March 27, 2018 - Huatabampito, Mexico to Tucson, AZ

Tobey spotted one dolphin, but it was out quite a ways, so we didn’t linger since today was a long travel day.  We were up and ready to hit the road by 7:30.  There was definitely a front moving through and we battled winds most of the day, making it seem longer.Sonora, Mexico also has lots of agriculture and there were lots of workers in the fields early as we made our way north. We stopped at a small roadside restaurant in Hermosillo, Mexico to have our last fish tacos for lunch.They were delicious – just what we needed before the final long push to the border.

It only took about 15 minutes to clear Mexican customs, turning in our vehicle permits and tourist permits. About 15 miles up the road and thirty minutes later we got into the “fast” lane for US Customs. We were able to pass miles of trucks before we had to merge into the line of cars to our right and then move to the far right lane! Tobey is a pro at Mexican merging traffic now, so that was actually not bad.We got into the Buses and RV lane about 5 pm. There must have been a bus at the front of the line because it took 2 hours before we made it to the US customs and immigration check point and it looked like there were only 8 RVs in front of us!  Once we got to the front of the line and answered a few questions, had the passports checked, and refrigerator contents inspected, we were free to go. Our actual time was about 10 minutes!A stop in Nogales, Arizona for gas and we were heading to Tucson where we arrived about 8:45 pm. We spent the night at our friend, Roger’s, house and had a LATE dinner. We called it an early night after our 482 mile drive today.

March 26, 2018 - Las Glorias to Huatabampito

We took a quick walk out to the beach to watch the guys clamming this morning before we left Las Glorias. Six years ago there was a LARGE clamming operation with lots of trucks and men working; today there just a few. We wondered if areas can be “fished out” for clams like they are for other types of fish.We passed this guy with his clamming equipment on our way to Guasave. He may have another job in town he needed to get to.Sinaloa is the considered the breadbasket of Mexico with all of its agriculture. This area was composting tomatoes that weren’t up to par in the fields next to one of the large processing plants.We noticed a couple areas with large trash bags along the side of the road and saw these guys doing trash pick up. After 176 miles we arrived at Huatabampito beach. It has changed a lot in 6 years. While the road behind the dunes is the same, the beach is very different. We talked to a young man who is visiting his grandparents here. About three months ago, a weird algae has been washing ashore along with lots of small, sardine-sized fish. The shoreline is almost muddy and we saw kids making mud balls and throwing them at each other. Several areas had a strong stink where the fish have accumulated. We had originally planned to stay two nights, but will only stay one.We did see three or four dolphins playing in the water, which made it worth the long drive out to this beach.  After we parked, the wind came up and we had to close everything up because the sand was coming in every vent! The RV and motorcycle are covered in dirt and will need a thorough cleaning when we get back to the States!

We did get a nice, but brief view of the sunset. Tomorrow will be a dash for the border, so goodnight for now!

March 25, 2018 - Las Glorias

Patience pays off. This morning Tobey was watching out the window and spotted dolphins – four in all. They swam past heading south then back to the north. Thirty minutes later, the show was over but we were happy to have seen them!

On a long walk on the beach we saw these guys digging for clam in the sand. They have a shovel type devise with a net attached that they drag through the sand and find the clams. It looked like hard work with small rewards.We also saw a large fishing trawler go by. We remembered seeing this little straw privacy boxes along the beach here from our last trip. They are actually bathrooms! I’m not sure I would want to use them, but if you gotta go, you gotta go and at least you have some privacy!The lifeguards and Marines patrol this beach, too. It’s probably a good thing since there are  so many people on this beach who consume a fair amount of alcohol. Cars and ATVs race up and down the beach, too!We watched as this bus pulled along the sand and parked just in front of us. There must have been 25 people that got out. They ended up setting up an awning and chairs and spent most of the day. About 5pm, they packed up and headed back down the beach – and got stuck in the sand! It took them a while, but they finally got out.The truck facing away from the other two in the next picture was also stuck in the sand. The truck and jeep were attempting to pull him free. We watched them try several different ways of pulling him out for about 20 minutes and he was still stuck! We didn’t stay any longer to see how they got him out, but he eventually made it out.Getting stuck in the sand seemed to be one of the events of the day. A car tried to pull onto  the beach in front of our RV and dug his front end into the sand. Tobey went out with his shovel and some of our leveling boards and tried to help them get free. They dug and pushed and Tobey got covered in sand, but it took a truck coming along with a tow strap to finally get him out. The wife turned to me while they were working and in English said, “that’s what happens when you tell them not to drive the car onto the beach. They just don’t listen!” It cracked me up! He made it a point to come over to the RV after they got free to thank Tobey again for helping! We are camped by this 3-level house. The owner, Jorge, stopped by this afternoon. The house had been damaged in one of the tropical storms and he is trying to get some repairs done. He wondered if we had a knife to cut some screen. We had scissors and he was happy to use that. He was telling us that if we need anything to let him know. He owns a hotel in Guasave, a town about 40km from here and we were welcome to come stay there or at his house!

