BC to Cuyutlan - Part 2

All packed and on the road leaving Tempe with John & Pat in their SportMobile at sun up on Sunday. Frost on the windshield. It's quite an arduous drive from Tempe, past Tucson, across the border at Nogales, customs, immigrations and vehicle permit at Km 22, then miles of scrub desert and maniacal drivers on the highway down to San Carlos. Temperature at 26C.

We arrived just before sunset at Pat's brother's casa on the water...a most welcoming spot to rest and to get prepared for our next jaunt down the highway.

John and Pat took us sightseeing to La Hotel Playa de Cortes on la Playa Miramar near Guaymas. The hotel is situated on a magnificent shoreline and appears to be making a valiant effort to remain grand. 

Guaymas looks like it is still suffering from the economic downturn but it had some festive Christmas decorations in its square...

Babe in a bauble in downtown Guaymas

Babe near a manger...

Wandering through downtown Guaymas we happened upon a churros stand and had to pick up a bag of these warm, sugary treasures.

Here's one for you, Mark!

This morning, Dec. 31, Meg and I bid farewell to J&P and headed out of San Carlos just after sunrise. John directed us to a handy bypass that skirts around Guaymas and a highway toll booth that hooked us back onto Hwy 15 on the coast. Thus we began a long day of driving, at times on a very narrow, shoulerless highway, contending with risky speed demons behind the wheel of every passing vehicle. We feel safer taking the toll roads which means paying 65 to 160 pesos about a dozen times today. The free roads meander through many small dusty towns where, more often then not, topes (speed bumps) bring traffic flow to a grinding stop. There are topes on the toll road as well but, generally, traffic flows more steadily.

As we apporached Mazatlan storm clouds gathered near the mountains. The sun was still shining so an enormous rainbow popped up. For awhile it became a double rainbow...a good omen. 

As it is New Year's Eve most businesses were closed in Mazatlan and people were getting ready to party. 


We, on the other hand, were getting ready to find shelter...looking for a handy hotel/motel. I have mentioned these convenient motels in a previous blog. We like them because they are safe, clean and secure. Tonight we lucked into the best one yet...the Sole Grand Motel just south of Mazatlan. It's superb! Our biggest trial is trying to understand what the person behind the squawkbox at the front gate was saying (rapid Spanish is difficult for us) but eventually we drove into our unit, dropped the garage door, gathered our gear heading up the marble stairs our well appointed nest for the evening. We booked in for the deluxe 12 hour stint - queen bed, A/C, double sinks, super wonderful hot rain shower, entertainment tower, sofa, mirrors, mirrors everywhere, free wi-fi, slippers and a raised dias with a pole for dancing (or whatever...?) All this plus free beer for 220 pesos (less than $20)

Secure garage ...

with trendy decor...  

Wonderful rain shower

Whoddathunkit?

 

Since you cannot leave the unit once you have started your 'time clock', we ordered dinner which was discretely delivered in the private. rotating lazy susan. Dinner was great, yummy and less than $8 complete with 2 Coronas. Who needs anything more than this, eh?

Discrete food delivery

Feliz ano nuevo!!

 Oh ya, I almost forgot. Along the road today we passed this rock signage on a hillside, near Los Mochis, I believe. Meg has been diligently studying Spanish for a few years and converses rather well in most situations. But her love of cars overrode her linguistics when she translated this phrase as "Jesus is my truck!".   Chevy's El Camino may not be as highly revered in this nation.

Feliz ano nuevo!!

BC to Cuyutlan - 2013 - Part 1

Although we were not sure if we would ever get packed and on the road south, we drove through the slush and crossed the border last Sunday afternoon for a short drive to Seattle to overnight and catch up with some ol' friends. 

Off fairly early the next morning we drove through constant greasy rain showers from Seattle through Portland until the sun finally broke through the clouds over Grant's Pass. By then it seemed like a good time to stop so the Travelodge in Medford, OR was the spot. It seemed awfully familiar...obviously it had been a rest stop from one of our many trips to and from Mexico. Even the Black Bear Diner was familiar and a great place for yummy comfort food.

From the start of planning our route I was worried about what road and weather conditions we would encounter on the passes on the I5 near the Oregon/California border. The Siskiyou Pass in December can be treacherous but we decided to tackle it.

No problema...sunny skies and tiny clumps of snow on the edge of the road. The only adverse condition was dense freezing fog around Yreka, CA (the dragon and cow were barely visible). We stopped briefly in Weed to use the WiFi at McDonald's and gas up.

near Weed

The woman at the gas counter told me it would be a gorgeous drive along Hwys 89 & 44 to Susanville and it was. Blue, blue skies, clear road and very little traffic. And so we continued south through Reno, took the right turn at Fallon and down the 95 to Hawthorne, NV, another previous layover on the trips south and north. Hawthorne seems to exist for the huge ammunition storage depot encircling the town. 

Bomb art in Hawthorne,NV

 We celebrated Christmas Eve in a sleazy motel in Hawthorne drinking dirty martinis (0:

With no reason to hang around the motel Christmas morning at -4C(25F) we hit the highway. There was no traffic, sunny skies and miles of barren landscape. We stopped for breakfast at a saloon/casino in Tonopah, once a flourishing silver-mining town.

The temperature rose during the day to a high of about 17C(63F)...way too hot for long sleeves and jeans for us but obviously winter temps for the bundled Nevada natives. With Tempe, AZ within reach we drove past Las Vegas, over the new bridge by the Hoover Dam,

eventually arriving at our friends' cozy home in Tempe.

We love Tempe. Home of the saguaro cactus,

Arizona State University and lots of interesting shops and shopping centres. It's an extremely pleasant spot where we catch up with our friends, relax a little and reorganize ourselves for the next adventure.