Driving Home From Mexico

We are back in the USA.

We had a wonderful drive back to the US. We have never driven back this late in the spring. Most of the drive is through agriculture land, they are now harvesting corn and tomatoes. We saw so many different crops that we started a list: We counted 18 different fruits and vegetables.

The largest crop was corn, we drove for 5 hours through corn stalks. We saw acres and acres of tomatoes too. Also sugar cane, tobacco and mango grooves.

The mileage between PV & Nogalas is 1043, that is about 21 hours total of driving. Have taken some pictures of the road we traveled on, our biggest obstacle are all the speed bumps (topes) They use them to replace traffic lights, or to enforce the speed limit. Some of these topes are huge and you need to come to almost a complete stop.

We spent our first night in Mazatlan. We always stay in the same motel, because it has secure parking, but it is the hardest place for us to find. We have stayed there 4 times and we can never get there with out driving around for at least 30-90 minutes. One time we had to hire a taxi to lead the way. All the Taxi's in Mazatlan are these old Volkswagen Things, they have had a new snazzy body added. The Thing hasn't been around for 30 years, so don't know how the get parts for repairs. They sure are cute.

Mazatlan is a major city of at least 400,000, it seems so large compared to PV. The streets are mostly paved, no cobblestones so things are not dusty. The people living there seemed to be doing very well, the cars they drive are certainly better than our little crapper.

I think if you would like to visit Mexico for your first time and are worried about not speaking the language Mazatlan would be a good choice. I still prefer PV, partly because it is so small and you can walk most everywhere. Also, it still has some Mexican culture and things move at a much slower pace. The people just seem more helpful and in less of a hurry.

We went out to dinner and had a few drinks, I asked our waiter if they had Ricilla. He had never heard of Ricilla. We were so surprised, Ricilla is a bootleg tequila and pretty much every place in PV has it. If they know you they will always offer you a shot.

Our second night we spent in San Carlos which is about 165 miles south of the border. This is a small place on the Sea of Cortez. San Carlos has beautiful rocks it reminds me of Sedona.

We spent about $120.00 US for fuel or 1370 peso. The price is about 7 peso per litter which is about $2.70 per Gallon.

Tolls where $1099. or $ 108.00 US

We are very happy to be back home, but I will be ready to go again next winter. Today we went to the grocery store and it seemed so easy to do the shopping. We reconized everything and than you just rolled the cart to the car and drive away. No backpack needed.

And tonight we are watching the TV, that is a real treat. We did have CNN and the Hallmark but not much to watch. And tomorrow we will get a newspaper that will not be 3 days old and will be in English. I can't wait!!! And maybe we will go to IN & Out for a hamburger and stop at the Casino on the way home. And we can get phone calls again, so please give us a call.