Late in the afternoon, this airplane buzzed the beach several times – sometimes what looked to be about 10 feet above the beach! This was one of its higher trips over the beach.Another day in paradise ended with a beautiful sunset.

March 24, 2018 - Playa Ceuta to Las Glorias, Mexico

We had an early wake-up call today whether we wanted it or not. A Mexican family parked their car right behind our RV and had their music and bass booster blaring at 6:30 this morning! Our entire RV was vibrating from their music. Since it was impossible to sleep, we got up and went for a walk before breakfast. Cindy was getting ready to leave and she was talking to the guy that owns the fancy house across from the Malecon. It turns out that we met Brian six years ago! He’s a retired US Marine living here at Playa Ceuta and built his house with the intention of having a B&B. When he finished, he decided to just keep it for himself! He was telling us that one of the rich ranchers near here has plans to develop the open space between his house and the restaurant where we parked into a 5Star resort! There are plans for a second, 50-room hotel just south of his place. What a shame that this quiet little beach will become a mega-resort area. We are glad we got to see it again as its sleepy little area.

We were on the road by 8:30 and continued through the “breadbasket” of Sinaloa. The cornfields go on forever and both of us commented that it reminded us of Iowa! There are lots of grain elevators, also.We also went by several large greenhouse operations – most of them seem to be for tomatoes.We have seen lots of people bicycling, but seldom just for the fun of riding – it is usually as a means of transportation. This group of guys were out for a fun ride with the car you see acting as their support.We went by some interesting places. This one was called Excalibur. It was some kind of entertainment center and there was a waterpark next to it.  It was huge!We also passed the Paris Hotel. Can someone please let Las Vegas know where the Eiffel Tower is??I’m not sure if I have posted a photo of the PEMEX stations or not. PEMEX is the national gasoline station in Mexico. It used to be that the price for gas was the same everywhere in Mexico. That has changed a little, but it is more regional now. We have paid as little as $17.30 per liter up to $18.20 per liter. ($3.65 - $3.85USD/gallon). Six years ago very few stations took credit cards, but that has changed. Most take them – however, the US credit cards don’t always work with their machines! We always have them check before pumping, just in case we need to pay in pesos so we have enough! We were able to fill our fresh water tank today after we got gas so we should be good for another four or five days!Our goal today was to get to the beach at Las Glorias. Google maps is not always your friend! We went down 10 or more miles of gravel roads through cornfields and it wanted us to take several dirt canal roads. We managed to FINALLY find our way to a decent road that would get us to Las Glorias, but it was DEFINITELY not the way we got here six years ago – and definitely at least 2 hours extra! Now comes the crazy part – when we turned onto the beach road in town, there was another RV parked here and they had Colorado license plate! We tried to find the owners so we could say hello, but they never showed up!We did meet a guy from the Phoenix area, Reno, who was here with his family for Semana Santa vacation. (Easter Holy Week) He was really nice and showed us another area of the beach we might consider camping at. While the beach area was great, most of the sand was too soft for our RV, so we headed back toward town.

We talked to a couple local policemen and they said we could park on the street near the beach and they would be patrolling. There are lots of folks camped in tents on the beach and plenty of ATVs were racing up and down the beach. Now that the sun has gone down, things have quieted down. We are looking forward to a quieter night!

March 23, 2018 - Playa Ceuta

We walked to the south end of the beach before breakfast and watched a couple fishing boats come in. It was fun to see them getting their gear picked up and fileting fish.This beach is unusual in that there is a security guard who patrols and another man who walked up and down the Malecon and the beach picking up trash. There are trash barrels all along the Malecon – something you rarely see. While it is a rocky beach, there is something special about this place!We met a woman, Cindy, from Des Moines, Iowa who was traveling back to the US along with her dog, Macy. She is an artist and just purchased some land in Lo De Marcos and is going to build a house there. She was camping in her car and is pretty independent. We enjoyed spending time with her today and hearing about her adventures. She was as surprised as we were to see other “gringos” on this beach!

