bright, then becoming hot and humid as the day wore on.

The road surface was not perfect but the potholes were generally avoidable. I relaxed and started to enjoy motoring again. David is a city some 30 miles from the frontier with Costa Rica and approximately 300 miles from Panama City, so the driving time would not be too long. We were stopped a couple of times at police checkpoints and where the officers were friendly and thought that Bridget was great.

When we were about 45 miles from David we were following a 3 tonne delivery truck and on rounding a bend I saw more police. We were almost parallel with them before one of the officers saw Bridget and waved his arm at us and blew on his whistle. We pulled over to the side of the road as quickly as we could but because he was so late in seeing us we were clearly 40 feet past him. I reversed Bridget back up to where the patrol car was parked and the officer came over and asked me for my passport and drivers licence. I gave him these and got out of the car. It was quickly obvious that this was no ordinary checkpoint, but a speed check set-up. The second officer was writing and talking to an American male who was later joined by his oriental travelling companion. The American passed some dollars to the officer who took them and tucked them into his ticket book. I was about to say to the American ‘there are no on-the-spot-fines in Panama’ when I realised this was not a fine. The American said “No receipt eh, well no record then, fine”. With this he left.

On the roof of the patrol car was a hand-held speed gun and whenever a car came towards the checkpoint the officer would look up from his writing and squeeze the trigger, then instruct his partner to pull the car over. The gun was pointed at traffic coming from the opposite direction from which I had arrived. The way in which he was using the gun was totally against the manufacturers operating instructions and in the UK would have rendered each ticket invalid if challenged.

Then the officer said to me that I had been travelling at 92kph and the speed limit was 60 to 75kph. I said, “Is it 60 or 75, it can’t be both?” I added, “The speed gun is on the roof of your car and you were processing the American when I arrived so how do you know what speed I was travelling?”. He said that his fellow officer saw me and that is what he said my speed was!! I said that if he was that good, why bother buying a speed gun? He said that I would be fined $US66 and waited clearly expecting me to make an alternate offer. I said write out the ticket. He did this and told me to sign the form; which I refused as it was in Spanish and I couldn’t read it. He said that I was not to try to leave the country until the fine was paid, and I was somewhat impolite about what he could do with his speed gun.

The following morning we made our way to the border and took just under two hours to get through the formalities which is really quite good. We entered Costa Rica just after 10:15am and we have car insurance for this country. In Panama it appears to be optional but for Costa Rica it is a requirement and it can be purchase for $US15 at the frontier.

We have started a new navigation system. I tried to purchase a road map of Central America whilst in Panama but couldn’t get one anywhere, so I thought we would just use a compass from here on.

The drive from the frontier to San Jose, the capital city of Costa Rica, was the most enjoyable relaxing drive since the Gold Coast in Australia. The road condition was generally good and the scenery was beautiful. Although only just over 220 miles from the frontier to the city the drive does take around 4½ hours largely because it is single carriageway and a very winding road. There is also a mountain range involved that is beautiful but not as breath-taking as the Andes, however it still rises 12,000 feet; that is around 2½ miles up. Bridget went up there like the proverbial rat up a drainpipe. She was showing off and I only hope that this isn’t the pride before the fall, but I was really pleased with her performance today.

San Jose is an expensive city and for the life of me I can’t figure out why. Prices are similar to many European capitals but there is no other comparison. Fuel prices here are 60% higher than Panama, hotel rooms are on par with Brussels, Vienna and Florence. Restaurants and bars are much the same as the UK in price terms but way off of that for quality. Funnily enough though according to one international report Costa Ricans are the second happiest people in the world! That is qualified as ‘happy with their cultural conditions and their government’.

We rested over Wednesday and then struck out on Thursday for Nicaragua. The road condition was once again really very good but it was only a single carriageway and quite winding so the traffic was bad and progress slow for the first 90 miles. After that getting to the frontier was a very pleasant experience with beautiful scenery including lots of mountains again. There are also several volcanoes along the route including some that are currently active. Unfortunately due to the traffic, the lack of anywhere to park and considerable low cloud I was unable to take any photos at all in Costa Rica. I think this is the first country that has happened.

The border crossing today was dreadful, taking 4 hours in all. So it was 4:00pm by the time I got back on the road still with 100 miles to go. Luckily I made it to Managua as dark fell, because I have been warned not to drive here after dark. Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries in Central America which is quickly evident. The country itself it pleasant enough with varied countryside all very green. Just a couple of miles in from the border is a huge lake with two classic volcanoes on the far side. Had conditions been better it would have made a great photo.

