I'm a bit behind here so I'll try to catch up. We arrived in Navojoa, Sonora on Tuesday around 4:30 and as we checked in we noticed that there were quite a lot of kids around. It is Semana Santa or Easter week in Mexico and the children are on a two week break. Long story short there were probably 20 kids staying in the motel and they were loud! Running up and down upstairs, downstairs, yelling, screaming, playing etc. Most were boys in the 10 to 12 age group and it went on for hours.! It continued until about 10pm. What can I say other than it should have been better controlled by the parents or the motel.
The photo above is us heading north to Nogales out of Navojoa.
First up was the Obregon bypass which means you don't have to travel right through the city....however the tolls are not cheap.
Past Obregon is Vicam. It has always been a very slow place to travel through as the highway was horrible and there were always roadblocks as the Yaqui Indians were fighting for their water rights. The highway has been repaved, there are no more roadblocks but the Yaqui's fight on. Above is one of the many vendors of " stuff."
More stuff!
We stopped in Vicam for fuel and a bathroom break. I didn't get a good picture of these two boys. Likely brothers and they managed to talk Eric into letting them wash our windshield. Eric always says no when we are stopped at an intersection and we are overrun by " window washers" these kids got lucky. By the way the did a really good job.
Did I mention lots of huge "topes" or speed bumps in Vicam...well this is one of them.
That is some really green hay!
And....another toll!
The Hermosillo bypass and it's a long one. At one point we couldn't see Mar behind us but eventually she popped up. She was in a car so she can boogey along!
Just past Hermosillo and the vineyards start to appear. Every year they get bigger and bigger. Some are covered in a fabric and some are in the open. A huge cash crop.
When you get past Hermosillo there is asphalt pavement and not concrete until you hit Santa Ana.
I didn't take a picture but we stopped after the Hermosillo bypass at a filling station for fuel, lunch and you guessed it...a pee break. Eric topped up and asked the gas station attendant if he spoke English and he of course answered in perfect English..turned out he lived in Oregon for 16 years. 😁
Farther down the road around Benjamin Hills you hit the large Military check point. Usually there are miles of trucks but on Wednesday there were hardly any. When we stopped Mar was right behind us. The officer spoke English and asked the usual " where are you from", "where are you going etc." He had Eric sign a sheet and then he sent us over to be checked. I thought this was a first but Eric remembers it happening with the 5th wheel in the early years. It didn't take too long and Eric figured that they were training new staff. And then onward to Santa Ana.
Santa Ana is nice little town. Neat and tidy and we used to stay here with the 5th wheel at Edgar and Anna's Punta Vista RV park. Edgar and Anna have both passed away but a niece is still running it. Good memories!
Looks pretty nice here doesn't it!
After Santa Ana the concrete appears again and you start to wind your way to Nogales.
At this point I wasn't taking pictures as I was watching for Kilometer 21 where we return our temporary import vehicle papers and tourist visa. It's not real easy to spot but....we didn't miss it. Over the last few years Mexico has been asking that we unload the motorcycle to take a picture of it by the return building. The last two years they just made us drop the gate and then they took the pictures you can see the bike and the building in the photo. This year the guy was a real " dick" and insisted that Eric move forward, unload and then ride it to the back of the line to have a picture taken. Eric was getting "hot" as it's unreasonable and unnecessary. In the end Eric refused unloaded it right there and then road it back into the trailer. I held onto it inside as he moved forward t tie it down again. It is doable with the Tiger but with the big Harley it's a huge ordeal and he would have refused and asked for a boss. By this time there was quite a line up of cars behind us. It takes 2 seconds to do the return if the agent is reasonable. Tourist visas returned and " onward to the border." Always a new wrinkle!!
It's also a bit confusing to actually get down to the US border and two years ago we missed it, started into Nogales, Mexico and had to turn around and come back. On Wednesday it was all good. Here we are in the return lane. We couldn't believe there was no line up on the hill coming in. Last year we waited an hour coming down. It's a tight squeeze and all passenger vehicles including 5th wheels and motorhomes are supposed to use this lane. We never exited through Nogales when we had the 5th wheel but always went out through Lukeville. We like to stay in Nogales, AZ going into Mexico as it means we can make it to Navojoa as our first stop. When we stopped to wait it was about 3:40 pm. When we got to the border to see the agent it was only just after 4pm...amazing. The agent asked the usual questions, where were you, where are you going, what to declare ( I may have fibbed a bit) 😁 and he had a look in the trailer. He wanted to know what was in the garbage bag in the canopy and I said it was a memory foam for a bed. Sometimes I think they just ask to see what you'll say. He was polite and friendly as usual and as we drove out a couple more agents stopped us and asked a couple of the same questions and then....onward. No muss, no fuss, no bother. With all the political BS going on in the US right now we weren't sure what expect but in the end it was all fine.
Our nice big room.
We arrived at the Hotel Americana around 4:30 and checked in. Mar was there just ahead of us and she came over to tell us that she had a screw in one of her tires. Not good! She went up to the WalMart hoping to get it fixed. They had a look and said there was also second screw and it was not too far from the sidewall. Where did they come from...who knows! In the end they replaced the tire with something similar and she took the damaged tire with her as she has " road hazard" coverage on it. I was amazed she could get it in the back of her car!! 😁It took over two hours by the time she got back and she ended up having cheezies and wine for dinner as it was too late to eat! 😉
We really like the Hotel Americana as it's an "old style" hotel. Large, clean, well decorated rooms and they have the best continental breakfast.
So....all in all a good day with a few minor irritations for us and a big one for Mar. It could have been a disaster in Mexico as she was behind us😬
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