We were hooked up and on the road out of Mazatlan by 9:45 on Saturday morning on our way to our first stop in Los Mochis.
Lots of construction everywhere in Mazatlan. They are building a huge amount of residential housing on the road out of town by Emerald Bay. 
Land is being cleared off everywhere. I wonder where all the people are coming from to fill these homes.
Turn right for 15D and the Cuota to Culiacan.
Lots of agriculture along the way. The highway is not bad from Mazatlan to Culiacan if you stay in the fast lane. We got honked at a few times but Eric is long past caring whether he gets honked at. We aren’t paying big tolls to drive in the slow lane and have our teeth jarred out of our heads!
We are past Culiacan and have just stopped for lunch we are now on the road again and you can see that the temperature is a smoking 35 C. At this point I hear a whooshing noise and look in the passenger side view mirror and see smoke! I said “ We are on fire!!!” Eric pulled over quickly and said” Get the fire extinguisher from inside the rig.” By the time we stopped the smoke had started to dissipate and Eric had a look. The back two tires on the passenger side were rubbing together and Eric’s first thought was that we’d broken another spring. Block the wheels and on with the coveralls.
Not a broken spring. The rear bolt that holds the spring to the spring hanger had completely fallen out and was gone! How the heck could that happen. He’d lubed all the bolts and they were all in their proper position before we left Maz and everything was okay. Somehow the nut had come off and the bolt had walked it’s way right out of the spring. You wouldn’t think that would even be possible. With no bolt to hold the spring in place the rear axle moved forward and tires were rubbing together and the friction heated up the tires and created smoke. Lucky we have deep tread truck tires on because the trailer tires would have caught fire or peeled. 
That’s our rubber on the road. I put out cones to keep the traffic away from the rig and Eric got out the jacks, blocks and tools. Two lucky things….it happened on the passenger side so he wasn’t in the traffic doing a repair and since we are still in Sinaloa there is a shoulder. Small mercies.
Eric is under the rig. The broken spring on the way down was on the drivers side at the front and this is at the back on the passenger side. There was a huge amount of traffic whizzing by at high speed and “most” of them moved into the fast lane!
While he was under the trailer a vehicle did a quick U turn and came back to see if Eric needed a ride to the Llantera (tire shop) that was up ahead. The Mexican gentleman spoke good English and said he’d studied in Montreal, Canada. Eric said thanks but he was okay. Nice.
At this point Eric got more help than he needed. A Federalie vehicle stopped to give assistance and before we knew it one of them was under the trailer trying to help and giving him directions on how to repair it in Spanish! Eric’s had the axles off several times and knows how to do a repair, even when they are under load. The big problem was that he had a Mexican spring eye bushing that did not fit the bolt or the spring properly and had to be pounded in with a hammer. Truth be told I am the right helper. Sit in a lawn chair, keep your mouth shut and help when you are asked! It’s all stressful enough without extra help “if” you know what you’re doing. The “in charge” also called for a mechanic to come help.
The mechanic vehicle showed up just as Eric was finishing up. Now don’t get me wrong….we certainly appreciate the fact that in Mexico someone will always stop to see if they can help. You will never be left at the side of the road with no aid.
The tires had lost some rubber but were okay to travel on so that was a good thing.
The Federales seemed to enjoy the excitement of helping us gringos and even took pictures. I didn’t take too many pictures as they are the are police and I wasn’t sure what was appropriate. So after a 1 1/2 hour repair in the blazing heat we were on our way. I’m sure glad I have a competent mechanic driving our rig.
We arrived at the Pemex south of Los Mochis just after 5pm so we didn’t have to travel in the dark. We always plan short days so there is room for a disaster to occur!
We are tucked tight in the corner at the north (upwind side) blocked in by doubles in front of us. Right beside us are semi trailers with no trucks attached.