This week is a serious driving week and tomorrow I intend to leave here, cross Honduras and make for San Salvador, capital of El Salvador. I am going to try and reach the Mexican border over the weekend.

Friday’s drive from Nicaragua to San Salvador was marred by another awful border crossing from Honduras into El Salvador. The crossing from Nicaragua into Honduras took a little over an hour but from Honduras into El Salvador took over four hours and meant driving in the dark to San Salvador, the Capital. Along the way I met up with an American author and his Costa Rican travelling companion. He said they were going to follow me all the way to the States!

Saturday and as planned Bridget and I moved on to Guatemala City and one day away from the Mexican border. Almost everyone keeps telling me that Mexico is dangerous, so it was refreshing to get another opinion today that the whole danger ‘thing’ is over hyped. Certainly we shouldn’t travel at night otherwise normal precautions are fine. I expect it to take us until the end of next week to make the US border.

It is my intention that we will enter the USA via Laredo and drive up to Dallas. From there we will continue across country to Flagstaff, Grand Cayon, Las Vegas and up to San Francisco. Who knows after that?

Well the initial news reports about the Saturday earthquake were fairly accurate, it measured 6.2 on the Richter scale and although a few houses were destroyed along with a couple of bridges there were no serious injuries. Sunday evening we had another quake, this time measuring only 5.3 on the Richter scale, so it hardly counts!

Although still a few miles away, I am also keeping an eye on the situation in Honduras which I hope will be peacefully resolved before I get there. Personally I am backing the BRIDGET for PRESIDENTE campaign although she will have to fulfil several overseas visits before getting down to sorting out the domestic issues.

Friday 10^th July, I went with the local agent to Colon which is the port where Bridget was delivered. We presented various documents together with a dozen copies of each to the authorities late yesterday and they confidently said that I would be able to collect the car today. We duly reported to the main port customs office just after 8:00am and were greeted by a gentleman that seemed to know my agent. We then waited for the statutory minimum three and a half hours before being told the chief honcho was not coming after all and so the man we first met signed our papers and stamped them with considerable official flair.

From there we went to the container port where they would bring the container to us to be opened in the presence of a customs officer.

Forty-five minutes later the container arrived, I checked the numbers on the seals to be sure they hadn’t been changed and the customs man watched as the doors were opened. He then went back to his office and left us to undo all the ropes, etc., that had held Bridget in place for the journey. Things were going well and all the papers were stamped and copied and signed…….. The last thing remaining was for the customs officer to check the car and contents and we could be on our way. He came out, looked around the car smiled and said “Nice car” and we trooped back into his office. He picked up all the papers and said “NO”. They’ve declared her ‘Persona non grata’! A long exchange of viewpoints then pursued between the agent and the customs officer and it became clear to me that they were discussing the right-hand drive aspect of Bridget. It transpires that Panama have introduced a new law making the driving of such vehicles in Panama illegal, just like Peru.

They brought in a translator and said I would have to transport the car out of the country; I refused. They said that I should call the British Embassy and I told them the embassy would say “That is your problem”. Then one of the officers suggested, absolutely seriously, “Just leave it here and go without it.” Yes, I refused, and informed them that we would just stay there until they found a way around the problem. After all in three days we would be in Costa Rica.

Eventually after many phone calls it was suggested that we went to the local Transit Office in the town and see if they could help. This we did and they immediately said that I could have a temporary import licence because I was a tourist and the car is a classic. It would appear that the customs are not fully aware of what is and is not allowed, but once again stonewalling paid off. Several new forms had to be completed and then a man sprayed Bridget with some sort of insecticide. We were then set free!!

Saturday 12^th July and I gave Bridget her first 6,000 mile service since re-building her engine. I am glad to report she is running really smoothly and everything appears to be in good order. Her rear tyres are starting to wear and I will need to keep an eye on them, but they have been really excellent covering over 40,000 miles so far.

I was going to get on the road to David, a city in the north of the country near to the Costa Rican border, but I have been told that there is a classic car event in the city tomorrow and so I will stay for the extra day and leave on Monday.

I went along to the event in the heart of Panama City this morning with no expectation of what I was going to see. It transpired that there are two active, thriving clubs in the country, one for any classic or sports car and the other specifically for American classic cars. Both were represented and there was an interesting turnout of cars from a 1930 Chevrolet to a Packard, 1934 Chevrolet as well as Corvettes, a Cadillac and Stingray. There was also a beautiful Fiat and Alpha Spyder representing Europe along with Bridget of course. We were of course made very welcome which is the Panamanian way.

