We reached Tampico in the dark but, before we could enter the city, it was necessary to cross a large toll bridge and we didn't have the correct change. I decided to ride my bike over the bridge and into town to find a banking machine as they don't charge for bikes. It was necessary to go over a massive suspension bridge to get there. On the other side, I found a banking machine and took out enough money to last us awhile. I rode back to the car, strapped the bike back on the top and we drove over the bridge. We slowly made our way through Tampico and drove a short way out of town to find a place to spend the night. I set up my tent for the last time.

        On Saturday, December 21, we packed up and hit the road with the intention of making it to the Mexican-US border. We crossed the Tropic of Cancer as we made our way down the flat, boring road with little in the way of civilization. Then the brakes went on the car again and we were forced to stop in a small town to get them fixed. While that was being done, I decided to take the bike off the car and ride around taking pictures of the speed bumps but, of course, that town had very little in the way of speed bumps. After riding around for awhile shooting some scenes, I returned to the garage to find that my Dad had left. I rode around for about a half hour looking for him and when we finally met, we went into town for lunch and Dad e-mailed an old aquantance in Houston who he hoped to see when we passed through there.

        We reached the American border at Matamoros in the late afternoon. We checked out of Mexico, recovered the $200 bond money and drove to the US Customs. After a few questions, we were on our way. We immediately drove onto a huge freeway and make it to Corpus Christie where we found a picnic spot and stopped for a few hours rest.

        The next morning, we aimed to arrive in Houston by noon but, with an early departure and the smooth open Highway, we arrived there mid-morning. Dad called his friend and reached him just as they were leaving to go to church. We arranged to meet them for lunch. We then found a truck stop and used their shower facilities. After that, we went in search of the restaurant and met Dad's friend in the parking lot of the restaurant. We feasted on an all-you-can-eat buffet, talked about my trip, and Dad and his friend caught up on events of the past forty years.

        After lunch, a toll Highway took us around Houston as we headed to Arkansas. We drove through the area in eastern Texas where the space shuttle Columbia would crash in as few months. It was dark by the time we reached Texarkana so I decided to try and have a sleep. When I awoke, we had passed through Arkansas and were pulling into a gas station just outside of Memphis.

        The journey had become a blur of truck stops, Highways and by-passes as we started a driving marathon to get back to Ottawa by Christmas. We stopped at a rest stop outside of Nashville and I slept in the car as it was starting to get very cold.

        On December 23, we by-passed Nashville and drove on Highway 65 towards Kentucky. From there, we connected with the Bluegrass Parkway where I stopped to shoot some video of the car driving by with the bike on top. In Lexington, we turned north onto Highway 75 towards Cincinnati, by-passed the city and reached Dayton, Ohio as it was getting dark. We stopped in Toledo to gas up and eat and I telephoned home to let my family know where we were. By 11 p.m., we were in Detroit, crossed the bridge and entered Canada.

        We soon found the familiar 401 where my Dad took over the driving. I briefly woke up as we passed through Toronto and the next time I awoke, we were in Cobourg. We stopped for gas and breakfast and then I took over the driving. We visited Dad's friends in Kemptville where I had stayed the first night of my journey and then drove to Barrhaven in the suburbs of Ottawa.