Back in the USA

We arrived in Amado, AZ late last Saturday after a grueling (for driver, Chris) 8 hour trip from San Carlos, MX.

Going against my long standing rule of “Never cross the border on a Saturday”, we left a day earlier than planned and were reminded of why this “rule” was put into place. Trucks, trucks, trucks on the road and loooong lines at the border crossing.

We actually decided to leave on Saturday for some very good reasons.

1) Across the street from the RV park is the beach and the Sea of Cortez. Both are things we very much enjoy – especially Abby whose greatest joy in life is running on the beach and rolling in dead things that have been deposited there by the incoming tide. 

Abby's favorite beach.

Also, across the street is a night club. This building is closed up tight all week long but on Friday and Saturday nights it is one hopping place. Anyone who has been to Mexico knows how much the Mexican people love L-O-U-D music, so on weekend nights, even inside the RV across the street, the boom, boom, boom of the drums and indecipherable but maximum volume of the singers can be heard. Until 3:30 am. Thus, Sundays find us feeling drugged, exhausted and unable to do much of anything aside from napping. Making that drive like that is not a great idea.

2) Always before making a “passage”, we check the weather. The Tucson news channels were already aware that a storm from the Pacific Northwest was heading this way and bringing with it cold temps and (as the weather woman said) “breezy” weather. In a vehicle the size and shape of a tractor trailer, big winds are not optimal. The weather was predicted for Saturday but when Chris looked at windytv.com Saturday morning he exclaimed, “I’m sure glad we decided to leave a day early.” Seems the prediction had changed and Sunday was to be the big wind day.

 

One of the new sections of road. Shoulder is about 3/4 vehicle width.

3) We were told by the office that a 22 vehicle “RV Caravan” was arriving on Saturday. Now, we have witnessed this phenomenon before but with the park already pretty full and the maneuvering room challenging at best, we were happy to skip this particular fiasco.

We left at 7:15 am Saturday morning and anticipated about a 6 hour drive. Wrong! The road between San Carlos and the border at Nogales has been in a constant state of replacement for at least the past 5 years. In places where the road is finished, it is wonderful. It even has a new addition…a SHOULDER that is almost wide enough to pull over onto. Where the old road is still in use, well, all I can say is it is best that I keep my head down doing my Word Search puzzles during those sections.

 

This is a school bus! LOL

Woolworth might be gone from the U.S. but they are still around in Mexico!

Actually, the road northbound is much better than southbound. For that I have no explanation. We buzzed along all the way to Santa Ana (about 5 hours) and then things got ugly real fast. Long, long sections of two-way traffic in narrow lanes winding through the mountains. And, have I mentioned the Mexicans pay absolutely no attention to the “no passing” signs?! They zoom around us and semis on hills and curves with no apparent concern. I guess that the religious icons they hang from their rear view mirrors makes them feel safer.

 

A huge, very healthy vineyard!

We stopped at Kilomenter 21 to turn in our Visas, walk the dog, use the restroom and get the sandwiches out of the refrigerator and then were on to the border. Ugh.

 

This ice cream salesman got trapped between us & the guardrail as we inched down the hill to a wide spot.

This old woman looked like she might have rickets. She could hardly walk and yet was going car to car selling things.

I had forgotten how different the border is on weekdays vs weekends. MUCH more traffic and many more vendors and beggars walking between the cars. It is a stark reminder of the poverty so many in this country live in. We opted out of the window shades, stuffed animals and wall hangings of Jesus on the Cross 

 

Jesus on the cross for your wall.

but when we got to the bottom of the hill where the traffic merged and we had to be clear on the other side of the multiple lanes (of course) in order to go through the “bus” area, a very helpful man stopped the traffic and directed us across in front of them and into the correct lane. We were happy to give him $50 pesos (a measly $2.50 U.S., but that was about all we had left) and he appeared happy to get it. 

Yes, Virginia, there IS a wall.

It took half an hour to get through customs (“Do you have any potatoes? Eggs? Fresh fruits or vegetables?”) but 30 minutes later, after a quick stop at the Safeway, we were checking in at the RV Park. They were offering free Margaritas on the patio and serving Corned Beef & Cabbage in the restaurant but we were too bushed to leave the RV. 

Abby trying to talk Chris out of part of his dinner.

So…wine, hot dogs, a little news and then off to bed. Zzzzzz!