Guaymas to Los Mochis the whole blog!

No big blog tonight.  Left Playa de Cortez at 9am and got into what used to be Pemex 4925 and is now a Smart Gas station just after 3:30.  Roads were the best they've been since our first trip in 2009.  Yes, some rough areas but those areas are to remind us how bad it used to be!  No blown tires or broken springs so it was a good day.  Otto and Edna traveled with us and we had a nice happy hour when we got here.  I took pictures but I'm too tired to add them all in.  May add them in later...may not.
Nighty night.

Okay it’s three day’s later (Saturday Nov. 17th) and we’ll see how good my memory is of our first day’s journey.  Here we are getting ready to hook up and leave Playa de Cortez.  That’s Otto and Edna beside us.

Many of the sites were cleaned up but…many were not.  There is an older man staying in the park who has been babying all the new trees that have been planted to replace the large trees that died in the center row and they are doing well under his care. 

Coming through Guaymas around 9:15am and it’s busy.

Just passing over the causeway heading towards Las Palmas.

Hmm….did the bridge fall down or is it just so old it’s being replaced. 

We join the northbound traffic for a bit before switching back.

Past Las Palmas heading for the maxipista and it is very, very narrow here.

Heading onto 15D.

And..we are detoured onto the northbound lane.

Most of the roadwork now seems to be puentes or bridges that have to be finished before the road can be fully open.

Construction.

There is too much glare to see it but that is rich brown dirt and if they use that as a road bed everything will fall apart.

Gravel here.

Here the goats are grazing at the edge of the road. 

A bit of bad pavement in between the concrete stretches.

We are sharing the northbound lane and this home made trailer is going very slow.  The traffic is piled up behind us but there isn’t much we can do about it.

Coming into Vicam.

I always seem to take a picture of the pottery they are selling and wonder who the heck would buy this stuff.  Okay, Nancy the flamingos would look nice in front of your rig. 

Isn’t this just lovely!

Coming up to the huge Yaqui statue.  There is a big meeting area around it that must have cost a bundle and it appears no one has every used it.  Money not well spent.

It is massive.

And now for the Obregon bypass.  As Contessa said in her blog it is very well marked as the Navojoa cuota.

Nice but really banked to the right. 

Away we go at a cost of 380 pesos for our five axles.  The steepest toll we will pay on the trip. 

Concrete.

And we leave to rejoin 15D south.

As you come off the bypass there is no lane to blend in with traffic…you are just on, which is not very safe so be careful.

At this point we have stopped for lunch at the Pemex at the north end of the Navojoa bypass and are now rejoining 15D south.  Navojoa is easy enough to go right through if you don’t mind a dozen or so traffic lights.  We aren’t in a hurry and now that they’ve redone the bypass…we use it.

The toll booths in Sonora have been taken over by a citizen’s group protesting tolls in general and especially tolls for poor roads.  I’m with them on that although Sonora’s roads are now in pretty darn good shape.  We did not have to pay a toll but put 20 pesos in their collection tin. 

In some areas the concrete is already showing wear and small potholes have started to appear.  My cousin Garth says they need the German lads that designed and built the autobaun to show them how to do it.  He says it’s like driving on velvet! 

The agricultural fruit check…we didn’t have to stop.

Hmmm….a nasty gravel crossover here.  On a portion of the road where we were travelling with the northbound traffic we noticed Federalies, ambulances and many many buses and then more Federalies.  I didn’t clue in fast enough to take a picture thinking there must be an accident but then Eric realized it must be the migrant caravan getting a lift north.  No pics….too slow. 

Some of the old highway but not too bad.

The north and southbound traffice are travelling together here and this bus took it upon himself to pass us and then this huge truck.  No wonder so many people are killed.  No passing allowed here. 

Off in the distance they are burning. 

The cows are being hustled away from the highway.  No steers or cows we ever had would have been controlled this way. 

Welcome to Sinaloa.

Roads are decent here and to the left you can see the trucks lined up for the military check point.

Not good here but…we are now in Sinaloa where we will pay huge tolls for really crappy roads.

Getting closer to Los Mochis.

More bridge repair.

Lovely and green here but they did get torrential rains. 

This was repaved a few years ago and is still holding up.  I’d wondered how much road damage we’d see in and near Los Mochis as there was huge flooding back in late September due to a tropical depression.  70% of the people in Los Mochis suffered because water got into their homes.  There was huge damage to agricultural land.

Coming into Los Mochis where we’ll park just south at what used to be Pemex 4925 in a fenced truck lot. 

So…all in all it was a good day. 

A day in Playa Cortez

The day started for Eric by trying to figure what the heck is going on with the full propane tank that wouldn’t give us any propane.    First he had the office call the propane truck to fill up the empty one so we had at least one working.   Then he tried bleeding the full tank through the bleed screw, and dropping it a few times and opening it every so slowly and then it worked.  The way the switch over is supposed to happen is that both tanks are connected and turned on with the lever turned to the tank you designate as primary.  When that tank runs out it should automatically switch to the back-up tank and the indicator should turn red/green and now you know that the primary tank is empty.   You then turn off the empty tank and disconnect if to be filled.  Now reconnect it and turn the lever to the tank in use and slowly turn on the now filled tank.  We have never used this regulator before so Eric had to go on line to see how to operatate it.  I might add that the full tank that wouldn’t work last night finally worked after Eric bled about half of the propane out.  Some safety check valve bull sh** problem.  Is the problem fixed who knows.

I haven’t taken pictures here in the last few years and since I have a new camera I thought I’d show you how beautiful it is here.  This shot is looking towards the front of the hotel where you enter. 

One of the very large fountains.  They are quite lovely but the water is very green!

Nicely trimmed walkway of bougainvillea. 

This looks a lot more pristine than it actually is.  The hotel is showing it’s age and I would guess that the amount of money it would take to restore it to it’s former glory would be huge. 

Looking back at the RV park from inside.  We are parked over to the left.

Walking out the back of the lobby onto the very large patio where they often have weddings. 

It’s cooler today as a north wind is blowing. 

Looking north towards Miramar where there are houses and a lovely beach.

The hotel dock.  I shot into the sun and it looks kind off cool. 

Huge cacti out front.

Looking back at the hotel.  Many people come here just to have wedding pictures taken. 

Down the stairs to the dock. 

Coming up the walkway to the pool area.  It is not heated so by this time of year only the children will swim in it!

The waves are rolling in.

Pretty.

Out on the dock looking back at the hotel.

Looks like night but that’s actually the sun.

Not much of a beach to swim here as it’s quite rocky.

I didn’t go to the end of the dock as the waves were crashing over the end. 

I didn’t mention on yesterday’s post which was quite lengthy that we had more friends pull into the park.  Around 5pm yesterday Otto and Edna from Salmon Arm, B.C. pulled in.  We know them from Las Jaibas.   They’d come all the way from Why, Az and were exhausted.  We had a quick hello and said we’d catch up tomorrow which is of course today!

So at happy hour tonight the bugs weren’t bad because the north wind is blowing.  We were joined but a couple who pulled in today with a small trailer.  Tony and Lorraine are from Gabriola Island, B.C. and are on their way to Rincon de Guayabitos for the winter.  They are British and were interesting people to chat to.  They are very interested in Craft beer and had an interesting story about a young couple from the USA who have immigrated to Chacala which is just north of La Penita in the Rincon area.    The young couple have started a small craft brewery there and Tony and Lorraine who are  friends with them travel up to Chacala to drink beer when they have their tasting room open.  Nice people.  Tony is a beer snob much like I am a bread snob….funny! 

So a nice day!