Arizona to Playa de Cortes, Guaymas, Mexico

It is 1:30 pm on Saturday and this is our journey this afternoon from Frank and Sandi’s RV park to the Desert Diamond Casino. 

South of Phoenix and Frank and Sandi are leading the way as we have never gone south to Mexico through Nogales. 

Picacho Peak in the distance and up close a cotton field ready to harvest.  

Picacho Peak.

North of Tucson they were working on a bridge in the northbound lane and the traffic was backed up for miles and the line went on and on.

….and miles.

A nice 55 Chevy passed us.

We left highway 19 at  exit 80 south of Tucson at Sahuarita for the Desert Diamond Casino.

This is a huge complex and I should have taken more pictures.

One, two, three and we were set up and having happy hour in the parking lot.

That’s me taking the picture of everyone.

That’s  “The Palace” as it is known in Las Jaibas pulling Frank & Sandi’s Jeep. 

Desert Diamond Casino in the distance.

After happy hour we all trundled over to the Casino for dinner.  Sandi said they had a buffet and that was just what the doctor ordered.  I had no desire to cook and I was hungry.  There were a few other options for food in the Casino but …..I pushed for the buffet.  Sandi sent Eric and I over to sign up as gamblers so we’d get a promo $10 coupon each for the buffet.  Eric will never gamble and I will only gamble a little bit once in a blue moon!  

The buffet was Mexican and I ate way, way too much and then had a big dessert.  What a piggy!

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Desert Diamond Casino, AZ to Playa de Cortes, Guaymas, Mexico.

We were up early and on the road by 7:30 am and heading for Mexico.

Heading for the border.

33km to Nogales.

Veer right on 19 and head south.

We’ll take the truck route.

189 South.

Wait for us Frank!

We thought the border would be open 24 hours a day but apparently not.

First stop and we roll right through.

A tight squeeze but better than where the cars go through.

Someone is always trying to dodge around the motorhomes and RV’s.

 

Where the heck are we going?  We are new to this border crossing as we usually cross at Lukeville south of Ajo.

 

We just kept following along….although I did make some notes.

 

Here it got tricky.  Frank thought only cars could go to the left so we ended up in the truck lane.

Who could tell that an RV should be an auto.

Sandi had to get out and make a guard move a cone so we could get through.

They had a quick look in the rigs and we were on our way.  If we’d gone in as an auto we wouldn’t have had to stop.  Ah Mexico.

 

On to km 21 where we will get our tourist visa’s and importation stickers for our vehicles.  Frank imported the Jeep on line and has a ten year sticker for the motorhome so it will be quick for him.  We have to import the 5th wheel, truck and motorcycle so it will not be quick for us.

As it is Sunday morning it isn’t very busy and there aren’t many people around at km 21 but unfortunately that also includes the workers who do the paperwork.  One lady at the visa counter and one guy at the importation/banjercito wicket.  All in all it took about 1hour and 20 min to get it all done even though the importation worker was very quick and efficient.  When we go into Mexico through Lukeville we already have all our paperwork.  We stop in Yuma and walk across the border at San Luis south of Yuma to get all our paperwork done. 

All done and on the road.

Heading for Hermosillo.

But first …..a toll just after we leave km 21.  

The road is bumpy and there is absolutely no shoulder.

Magdalena just before Santa Ana.

The northbound lanes are closed while they work on them.  It looks like no one has touched that side in months.

Farther south and we see the future highway under construction.  It is concrete and it should be a lot better than the asphalt.

Coming into Santa Ana.

We usually stay here at Edgar and Anna’s Punta Vista RV park in Santa Ana on our first night in Mexico when we come in through Lukeville.   Sad news.  We heard from Papa John who came by earlier that Anna had passed away in the summer.  Poor Edgar.  I can’t imagine how he will cope without her.  Edgar was in poor health when we saw him in the spring of 2015 and we wondered how long he could carry on running the park.  He said at that time he would be there as long as he could for all his customers and friends because they depend on him. 

South of Santa Ana and the right lane is just crappy so Eric is travelling in the so called fast lane.  They keep repaving but it never lasts more than a year or two at the most.

Nice new pavement here.

We stopped at km 69 for fuel and lunch and were on our way.

Just before Hermosillo and ….another toll for all these good roads.

Paid the toll and now the roads coming into Hermosillo are really bad!

The trip through Hermosillo was as usual except for our stop just before the first turn.  A young dog darted into traffic and Frank stopped but the third car on the right ran over it.  It got up and ran but it was likely seriously hurt.  This is one thing about Mexico that I really hate.  The sides of the roads are littered with dead animals of all descriptions.  As it was Sunday the traffic was quite light through Hermosillo.

New tar layer road bed on the north bound side in preparation for concrete.  The traffic was diverted from northbound to southbound again and again and much of the time we had two lane traffic.  This means that even though there is a no passing sign ….the Mexicans still try to pass.

That new concrete is really thick.

Remember I said you aren’t supposed to pass….well up ahead as one side is diverted to the other there is a three car crash.  We were stopped for about 20 minutes and then continued on.  The northbound traffic was backed up for miles.

Lots of people heading north on a Sunday afternoon to head back to Arizona or maybe Hermosillo after a weekend at the beach.

Two way traffic again.

Still backed up heading north.

That’s the big machine that lays down the concrete.  We saw at least three of them and they would be deadly expensive.

The construction lasted all the way into Guaymas where we left the highway and  headed into the Playa de Cortes Hotel and RV park in Miramar.  Frank and Sandi have never stayed here so they followed us in. 

Look we’re already parked and having happy hour.  How great is that. 

There are a few other RV’s here and we are parked under the last of the remaining big trees.  These beautiful trees have been declining for years and have died of old age or disease we really don’t know.   It is a shame because beyond their beauty they provided a lot of shade. 

So it was a  long, tiring, bone jarring day and we are all whipped.  Tomorrow Frank and Sandi will head on to Los Mochis for a night in a Pemex and then continue on to Mazatlan on Tuesday.  We are tired and will rest here for a few days.