Navojoa to Mazatlan

 We made it...post to follow in the next day or two!

The Fiesta Motel in Navojo at 3:30 on Thursday. 

Big lot so we have room to park. 

Not a deluxe room but adequate and cheap at $68. Canadian. 

For dinner we walked up the street to the Los Arcos restaurant where we ate the last time through.  Chips and salsa to start.

Its a big restaurant and these ladies were playing a game like bingo but with pictures instead of numbers.

The first Pacifico of the season and Tecate for Eric. 

Dinner was not cheap and a little odd this time.  Eric's fish came with rice and was supposed to have green beans but there was nothing.  I called the waitress and she took the dinner back as I asked for at least a little salad.  Mine had three green beans with the fish!

Walking home back to the motel. 

We were up early and managed to get a light continental breakfast before we left. Toast, yogurt, coffee and a banana.  The Mexican men were having toasted with processed ham in between.  Didn't look too appetizing to us. 

Leaving town and there appeared to be agave growing. 

Out in the middle of nowhere on the highway unmarked topes..!!

And....our first toll booth of the day...many more will follow.

The road is so so as the concrete is starting to get holes in it. 

In some places we drove in the fast lane.  We have not seen even one RV in our travels. 

Up ahead is Estacion Luis and there are the police of some sort up ahead. 

When we got closer they asked us to stop.  They explained they were looking for guns and drugs.  I said" We're Canadians we don't have guns!'  He smiled and asked us to pull over to the side to be checked.  This would be a horror because we have so many rubbermaid tubs jammed into the back of the truck.  We pulled over and stopped and the young man who spoke to us was the translator and he went to check with the guys who were eating lunch.  He came back and said" It's your lucky day theyre eating lunch so you can go!"  Eric laughed about that for miles. 

Agricultural inspection on the other side and ours will show up soon. 

Good-bye Sonora and your good concrete highways. 

Hello Sinaloa and crappy roads. 

And...another toll. 

Ag inspection and we were waved through. 

Crummy pavement starts.

Road to El Fuerte. 

A very small town with a huge walkway that I would guess will never be used. 

Hills before Los Mochis. 

And...another toll booth.  This one had very aggressive window washers who didn't take no for an answer.  They just make a mess and slop stuff all over so we don't let them clean.  At all toll booths people are selling stuff. 

Strange green river with floating algae or vegetation.

Downtown Los Mochis or straight through. 

Agribusiness in this area.  Chemical plants and silos. 

Smart gas which used to be Pemex at the south end of Los Mochis where we used to park in our RV.

Most major highways don't have cattle at the in edge but....

...in Mexico they do!

Then there was a huge swap meet market at the edge of the highway at km 134 and it was huge. 

And ...another toll booth.

A National National (previously the Federal Police) check point.  We were waved through.  

Looks like a load of hay of some kind. 

Lunch time!

Pemex 4999 and lunch for us.  Had to wait a bit for fuel as they only had a couple of diesel pumps open. Fuel is way up in Mexico too.  Now. 24.99 pesos per liter and when we started to coming in 2009 it was just over 9 pesos a liter.  When they pump diesel into a small vehicle here in Mexico they always try to fill it right to the top and slop it all over.  1668 liters.  We pulled out back and ate our sandwich and yogurt and onward. 

Here they're paving the northbound lane.  They do this in little pieces but never get both side done at the same time.  The road base is just dirt and it is always collapsing. 

Just crummy and you spend all your time switching back and forth to avoid the holes in the road.  If you're following a big truck you can follow their lead.  If they hit the brakes there's a tope and if they change lanes the road is bad.  If they stay in the fast lane for a long ways the road is really bad.  Some times both lanes are bad. 

A dust devil.

Coming up to the first toll both on the Culiacan bypass. 

First toll booth but it's a small one.  At this point Eric was exhausted from dodging potholes so we were hoping the road was better. 

On the bypass road there is lots of agriculture.  Something is growing under this!

This is all staked ...tomatoes....peppers?

Hard to get a picture of this truck hauling a huge brand new combine.  He was really motoring and Eric said he had a huge amount of axles. 

This is the toll booth on the Culliacan to Mazatlan toll road.  Not so long ago it used to be in really good shape.  This is a huge toll at 252 pesos or about $18 Canadian.  The woman gave a big yawn as we arrived and we all had a laugh.  A boring job. 

For the first part the roads were pretty good but the last half it was the same old dodge the pothole driving.  Exhausting. 

In some areas there are trees lining the edge of the road.  

This is where all those nice fresh winter vegetables come from.  

Look how straight those rows are. 

North of Mazatlan is La Cruz. 

A row of perfect trees. 

I see the ocean!

The pavement is bad in both lanes here.  

Rio El Quelite I think. 

Look at that!

And...another toll booth for the privilege of driving on these fine roads!! This one $251 pesos and the last one.

Oh look...they're paving. 

If they'd just start at the beginning and go to the end!

Mazatlan playas. 

Heading toward the ocean with the Riu hotel in the distance. 

More apartments at the north end of Cerritos.  Rampant building everywhere. 

Avineda Sabalo Cerritos. 

We hit a lone, umarked, new tope here and the trailer was airborn.  Just ridiculous. 

So after an exhausting 8 hour drive we arrived at the Las Jaibas trailer park where we will store the motorcycle trailer for the winter.  We said hello to our friends Frank and Sandi who arrived about an hour before us, Hal, Sam and Papa John were there too.  We had a quick beer and were off to the house for the evening.  Saturday and Sunday were new days and I'll update you tomorrow.