Bye Sonora
We left Mirador at about 0830 and resumed our journey south. For the first time we leave the State of Sonora and enter the State of Sinaloa. As we did so, the desert landscape began giving away to vegetation and we now see a lot of agriculture. We also see herds of cattle ranging near the highway, usually watched by a cowboy on horseback...and, the number of people that wave at us with a big smile continues to amaze us.
We were on Mexico 15, much of which is toll, and it is not cheap. Today we went 298 miles and the tolls were $60! By practice, if there is a toll segment there is usually a free segment very near by. But, that free side goes through towns and you really lose a lot of time. So, what happens is that you’ll speed along at about 55mph on the toll segment and then all of a sudden you enter a town and the dreaded Topes (speed bumps) that slow everything down. Then a bit later, you’re back on the toll segment. All this means that the best we have averaged in Destino is about 40-45 miles/hour. The roads remain very good. They (and we’re also talking about side roads here) are smoother than many of our interstates and wide enough. More and more we’re seeing better shoulders so that eliminates the only negative we had before. So far, including going through busy cities, we’ve not felt uncomfortable driving Destino and pulling the jeep.
By the way, gas is about $2.40/gallon. The price is the same everywhere and it is always pumped by an attendant. I hear that some Pemex’s take credit cards but have not seen any yet. We also continue to see Wal-Mart’s, Sam’s, AutoZone’s, Sherman-Williams, etc. We’ve not been in any big store yet since we’ve been in small towns. We will soon need to because we’re running low on dog food and a couple of other things. They have Pedigree dog food in the little shops but only in small bags and is pricy.
One other observation on this Sat before Christmas: half, maybe two-thirds, of the autos on this highway (the main route down the West cost of Mexico) were vans and SUV’s with California plates and were loaded with Mexican men and treasures from the US. Presume they are legal workers who are bringing presents home for Christmas. The things we saw most often were bicycles, washers and dryers, and toys. We left the main highway at about 1500 and headed east to Las Glorias. Nice 2 lane road through the beautiful countryside. Lots of cattle munching the grass on the shoulders under the watch of a herder on horseback. The little village has lots of restaurants on the water…don’t know how they are supported. We proceeded to our RV Park and WOW! While it is not fancy, the facilities are very nice and we are right next to the beach! If we were any closer, we’d be in the water! We will post pictures when the site lets us. Had a nice dinner in the restaurant here and then read listening to the surf. This place is fantastic and it will be hard to leave here. There are only about 4 other RV’s here so we have this huge beach almost to ourselves.
We did have a moment of home sickness yesterday when we remembered that Anne was doing her Christmas cookie decorating event for the grandkids. That has been a traditional thing during our many years of Christmas in Dade City and it reminds us that we won’t be there, at least not in person.
There is no internet near the Park so we’ll be out of touch except when we find a café. You have the info on the park and the cell says we have a good signal but don’t know if it works. Don’t call the cell unless it is an emergency because it is very expensive.
Until we get internet again…..
Sunday 17 Dec
Internet, sort of.
Went to the office to say hello and lo and behold there was a PC. The owner was proud that he had it up and running and invited me to use it. It is an old PC on a marginal dial up going through Prodigy. After about 45 minutes was able to send a quick “we are safe” email to Claire and Frank. Other than that, we did not do much except walk on the beach. Did go to a local tiny store for some small things. They were making tortillas for the village…quite good, we might add. Our plan now is to leave here (sadly) on Tue and stay 2 nights in Mazatlan. It is a bigger city with stores for some Christmas shopping.
Monday 18 December 2006
Woke up to a light fog. Most of the day was overcast so we just chilled out. RVpark did laundry for us: $6 for 3 kilos (6.5 lbs). Not cheap but neither was it exorbitant. On that subject, at least so far, things are not what you would call very cheap. Dinner at a normal place is about $40 for 2. Fresh shrimp (we watch the boats here every night) average $12 for 2.3 pounds. Yes that is cheaper than big cities but we pay about $2-3 on Cedar Island. We were surprised at how much we spent in a little 7-11 type store. So far, things are not expensive but they are also not “cheap”. There’s not much competition where we’ve been so far so that may change as we head on south tomorrow.
But, then tonight our meal was $25 for both of us….go figure.
Tuesday 19 December 2006
Woke up to a cloudy day but the temp is good. A skiff type oat with 4 fishermen sped towards the shore and beached the boat at full throttle. They were streaming out a long gill net that we realized was connected to the beach about 200 yards away and manned their by 4 fishermen. They then started pulling the net in and walked towards each other. After about a half hour of hard work they got the net in and had about 100 fair size fish.
We headed out towards Mazatlan. The area is now very much agriculture with huge fields with rows covered with plastic and in some cases tents of a fiber material of some type to keep varmints out. The road is now almost US Interstate standard (and better than some we have been on) with shoulders and dividers in most areas. Speed limit is 70mph. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the toll for about 100 miles was $68!!!!! The alternative was a slow road and we would have probably burned that in extra gas. Saw our first genuine Sombrero today and not in a tourist area. A chap was talking to his friend out in the fields a long way from anywhere and had one on. His friend was wearing a white cowboy hat…the usual attire that is very prevalent everywhere.
We arrived Mazatlan about 1400 and got a place in the only RV park on the water. Excellent facilities and view from the front row but it is tight! It is fun being in a town after several weeks of country with only tiny convenience stores. We went to a huge store last nigh that was like a Wal-Mart but has excellent selections in food and veggies. Their bakery and deli had stuff that is usually only found in Europe. We had a fantastic time there and will do another one today: we’re stocking up for the kid’s arrival and for Santa.
The cat’s back….well, he’s been seen at the RV park that is now 15 hours away! They can’t catch him. So now, we’ll have to figure out what to do…probably have them board him and we go back through the same route rather than through Texas.
No comments:
Post a Comment