Around noon today, the clouds we had seen on the horizon starting moving inland and in no time, we were in a fog! It was weird to see.It lasted a couple hours, then blew off! While it was still foggy, four police vehicles pulled in and stopped a car at the end of the road behind us. They thoroughly searched the vehicle, then let it go. There must have been at least 30 soldiers with rifles at attention all along the street and around the vehicle – and behind and next to us! When they finished the little silver car drove away. After the car left, the soldiers all started taking pictures and selfies in the fog. We weren’t sure what was going on, but as they loaded up and left, they all waved goodbye to us, smiling!By 2pm, the sky was once again clear! This is the one fancy looking place on the beach. There is a US and Mexican flag on the house at the back. We’re not sure if it is a private residence or something else. Around 4pm, the fog started to roll back in, but it didn’t make it all the way to the shore. It was definitely a strange weather day!We went to the restaurant at our end of beach for dinner tonight. We did the popularity comparison of the restaurants and this one had more than 12 cars there almost all day. The one at the other end of the beach had one. Tobey ordered the molecajete which is the stone bowl used for grinding foods. In had a mixed seafood dish (shrimp, fish, octopus, oysters and veggies) in aguachile (chile spiced soup). He said it was a little spicy. I’m glad I ordered the fried fish filet with rice and salad, which was excellent.We have been on the lookout for dolphins but this is the closest we have come to spotting them so far. Wish us luck tomorrow for the real thing!We weren’t sure whether the sunset would be pretty tonight with all of the fog and clouds, but it turned out nice. We wanted to stay outside and watch it longer, but the mosquitos started coming out with big appetites, so we headed inside. Tomorrow we head a little further north.

March 22, 2018 - Teacapan to Playa Ceuta, Mexico

We took a walk on the beach before breakfast hoping to see dolphins, but we didn’t have any luck. We said goodbye to our many friends before we, too, flew the coop!We drove about five miles south to the town of Teacapan to look at the Malecon. It was busy with fishermen coming and going, but we got a chuckle out of the trash barrels. They all had a marine theme – perfect for the seaside.We couldn’t find ONAK, the RV park we stayed at six years ago yesterday, so we looked up the GPS coordinates and drove there this morning. It is now called the Color Marino Villas and RV Park, but there wasn’t anyone there. It looked to be in really nice condition, but there is a barbed wire fence around it and the road getting into it was in terrible condition. We parked and walked down near the beach and  saw one caretaker, but no one else. All of the white pads are for RVs to park with a view of the ocean. After looking online, it seems like it is closed. So sad.We again passed fields of peppers and tomatoes on our way back to the highway. There are low concrete pads in the back and they build fires under the blocks and had chiles roasting. Others are out on large tarps, drying.This was one of the commercial drying companies we went by.We saw several trucks and tractors with bags of chiles on their way to the processing centers.A few days back our generator’s exhaust pipe came off the RV. We heard it dragging and were able to stop and retrieve it. Tobey has been searching for a “mofles” (muffler) repair shop ever since. On our way out to the beach, we spotted this one, but they were closed. On the way into Escuinapa, we saw they were open so we stopped. They were able to “MacGuiver” parts together in order to get it back on. They needed to drill a hole in a part and couldn’t find their drill, so Tobey said they used a blow torch to make one! We actually had a really nice time visiting with the mechanic’s family while he and his partner worked on the RV. We met his wife and children, and even his mother and father when they stopped by! His wife was very friendly and the two eleven year olds were learning English in school, but they were shy to use it! It was good practice for all of us – my Spanish got a workout as well as their English. We shared pictures on our phones to show each other families and home. When the repairs were finished, they invited us to come back and visit them when we return to Mexico! $200 pesos – about $11 USD - and we were on our way in less than an hour.Back on the road we did a bypass around Mazatlán because neither of really wanted to stay there. We followed lots of trucks for a while and were a bit nervous about being behind this truck loaded with what we think is jicama. If one of those bounced out at 50 mph, it might do some serious damage to our windshield! We were lucky to pass him.We came on this accident. It looked like the semi had flipped, but no other vehicles were involved. They were busy unloading the trailer onto another truck before the tow truck would try to move the truck.We followed the free road through the mountains and high desert. The landscape was so different from all of the fields of mango and avocado trees, corn, tomato and chili fields it was kind of a surprise.For the last part of our drive to Playa Ceuta, we were back on the toll road. The exit to Playa Ceuta is a small one – a dirt road! It is also the onramp! No merging onto this divided highway, you just go!We parked and walked on the Malecon so we could check out the two restaurants. They close early – about 5pm, so we will wait and have dinner there tomorrow. We saw these cowboys riding on the beach and watched a few families in the water. We are camped on the Malecon and will spend a couple nights here. Even though the beach is rocky, it is a pleasant spot.