Mexico 2012 - un viaje mas grande - Day 4 December 30, Eagle Pass, TX to Satillo, Mexico

After what seemed like a short night (the roosters next door started crowing at 3:45) and a quick stop at McDonalds to access WIFI, we were on our way. 

When you are traveling in an RV you need to remember YOU ARE A TRUCK at border crossings! We crossed the border at Piedras Negras.  Bridge One is for cars and the lanes are VERY narrow. Bridge Two is for trucks and the lanes are wider. We were “lucky” enough to be chosen for closer inspection so we had to pull over while the immigration folks went through the RV checking things out.

We went south on the cuota (toll road) 57 and about 35KM later we arrived at Allende, where we got our tourist visas and vehicle permits. $700USD in vehicle deposits and $100USD in tourist visa fees and 2 hours later we were “lucky” enough to be chosen AGAIN for further inspection! This fellow looked in EVERY drawer and cabinet, as well as under our mattress!  By 11:15 we were FINALLY on the road!

We were careful to observe the speed limits, even though most of the Mexicans sped by us like we were standing still!  The Mexicans do have an interesting method for passing you on the highway – you move over onto the shoulder and they whiz by you straddling the center line! Effective and everyone seems to be okay with it. Past Monclova we went through some beautiful mountainous areas. This is some of the area.

 

We arrived in Saltillo about 4 pm and checked out the Hotel Imperial RV park first but they were too pricey – $350 pesos a night – about $25USD. We also tried to find a TEL-CEL store and spent over an hour hunting that down but would have to wait in line another hour to get served! Then to add insult to injury, we learned of another Mexican custom, we had to pay to park in the shopping mall parking lot! On to our second choice RV Park – La Fuente Hotel. We got here at 7 pm and it was only $150 pesos and very nice people! 

25.42921°N, 100.94967°W
If you want to see our nightly check-in spots you can click on this link. http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0Zke2Wv2aNUaveSGdFV6k62uEZN55P7s1

Mexico 2012 – un viaje mas grande Day 3 December 29 Marathon to Eagle Pass, TX

We experienced our first (and hopefully the worst) mishap last night. Against our better judgment we did not unhook our water hose to the RV (the campground host said it wouldn’t freeze).  We left the water drip inside but it wasn’t enough to prevent the hose from freezing when the outside temperature dropped to 30. Fortunately, the hose didn’t burst. We unhooked it and carefully carried it inside to warm up – with the assistance of my hair dryer! Once thawed, we reattached it to ensure everything was in working order and we were on our way.

There is a lot of desert between Marathon (#9 on the map) and Eagle Pass (#12)! We saw a couple of roadrunners along the way – but no Wiley Coyote. Between Quemado and Normandy we passed several pecan groves with lots of stands where you could buy pecans. We debated it, but decided we didn’t want to have to figure out how to shell them!

We stopped in Del Rio to resupply at Walmart and had our tires checked. One of the rear inside tires was very low, so we need to keep an eye on it. We rechecked it at the Walmart in Eagle Pass and it was okay. Who knows what is going on!

We camped at the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino (28.61325°N, 100.43906°W). It wasn’t lucky for me - I lost $10 in the slot machines! I am such a big gambler! Tobey played poker and was up $80, he should have quit as he went back and ended up even – guess that isn’t so bad for an evening’s entertainment. 

Today we drove 241 miles. Tonight I am double checking all of our paperwork since tomorrow we cross into Mexico! Adios until we post again.

Mexico 2012 – un viaje mas grande – Day 2 (December 28, 2011) Marfa, TX to Marathon, TX

When the alarm went off at 6:45 this morning neither of us wanted to climb out of bed. It was toasty warm under the covers and the outside temperature had dropped to 29 overnight! (57 in the RV) We drove back to Marfa to find a WIFI hotspot and were able to post Day 1. Marfa is a pretty little town with lots of churches and some interesting looking historic buildings. Tobey read that it has become an active arts community. We may have to return this way another time!
Today we traveled from Marfa to Marathon – normally a 55 mile journey. We, however, took the scenic route to scout out Big Bend National Park. Our route was 231 miles in the RV, plus 18 on the scooter.

“Crowned with a sky so wide that it threatens to define infinity, the Big Bend region of Texas is situated roughly west of San Antonio, east of El Paso, and north of the mythic Rio Grande river. It remains one of the last true frontiers in the Lower 48, a landscape unique in the world.”  Taken from Road Trip: The Borderlands of Texas From National Geographic's Drives of a Lifetime Series.  http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/road-trips/borderlands-texas-road-trip/
We headed south from Marfa on Hwy. 67 to Presidio. We passed through Shafter which has many abandoned buildings and ruins from the Presidio Mining Company heyday in the 1880s. Once we turned onto Hwy. 170 we followed the Rio Grande along the U.S./ Mexico border. We noticed lots of border patrol trucks and went through several check points. This is definitely a desolate part of our country!

Near Terlingua, we passed by the quicksilver mining area. Most of the mines in this region went bankrupt in the 1940s when cheaper sources of mercury were found in Spain.

We continued on to Big Bend National Park. The park is over 800,000 acres. We opted for the quick tour on the main road through the park – not really a good exploration, but enough for us today. When we got to the Panther Visitor Center, we unhooked the scooter and drove up the Chisos Basin Trail. It was a curvy 6 mile road, but fun.

Views on the Chisos Basin trail in Big Bend.

We arrived at our campground, the Marathon Motel and RV Park, and plan to relax tonight. We are hooked up to water and looking forward to hot showers and dinner.

