Navojoa, Sinaloa to Nogales,Az and half of the day was good!

 

So Thursday was expected to be a long day but it turned out to be a lot longer than we expected.

We were up early and after a reasonable continental breakfast we left the Fiesta motel in Navojoa and were on the road by 8am.

The highway from Navojoa to the Sonora border was its usual crappy self. Here we have entered Sonora and the smooth concrete starts.   In the early years Sonora was horrifying broken down asphalt and Sinaloa was decent but now they are reversed.  Sinaloa keeps getting worse and Sonora is good. 

Not too far to Obregon and the bypass.  You used to have to go right through town but now you skirt it to the east.  30 km of new two lane highway and a toll at the end.  It's a good sized one but you have to pay one at the north end of Obregon anyway so...you might as well enjoy the drive. 

Mazatlan is still brown and dead but here spring has sprung. 

Up ahead the toll booth.  Just a ways to go before you rejoin Mex 15D north. 

Some of the fields are cut and the hay is drying. 

Next up Vicam and as you can see the road is horrifyingly beat up.  This is Yaqui Indian territory and for the last 10 years they have been blockading the highway and collecting illegal tolls.  To start with it was in protest of losing their water rights but in the end it just seemed to be a money grab.  In October 2022 the government arrested 20 people and the blockades finally stopped. 

There is a huge amount of "stuff" for sale. 

I really don't know who buys this tacky stuff.  They also have small caged birds for sale which is sad.

Heading out of town and they seem to be doing some road repair. 

Lots of vegetables growing here. 

The Hermisillo bypass coming up.  Another welcome bypass.  It was a slow trip through town in the past. 

Only two lanes but it's concrete  The trucks drive half on the shoulder and you pass down the middle...if you dare!

Pretty and green here and the mountains are in the distance.  It didn't rain in Mazatlan at all this winter and it was still brown and dry when we left. 

Off to the left we could see something burning on the south end of town. 

Black smoke and what we thought were piles. In the end it was just shadows and not piles.  Eric thought maybe coal had caught on fire.

There's the smoke behind my driver!

Coming off the bypass and heading north.  We stopped around km 50 at a gas station for lunch.  

And now the vineyards start.  Hundreds and possibly thousands of acres of grapes grow here. 

The higway from Hermisillo to Santa Ana is not concrete and in some parts its in good repair and in others it's not. 

Here they are burning the grass at the edge of the highway.  They just light it and let it burn.  If the wind is blowing right you wouldn't be able to see anything.  It's really black and it's just grass.  Perhaps it was the same thing back in Obregon. 

And....now it starts to get interesting.   This is the start of the line up for the military check point around Benjamin Hills.  The trucks can be lined up for miles in the right lane but the cars usually breeze through. 

Yesterday the left lane started to back up and pretty soon it was at a dead stop.  This is unusual.

We waited in line for almost an hour.  It could have been a truck in the left lane that was blocking traffic.  We also had an ambulance come up behind us and every one moved to the left and right as we were inching forward.  The lights were flashing and the siren was blasting.  Was there an accident up ahead...who knows! In the end we never saw anything and then they just waved all the cars through and we continued on.  The trucks were backed up so far it's possible some were stuck there over night.  I wonder if they actually ever find anything when they check.  

Next up Santa Ana. 

On the left there is a tiny sign saying RV park.  We used to stay there with our RV.  The Punta Vista RV park was owned by Edgar and Anna and they were both lovely people.  Edgar died a number of years ago and then Anna passed too.  Edgar's sister and family are still running the park.  Lots of good memories staying there and they were both so helpful to all the RVers over the years. 

Coming down through town.  

Elevation is about 2000 ft here and when you go up higher the Saguaro cactus start to appear.

A little town a bit farther north and they are selling " art " here too!

As we wound our way through the twisty turny parts we had this truck beside us.  There was one tie down at the front and one at the back. Can you imagine how heavy this load is and he also has a fork lift to unload!  Eric scooted by before anything fell off. 

