Los Mochis to Mazatlan…

Up fairly early yesterday morning for us…6:30 am hoping for an 8am start.  Had a nice “ pescado empanizado”  fried breaded fish dinner night before in the Elba restaurant after an enjoyable happy hour over at Otto and Edna’s rig.  They followed us in from Los Mochis and as we are in a pick-up truck and they are in a motorhome we probably go a bit slow for them.  The pounding you take in a pick-up truck is quite hard and we go slow where the roads dictate.  A motorhome’s ride is a lot more cushy than our’s and they can go much faster. 

Looking out the window to the fields beside us.  We thought the crops might have been wiped out in the late September floods but everything looked quite healthy.

Here we are…ready to go.  Otto and Edna headed out on their own about 1/2 hour before us and they can travel at a speed that suits them as can we.

As we leave you can see that Pemex 4925 is now a Smartgas station.  All sorts of new names as the stations are privatized.  Hasn’t made any improvement in fuel costs though.  Over 21 pesos per liter or about $1.43 a liter Canadian.  In 2009 when we first started travel in Mexico diesel was 8 pesos a liter or about .56 cents Canadian.  That’s quite a jump.  Tough on the people of Mexico. 

The sun is shining in the side window so there is a little reflection.  The crops are all happy and green.  Lots of agribusiness in this area with huge farms.

I think this is Gabriel Leyva Solano which is before Guasave.

Some sort of old derelict burner.

Coming into Guasave. 

The silos for the grain crops they store here.

Here you share the roads with tractors.

Long  line up for the military check point heading north.

And then it began.  The atrocious roads we know so well.  It used to be like this all the way from Guaymas to Los Mochis in both lanes.  Today we will drive in the fast lane until it improves.  We did not come here to pay huge tolls for horrible roads and break more springs in huge potholes.   Most people just went around us in the slow lane and then continued on in the passing lane the same as us.  One trucker pulling a double fuel load was quite irate.  He got really close and then we he got in front he whipped the trailer back and forth.  What a dick and how unsafe.   A couple of honks from a bus and a car and the rest just carried on….in the passing lane.

This station is “ redpetrol”  painted blue!

Still in the fast lane and not much traffic.

Now it’s bad in both lanes.  The Sinaloa highways dept. should be ashamed of itself.  In some areas we saw them making topes on the shoulder so you couldn’t drive on it right next to the horrible road.  In some areas they were sweeping the shoulder of the horrible road.  None of it makes any sense. 

Very green and nothing seems to have suffered from the flooding although we did see lots of fallow land that had been cultivated so maybe some crops were wiped out. 

We are now just north of Culiacan and the road is much better so we are driving in the slow lane….for the most part.

Here the Federalies have joined us.

We have paid the first big toll on the Culiacan to Mazatlan section and are heading south.  The slow lane is much better than the fast lane here.

Very green and pretty. 

Oh I know…. lets clear the ditches at the edge of the road by burning them. 

Depending on the wind visibility is not good. 

Heading down toward Mazatlan and the ocean which I could not get a picture of out the side window.  Too much glare. 

The last toll booth…another 311 pesos.  With the triple axle trailer and truck we pay more than a giant motorhome with a towed vehicle.  That’s not fair!   Right after the toll booth the roads were horrible all the way into Mazatlan.  Makes you feel like they are thumbing their noses at you! 

Coming down towards the Riu Hotel. 

Heading south on Sabalo Cerritos which is the street in front of the park.  We have made it all the way from Guaymas to Mazatlan without a blown tire or another broken spring so that is a good thing!

We pulled into the back of the park around 2:30 pm and parked were we stayed for the night.  We will back up into our usual spot but we have to unload the bike first and that can wait. 

The construction is going full bore around the park.  Lots of machines and lots of noise and dust. 

This morning Eric unloaded his bicycle and next came the motorcycle.   Parked next to us are friends John and Geri.  They are here for a couple of weeks before they take their RV south to Bucerious just north of Puerto Vallarta.  They have sold it to a friend and will leave it there before heading home.  They were last in Las Jaibas two years ago and we miss them after being friends since 2009.   But….all good things must come to an end for one reason or another and this is their last RV trip to Mexico.  Boohoo!

Looking north and you can see the piles of dirt.  They are dumping and compacting for the houses they will build on the north and east side of the park.

Huge machinery running steadily. 

Eric brings the bike out.

The bike is on the pad, the RV is parked and so is the truck.  Today we will set up most things.  We know that the construction will come right up behind us at some point but we’ll deal with that when it happens.  So it’s good to be back and our winter begins. 

The total road report is….decent from Lukeville to Santa Ana, pretty good from Santa Ana to Hermosillo,  horrible through Hermosillo as usual and good from Hermosillo to Guaymas.  Guaymas to Los Mochis the best it’s ever been except for a few patches and horrible from Los Mochis to Culiacan.  Culiacan to Mazatlan mostly good except after the last toll booth.

Robin says getting here is like having a baby…when it’s over with you don’t remember the pain and I say that is true but….you remember that it really hurt…just like the roads!