So how was our evening? Well there is an irrigation ditch right beside us and the mosquitoes had done a big hatch. Small daytime ones and big hungry night time ones. Swell….some got into the rig and had a feast on us. Added to that was a symphony of “sex crazed bull frogs!” that sounded like a billion Jake brakes! At one point a Mexican driver with a semi truck hooked up to the trailer a few spaces away. He couldn’t get out but he started moving back and forth wiggling it our way so he could make a right turn out. Eventually Eric went out and moved us forward (with our slides out) so he could angle behind us and have enough room to get out. Eric then backed us up to where we’d been parked. Never thought the driver would get that rig out.
In the end we had a few beers, ate dinner, started the generator and turned on the A/C for a couple of hours. Then….ear plugs in and nighty night. Another exciting day in Mexico!
In the morning we were all alone in our corner of the lot. All the rigs ahead of us were gone. While we ate breakfast the sparrows were busy “logging” the long grass for nest material. They quickly cut the grass off and flew away! Very efficient and I’m sure the “husband sparrow” gets the best gal if he builds the best nest!
The tomatoes next to the lot are ready to pick. You can see the Monasanto chemical plant in the background. We always get a few “interesting” odors from that!
7:45 am and on the road out of Los Mochis. We know that the roads will be horrible today once we hit Sonora. 
Lots of grain crops growing along the way. Eric doesn’t get to look at any scenery as he is busy dodging potholes. Today he travelled in the fast lane where ever possible and hardly anyone honked because they didn’t want to travel in the slow lane either. 
Welcome to Sonora…..the shoulder is gone.
Do you want to drive in the slow lane? In many places the fast lane wasn’t any better. It seems that they are just not doing any repairs at all. 
Nice!
Now we get to pay a toll for the lovely road and even the road leading up to the toll booth is barely drivable.
Good thing we aren’t in a hurry!
We are nearing the best road that we have driven on in Mexico. 
Navojoa to Obregon and the concrete road where you can actually do the speed limit. 
Cows and horses grazing at the edge of a road where people are doing 110km per hour. Sigh!!! I’m sure their owner gave them a talk before he took them out and told them to stay off the highway! 
It is Sunday morning and the usually busy Obregon is almost deserted. Sweet!
Selling hay at the edge of the road in the city. Looks nice and green.
We stopped for lunch at the tollbooth just north of Obregon and were soon on our way. We ended up with the south bound traffic on our side for many, many kilometers as they are redoing the south bound lanes with……CONCRETE! What great idea as they certainly can’t make a decent paved road. I’m sure it costs ten times as much but they won’t have to redo it every year. 
We look forward to travelling on that when we head south next fall. 
Do I dare hope that the north bound lanes are slated for concrete as well.
We left the maxipista 15D to head into Guaymas through Empalme. Lots of pangas at the dock where you travel over the water. It’s Sunday and these musicians are looking for a “gig!”
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The tide is out. 
Seafood for sale everywhere. Clams, shrimp….fish etc. 
Today Eric decided not to take the bypass that circles around Guaymas past the airport. He doesn’t mind driving through the city and says it’s easier anyway unless your are going to San Carlos. It wasn’t very busy and not a problem. Today was the day for Red Cross fund raising and we’d donated at a few toll booths. Here in downtown Guaymas the band was playing, the senoritas were dancing and they were collecting right out on the street. 
We pulled into the Hotel Playa de Cortez and RV park at about 3pm. We were alerted to the fact that there was going to be a wedding tonight by some RVers in a van and that maybe we’d want to park far away from the hotel. Eric said “We like Mexican weddings….no problem!” In reality you’d have to move 2 miles to get away from it. As long as the deep bass isn’t being used it’s all fine….that’s what silicone earplugs are for!
So….set up, including satellite TV, showered and having a beer by 5pm. Bueno!
At about 6pm a pair of Canadian rigs blasted into the park…..and I mean blasted……so fast they looked like they were tipping over as they went around the corner. What the hell people….where are your manners! Obviously they were overtired and wild eyed from a drive from Mazatlan. Too bad….that’s your choice…..slow down in an RV park. Darn Canadians….(B.C. and Alberta rigs) smarten up!
