Let’s take a ride to Concordia via the new Mazatlan Bypass.

Eric and I haven’t taken a ride together on Big Red since we got here over a month ago. What’s up with that!  We decided to take our first ride by ourselves for some….alone time.  We enjoy having other people along but we also enjoy a trip by ourselves.  It’s nice to feel comfortable riding here and also that we can communicate well enough in Spanish to get by.  A far cry from our first winter in Mazatlan six years ago. 

So…..off we go.

Heading north on Sabalo Cerritos.  We will turn right and head east to Mex 15D  where we will head south to Villa Union and then east to Concordia.  

This link to Google maps shows the route including the new bypass. I couldn’t figure out how to copy and paste it in!

 https://www.google.com.mx/maps/@23.2899855,-106.4168324,11z?hl=en

Lots of new construction on the road heading out of town up by Emerald Bay.

 

That is hard pan….not sure what the plan is.  They are trucking the material they remove into the new subdivision. 

Heading east to the toll road.

We head south on the Cuota toward Mazatlan.

Stay left here to get onto the Libriamento Mazatlan Bypass.

 

The new road is concrete so it should hold up.  Better than the ever failing asphalt.

Partly constructed overpasses everywhere.

What a difference from the usual horrible ride through Mazatlan heading south to Villa Union.

The toll booth.

 

I had to crop this so you can see it.  23 pesos for the moto.  Worth it at triple the price!

Getting close to Villa Union.

You can get off here to take the free road to Villa Union or Durango.

 

We leave the toll road and now it gets tricky.

We came off on left of the picture and were now heading into Villa Union but we wanted to go to Concordia.  We had to cross the traffic and make a U turn in the lane that is heading onto the Cuota to Tepic.  Very unsafe and no other way to do it. Not thought out at all.

Blocking off something?

New pavement on Mex 15 (libre) to Concordia and Durango.

A pretty ride and not much traffic.

 

Up, down and around the corner. 

Just before Concordia are the many roadside pottery shops

And…..furniture shops.

On the left you can see the church in the square in Concordia.

We bypassed and continued on for a ride to …..

El Verde.  We turned left (North) just east of the entrance to Concordia.

 

Always a tractor pulling a load of something to be thrashed.

Many small band saw mills cutting wood for the furniture shops. 

Beautiful out here and very green.  

Lots of agriculture.

Working the fields.

Turn left for El Verde in 1km.

A recreational site at the edge of the road. 

Over the bridge into El Verde.  Eric and Sam had been up this way in the past so it wasn’t all new to Eric….just me.

 

We rode up and down a few streets.

 

Got a bit turned around as they had the road out of town blocked.  Eric asked a young guy at the edge of the road “Amigo..donde esta salida?”  He had no English but we got the gist of it.  Go up to the square turn left and left again and then right to get around the blocked road and…..

we are out. 

Back over the bridge and out of town.

I would guess this is a left over Christmas display.  It was at the crossroad where we turned back to Concordia.

We are getting close to Mex 15 and our return to Concordia.  There is a band saw mill behind the laundry.  I like laundry pictures….very colorful!

Hard at work.  Small bits of logs ready to band saw into boards.

Up the one way street into Concordia.

They are working on church restoration.  Very old and always in need of repair. 

We head off down a side street to El Granero where we have eaten before. 

A timed photo.

El Granero has been here since the 1800’s.  Very nice murals and memorabilia on the wall. 

Complimentary appetizers.  Very tasty. 

A look out the window toward the church. 

I ordered camarones empanizado so Eric said “dos” and had the same.

 

Cost….80 pesos or about $6.40 and more than we could eat.  Good food, good service and delicious.  At this point I asked the waiter if the “caseta de cobro or toll booth was antes (before) Concordia or despuis (after)Concordia on the toll road and he said despuis. 

General Emiliano Zapata hero of the Mexican Revolution.  He was Pancho Villa’s boss!

The very pretty square in Concordia is even prettier now.  All planted with lush green annuals of every kind. 

You can see the big rocking chair in the square.  Concordia is very well know for it’s furniture.

Heading down the one way street out of town.

On the east end of Concordia is the only gas station and it is very busy.  It looks like this fellow is checking the pumps.  I hope he is checking that they are delivering the amount of fuel that they say they are.  A huge problem in Mexico and at about $1.15 Canadian a liter a bit of a concern.  Fuel prices have not gone down in Mexico!

Eric filled up but it took forever as the pump was very slow as the storage tank was almost out of fuel.  It was gasping air in the hose….not good!

Heading east of Concordia where we will turn right to get on the toll road home. 

We are almost to the toll road and the sign says turn right so….

we do.  Up the ramp onto the toll road. 

And the first thing we see is ….a toll booth.  At this point we are on the other side of it and have just paid a 16peso toll.  The waiter in the restaurant was wrong.  Not a problem except on a moto you need to have the correct money in your pocket to pay. 

These are the tolls you would pay here if you were heading east to Durango.  There will be more toll booths along the way. 

We leave the toll road to Tepic here and head back on the Mazatlan bypass.  If you left the bypass route to head into Villa Union you would once again have a problem.  You are being funneled toward Concordia and now have to cross the traffic and head left to Villa Union.  Again….very unsafe.

Green around Villa Union.

The bypass route toll booth back to Mazatlan.

Gotta love it!

We left the toll road here and took the libre Mex 15 back to the road to the Playas and home.  You could continue on the toll road and get off to the Playas as well.

I thought cock fighting was illegal. So what are all these roosters for?

El Habal is out this way and we also went through an Army check point just south of the road to La Noria.  No idea what they are checking for. 

Left to the Playas and home.

That’s the Riu up ahead and a motorhome in a big hurry.  He went to Cerritos Resort.

Along Sabalo Cerritos and home. 

A good day.