Well that’s it from Panama City as tomorrow we hit the road north towards Costa Rica to see what that holds in store for us.

Well the initial news reports about the Saturday earthquake were fairly accurate, it measured 6.2 on the Richter scale and although a few houses were destroyed along with a couple of bridges there were no serious injuries. Sunday evening we had another quake, this time measuring only 5.3 on the Richter scale, so it hardly counts!

There is rapidly increasing tension in Panama City however caused by two really stupid shipping agents. Unfortunately until they calm down and sort themselves out Bridget is held captive. My plan had been to collect her today and do a 6,000 mile service tomorrow before driving on to the border with Costa Rica. So unless they get a grip there is every chance of a major eruption from me shortly.

Although still a few miles away, I am also keeping an eye on the situation in Honduras which I hope will be peacefully resolved before I get there. Personally I am backing the BRIDGET for PRESIDENTE campaign although she will have to fulfil several overseas visits before getting down to sorting out the domestic issues.

We now seem to have wrested the attention of our North American cousins and several invitations have been gratefully received for Bridget to visit. It remains to be seen, however, if they are anywhere near as generous as our Australian friends were. It will be a hard act to follow. I am hoping that one of the big Vegas entertainment hotels, with a social conscience, will sponsor an appearance by Bridget and hopefully some of the Car Owners clubs can help. We are prepared to do most things, although Bridget has drawn the line at ‘jumping the Grand Canyon’. Mind the way she flew in India after hitting that speed hump…..

I am currently very aware of how helpful it can be for people doing similar journeys to this, if someone that has already trodden the path has a few tips to share, so here goes:

• Take considerable time to select a shipping agent before arriving at a port. They are not sitting waiting and their service varies dramatically. Highly recommended in Buenos Aires is Addax Cargo, e-mail addax@addax.com.ar  In Ecuador avoid Logística Internacional S.A.  LOGISTSA 
• Right-hand drive cars are illegal in Peru, but you can probably get away with it
• Right-hnad drive cars are illegal in Panama, since 2008 and the customs are trying to enforce it. Currently it is possible to get a special pass from the local ‘Transit’ office, allowing you to drive through the country if you are a tourist.
• There are no ‘on the spot fines’ in Australia, or South America, so do not offer any cash to any police officers
• Although Argentina, Chile, Peru and Ecuador officially require carnets for your vehicle, they are rarely demanded, so don’t offer
• There are many myths about what you must do. For example I was told I had to have an address in Panama before I would be allowed entry. Nonsense. In most cases if a ‘requirement’ is illogical they are rarely enforced.
• Petrol throughout South America comes in 95, 90, 89, 84 octane. I strongly recommend avoiding all but the 95. In emergency take 90 but try to use a filter funnel. I can recommend ‘Mr Funnel’ even with a name like that it really is good, saved me a few times in Pakistan.

Well I am still hopeful that we will be able to move off before the weekend. I’ll keep you posted.

It’s a funny old life, sometimes it would be better to just go back to bed and wait for tomorrow. My first day in Panama and I came down to breakfast early; I had too the traffic noise outside my bedroom window made it impossible to sleep any longer. The hotel agreed to move me into a quieter room and I should have realised then that it would be best to stay there.

Breakfast is normally a very straightforward affair, cereal, fruit juice, toast and marmalade, and coffee. Toast; the most common breakfast item anywhere in the world except Panama. They have a kitchen where the chef will prepare all sorts of delicious dishes from around the globe, but he can’t do toast.

I took a taxi to the shipping agent, my first priority, so that any paperwork problems could be sorted out before Bridget arrives on Monday. The agent wants money before he does anything. I explained that all costs have been paid to the agent in Ecuador, but he looks doubtful and I have a funny feeling that this subject is going to come back again on Monday.

When I had finished at the agents I discovered that my mobile phone wouldn’t work in Panama and so I decided to go to the shops and perhaps buy another one that will work from here to Canada. This I managed and then I thought I should get some more cash from an ATM. I tried four and they all said that they couldn’t complete the transaction and referred me to my bank. Initallly I blamed my bank but it transpires that the chip is most likely faulty.

With only $20 in my pocket I decided that I would have to change some traveller’s cheques for my immediate needs. None of the eight banks I tried would change the cheques, including such international institutions as HSBC, BNP and Citi bank. As they all sell this product in most European countries they should be prepared to accept them at all their branches.

