We made it today, November 2nd, 2010 to Mazatlan from Guayamas, Sonora, Mexico. I have not written for a while because we seem to camp out where there is no wifi. I can't believe it has been since Oct. 25th that I actually put words to computer.
My daughter-in-law (kind of) had mexican pesos for us but we missed seeing them in Arizona. That's ok, we have survived without them.
Well, since my last post we have been to Quartzsite (sp?) where I found this great BIG bead barn. Unfortunately for me the hubby said no more beads. But; he did find a used ladder from the rock guy's place.
We stayed at the Kofa Mountain RV park. It was very nice, but again, very few travellers were there. They had a nice little club house, with a big screen tv but no wifi.
We toodled on up to Parker for an afternoon of shopping (for groceries of course) and a mandatory visit to the local casino. I wouldn't like to stay there. Not much happening. There is a river, I think it is the Colorado, just kidding, of course it is. The casino is situated on the river and has a lovely waterslide built facing the river and marina.
From Q.S. we drove to Yuma and met up with Carol and Walter from Vernon. They stayed in the same park as we did in Lo de Marcos last trip. We decided to travel together but they left at a different time than we did so we met at the VFW on the north end of town. There is a dry camp there behind the VFW. This acronym is short for Veterans of Foreign Wars. We stayed there two days.
Took a look around Yuma finding things we still needed. One thing we really wanted for the rig was sun screening for the front windows and side windows. We found a place that had a special on at SewMaster. We got screening with 85% sun screen in black for the front windows, the driver and passenger side windows and a 20% discount plus a free window cover. We chose the back window. They also gave us window wiper covers. Total bill was just under $275.00 US. I would have had the big side windows done too, but maybe next time.
On Sunday, October 31st we headed south to the border but stopped at the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. What a very interesting place that was for us. I have some pictures but I will put them in when I've made the pixels smaller; easier to open and download for the readers.
Mike claimed he saw wildlife; a rabbit. This park is only a few minutes drive from the Lukeville border crossing.
We had a long wait although there were not many people there. Just slow processing all the necessary papers.
Here is how Mike described the process:
1. Wait in line with passport to fill out application(s) for tourist card(s). The form is a little different this year. It is two sided, I mean that it is split in half. They keep the left side; we get the right side.
2. Turn left, go to Bank to pay for tourist card(s).
3. Go back to first office and get passport(s) and tourist card(s) stamped.
4. Go and get photocopies of passport(s), tourist card(s), vehicle registration(s). Go back past the tourist card door and walk into next building. Young man there to make you photocopies of everything.
4. Go back to Bank with stamped tourist card(s) to get vehicle import card(s).
NB: do not leave your credit card at the Mexican Insurance office in Tuscon. The immigration people like to use your credit card to pay for all of this stuff.
That process took us over an hour. We were not the first in line so of course we had to wait our turn. The bank is pretty small so it gets a little squishy with eight people in there.
This day we only went through two toll booths. Cost was $257.00 Pesos, not dollars.
We drove all the way to Guayamas this day. It was about a seven hour drive. We usually only drive about four hours but we wanted to get out of the border area.
I want to reassure anyone reading this that the road from Lukeville to Guayamas was a beautiful new road. It is a truck route so there were lots of trucks on the road, but the driving was easey-peasey.
We unhooked the car, parked the rig and went shopping. No, it isn't me who goes shopping; it's the food afficionado. Obtaining some pesos was another priority.
We stayed at the Hotel de Cortez. What a beautiful place. The hotel itself was built in the 1930's. It has a lovely lobby where the wifi hot spot was located. Their big patio overlooks the Bay of Cortez. There is lots of room in the rv park behind the hotel and there is a washroom with mens and ladies showers.
If you've never been to Mexico I have an important if a bit gross tip for you. I found out that their sewer systems are not all as sophisticated as ours in Canada and the US. If you are in a rig, do not put toilet paper in your black waste tank. If you are using their toilets, put all toilet tissue in the bins in the cubicles. I know it sounds gross but one does get used to it. In the bigger cities the newer hotels have more sophisticated systems. Just check first.
Other rvers parked near us told us about a pearl farm quite near where we were staying and it was open until 5pm. We hopped back in the car; found the place quite easily and pulled into their parking lot. There is a gift shop there that has pearls set into rings, bracelets, earrings, necklaces, etc.
The sales clerk explained how the pearls are grown. It was a very interesting talk. They operate on the oysters to place the little balls into the oysters. Some balls are round and others are half of the round. The nacre is produced by the oyster when it senses an intruder in its shell. If you have seen Mabe pearls, these are the half round balls that are inserted. They are left in the water for two years and produce beautifully hued pearls with many layers of nacre that won't wear off for years.
It did not cool down overnight, but we left all the windows open in the rig. Bed by 10 pm and up by 5:45. We were on the road by 6:45; on our way to Mazatlan. This was another very long drive for us. We made a couple of pit stops, but for the most part just kept on driving. We never got to Mazatlan until 5pm.
The traffic from Guayamas was heavy, lots of trucks and Mexicans on the roads today. In total we went through nine (yes-9) toll booths. It was a little more expensive this year because we are towing a car.
Mexicans have a celebration called "The Day of the Dead". What it really means is that on the 1st and 2nd of November every year the Mexican families buy flowers and visit their relatives long since deceased. Today driving by the cemetarieswe witnessed the honour that they give their ancestors. There were people everywhere and they all had flowers on hand to lay on the tombstones.
We made it to the San Fernando RV park just after 5pm. After parking, hubby and I both needed showers. It was very humid so even after showering we never cooled down.
We went out for ribs at a place called Fat Fish. It is only about three blocks from the RV park. One of the patrons looked very familiar to us. Turns out they were at the Cortez when we got there. They are slowly making their way to Bucerias. Getting back to the ribs; Mike had the ribs; Walter had the ribs; Carol and I had the rib eye steaks. Good meal and all for 160.00 pesos a couple. Of course that does not cover the cost of the cervazes.
Our next move will be to Lo de Marcos. In the meantime, I will get working on my photos and produce a page of them for your perusal.
Hasta luego, amigos
Holoidays on Holiday