At this point I was using my phone on Google maps as we had to stop at km 21 to turn in our Mexican import papers and tourist visas.  We have only done this once before here as in the past we always exited the country via Lukeville. We didn't want to miss the stop.  When you bring a vehicle into Mexico you post a bond and it is returned to you if you prove that you are exiting the country with the vehicle.  If you don't turn in your paperwork you lose your money and it is hundreds of dollars depending on the age and worth of the vehicle.  If you don't take the vehicle out you can not bring another vehicle in.  

We found km21 and stopped.  The truck and trailer paperwork return went as planned.  The motorcycle did not.  The woman handling the paperwork told Eric that he had to take the bike out of the trailer so she could take a picture of it in front of the small government return building.  Eric argued that this was ridiculous and she said then we wouldn't get our money back and it would also end up that Eric couldn't bring another vehicle of any kind back into Mexico.  Eric said the bike was "broken" and if he took it out he couldn't start it to get it back in the trailer.  It does need repairs.  She finally sent us across the highway to see her boss.  Eric explained about the bike and they said they'd make an exception this time.  Eric also told the boss that in San Emeterio where we last exited Mexico in 20l9 they allowed him to just drop the back door and they took a picture of the bike and the building at the same time.  The boss decided this was a good idea so back we went to the other side of the highway where Eric had to turn around and drive back up to the return hut.  Now we had a different lady.  She took the pictures and I asked would this work proximo ano or next year and she said yes...we'll see I guess wellsee. They take a picture of the VIN number so what's with taking it out of the trailer.  Time consuming and unnecessary. So...another delay and now we were at least 1 1/2 hours behind schedule.    Next up the border. 

This Google map shows how Google planned the route.  Unfortunately you have to go left and not right to the border.  Again, this is only the second time we have exited through Nogales and we got screwed up. The signage if not good and you have to know exactly where you are going.   I had put my head down to look at the map and Eric turned right instead of left and now were heading into the town of Nogales.  Not good!  About a mile or so in Eric made a left turn and a u turn and we headed back out.  Back on the freeway and a U turn back at the gas station where we'd just got fuel.

Signs everywhere and it's really easy to get screwed up...which we did.  To start with we ended up in the truck lane and the truckers were pointing left and honking. Eric stopped and backed up but in the end we could have just kept going as the lines joined up farther ahead.  

This is where they squeeze you all together and huge motorhomes have to go through here too.  It's all just a big mess which creates confusion and stress for everyone.  But...nobody cares.  As you head down the hill to the USA border you can't take pictures.  All the cars converge at the bottom and it's a big schmozzle as you try to pick a fast lane...but...there aren't any.  After you exit you all squeeze through one lane that goes through the area where they tear your vehicle apart.  We were not checked but they did ask Eric to open the back door of the trailer.  The border agent said  " Oh, it's a motorcycle" shut the door.  Well if he'd asked Eric what was in there he'd have told him.  I think they all just practice being jerks.  

So now we were over the border and it was 6pm.  If it all had gone smoothly it would have been 3:30.  So now we were off to the Nogales hotel Americana and after we exited the border and headed up Mariposa Rd. everything had changed.  I was looking at Google maps and not taking pictures.  In the end we went a little farther north than necessary before ending up at the hotel but...we made it.  Both stressed and tired.  I checked us in and Eric parked the truck and trailer.  At this point he saw that the right rear trailer tire was sitting at an odd angle. This is the wheel that the garbage truck hit a couple of weeks ago and knocked off the hubcap and damaged the fender.  So...Eric jacked up the trailer while I drug stuff into the room.  In the end he said the wheel bearing was loose and he tightened it up.  He put new wheel bearings on the trailer when he added to brakes to it before we left home.  He decided everything was okay and we could carry on.  

At this point it was 6:30 and boy did we need a beer!  I have some frozen meals for situations like this and after a few beers and a shower we finally ate dinner at 8pm.  We both were hoping that Friday would be a better day.