Then to finish off the day, as I started out at a brisk walk for the hotel the skies literally opened and one of the noisiest thunder storms I have witnessed in a very long time emptied itself all over me. Somebody said it wasn’t personal, but I am not so sure.

Perhaps tomorrow will bring a ray of sunshine, it can’t get much worse; can it?

It is now 2:15am and I was awoken twenty minutes ago by a violent shaking. Panama has just suffered an earthquake which is I am told unusual here. Even though I have never experienced  such an event before I knew what it was and I was getting out of bed even as I awoke, but my brain was questioning what was going through my mind.

I jumped into a pair of shorts and left my room and immediately confirmed the situation. People were milling about and it became clear that as a heavy sleeper I was one of the latter risers. I walked from my fifth floor room down to the hotel lobby and most people were making their way outside. A night porter told me that such a strong quake was very unusual and that we should wait in case of aftershocks. We won’t know until the morning what strength the quake was or if in fact we were only on the periphery of it.

News reports this morning are saying that the earthquake was centred on the Panama/Costa Rica border some 400 miles north of here. It measured 6.5 on the Richter scale and was at a depth of 15 miles. Initial reports said that there were no reported casualties or damage.

My last days in Ecuador have been spent in Guayaquil. This is Ecuador’s largest port and an intriguing city in that nothing is what it appears to be. The cathedral at first glance is a magnificent structure probably from the 18^th or early 19^th Century. In fact when you look closer at the detail you will notice that the beautiful stained glass windows are in fact modern, what I would refer to as printed. As late as 1915 the building was little more than a large brick-built warehouse with a reasonably imposing frontage. There is also a clock tower which would not look out of place on the esplanade of an English seaside resort; indeed the clock was purchased from England in 1842 and is still keeping good time. Teach the Swiss a thing or two about timepieces.

Although I am guessing I would say there are very few, if any, buildings here that are a hundred years old and in their original appearance. That does not detract from the fact that it is a pleasant city with a number of attractions. However in this area the main tourist attraction has to be as a jump-off point to the Galapagos Islands.

I however have neither the time nor money to spend on visiting them and so I did the next best thing which was to cross the road from my hotel to Seminario Park. Here there is a large colony of Iguanas, turtles and Ecuadorian squirrels.

I have been a little pre-occupied trying, so far in vain, to get Bridget loaded into a container for the trip to Panama. The ship is due to leave on Tuesday 30^th June and today is Saturday 27^th June. I have just returned to my hotel having spent over 5 hours trying to gain access to the port only to be refused entry because a particular piece of paper is missing and the chief Honcho is not working today so nobody will complete the process. We have to return Monday morning to make a final attempt or miss the boat!

Success at last, but at a price. Today I met the main contender for ‘most officious customs officer in the world’. We locked horns very early in the proceedings and things went downhill from there. At one stage he indicated that he wanted the engine removed at which point I said, “If you want the bloody thing out you can f…..g well do it, sunshine”. After such an inexcusable out burst he appeared to become more reasonable, but everything was removed from the interior and the boot. However after all the games Bridget finally was put to bed in her container. She has become such a beast since her engine rebuild that they tied her down in much the same way as the safari guys secure big game when transporting them; each wheel was lashed with ropes tied off at an angle of around 110º. I am returning to my hotel to organise a flight for myself and then await her arrival.

My journey through South America has been memorable for many different reasons. First, and foremost, has been the scenery throughout almost the total route; the desert areas and of course the Andes sometimes completely barren and at others covered in dense vegetation. Secondly has been the children so clearly the core of many the Indian communities throughout South American countries, and finally the driving; probably some of the most punishing for Bridget, but also the most exhilarating for me once we had completed each section. The drive over the mountains to Cuenca will always be with me.

My final night in Guayaquil was exceptionally poignant that will stay with me forever. My shipping agents partner makes a considerable contribution to local charities. She asked if I would like to visit one of the projects that she is managing and jointly funding with the Ecuador Government. The whole area was, until two years ago, waterlogged swamp which has now been reclaimed and is given over to a large population of the city’s poorest residents. They are building a school, that I was shown around, that by normal education standards in Europe would be considered basic but for them is palatial; and in addition there are several community projects being piloted. The most ambitious is a self help employment scheme that they hope will give work to 100 individuals. The plight of the children in the shanty buildings was difficult to comprehend but they display amazing resilience and, above all, hope.

Bridget and I should be back in action around the 8^th July when we will tackle Central America.