Mexico 2012 – un viaje mas grande – Day 1 (Dec. 27, 2011) Scottsdale, AZ to Marfa, TX

After a busy week in the Valley of the Sun (Phoenix area) with our families, we are once again on the road – without our dog. We decided to leave Penny with our moms rather than subject her to the 7600 mile journey on which we are embarking (not including our drive from Colorado to Arizona!).

Over the last couple of days we had some work to do on the RV. Tobey had the tires checked again and found they were not inflated properly and got that corrected. We filled with gas, got propane, reloaded the scooter, and installed a locking gas cap. We are opting to wait to add water as the forecasted temperatures for our first couple of nights are below freezing. Guess that means no showers tomorrow! Tobey and Tyler also installed new carpet on the steps with the assistance of my sister’s handy grommet tool. Thanks, Bette.

We got on the road at 6:15 and promptly took off on the wrong route. We neglected to look at our Streets and Trips map and headed out on I-10 through Tucson instead of following Hwy. 60 to Hwy. 70 through Superior, Arizona. After a 29 mile addition to our trip, we reconnected to our intended route near Lordsburg, NM.

Just east of Bowie, AZ we were surprised to see patches of snow along the road – not like our Colorado snow, but scattered patches nestled in the shadows of the Joshua trees and scrub cactus. We hoped it will be the last snow that we see this year, but there was scattered snow all across southern New Mexico. We spotted several hawks in the trees along the road, which was fun. We also passed pecan and walnut groves. Near Lordsburg, NM we saw wild javelins along the road.

Driving through El Paso was an experience. Tobey said he could see the fence between the U.S. and Mexico. There was a lot of traffic but we managed to sail on through. Between Valentine and Marfa we were treated to a beautiful sunset.

We camped at the Marfa Lights Viewing Area just outside of Marfa, TX. (GPS 30.27539N 103.88400W) As early as 1883 a cowboy reported seeing strange lights in the sky in this area. There are several theories about what causes it,  but the “atmospheric conditions” must not have been right, because we didn’t see anything.

We drove 643 miles today and averaged 10 miles per gallon.

We’re on our way!

It is amazing how fast the last two weeks have gone. We were in the hunter-and-gatherer mode with piles in several rooms of the house and finally got everything loaded into the RV on Saturday afternoon. In addition to the things needed for the Mexico trip, we needed to have everything for Christmas ready to go with us. At the last minute, Tobey decided to take the RV in to have the tires checked and they reminded him that he was past due for a tire rotation … so three hours later he was home. (I guess he wanted me to have time to finish cleaning house before we left!)

We left home at 6:00 a.m. Sunday morning (to our friends, Phil and Marcia – we CAN get on the road early!) We stopped to pick up our son, Tyler, and were on the highway by 6:30 a.m.

Tobey took the first driving shift. Traffic was light and the roads clear. Just south of Raton, NM I took over driving. We weren’t sure we could make it to Albuquerque for gas so we stopped at Santo Domingo Pueblo to get 5 gallons then cruised on into Albuquerque to fill up 50 gallons at the Costco – only $2.62/gallon! I drove past Grants, NM then Tyler took over.

We made a stop at the WalMart in Gallup for an electrical cord for the IPod and thought we were making great time … and then the rain started. It poured rain from Gallup to Holbrook, AZ, then it turned to snow. We stopped in Holbrook to assess the situation.

Tyler, armed with coffee and Red Bull, continued on. We took AZ Hwy. 377 then Hwy. 277 from Holbrook to Heber. It was near white-out conditions, but Tyler is a very  careful driver, thank goodness! Fortunately there isn’t a lot of traffic, but when the big trucks went by in the opposite direction, the splash back was horrible!  At Heber we picked up Hwy. 260 to Payson. It’s about 60 miles and the roads were wet and slushy, but the snow did change mostly to rain. When the rain finally stopped, the fog settled in.Tyler commented that he ALWAYS gets this lousy stretch of road and bad weather!  When we reached Payson we turned south on Hwy. 87 and had pretty smooth driving into Scottsdale.

We only passed one car in the ditch, but help was already there to pull them out. Arrival at mom’s was midnight – 18 hours after pulling out – about two hours later than anticipated.

Tired, but relieved to be here, we said quick hellos to mom and all went to bed for some much needed sleep. Even Penny was happy to be here!

15 days and counting …

It is hard to believe that we will be leaving home in just two weeks from tomorrow! We will head to Arizona to spend Christmas with our families before we take off on our Mexican adventure.

I would be kidding if I said that I will miss our Colorado winter weather. Last week we were enjoying 60+ degree weather – this week we have had two snow storms and we are working hard to get temperatures in the 30s! Sunny days and beaches, here we come!

Penny, on the other hand, loves the snow! Friday’s storm brought 8 inches of snow, last night’s about 5 inches. Penny tried her hardest to help us shovel the driveway. She had a ball! Check out her youtube video!           https://youtu.be/soqLffQTORQ

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Despite the weather, preparations are ongoing to get this show on the road. Tobey has been busy charting our route. He is using Microsoft’s Streets and Trips, along with Mike and Terri Church’s book, Traveler’s Guide to Mexican Camping. He has the first 60 or so days mapped out with ideas for campgrounds entered into the program. We plan to generally follow the route, but want to be flexible how long we stay in any one location. Right now we plan to enter Mexico at Eagle Pass, Texas, just east of Big Bend National Park. We’ll keep you posted as the trip goes on.

He is also busy getting our music loaded into the I-pod for our listening enjoyment. I think we have enough music to listen 24-7 for about six months so far! It should be fun. He researched Mexican insurance for the motorhome and scooter and made sure our license plates will be up to date. Tobey is one busy guy!

My office is the “staging” area for all the things we need to pack into the motorhome – for the trip and for Christmas! My checklist keeps growing – first aid kit, prescription refills, reading material, clothes, and games. I’ll start gathering food supplies next week.