Our Next Trip South 2007
Still further South to the state of Sinaloa, Mexico for a few days of exploring.
For some photos of Sinaloa Click Here
On this our 17th day and 1700 miles into our journey we passed into the state of Sinaloa, Mexico. The country side is getting greener. More agriculture. Passed onion, potato, tomato and corn fields and at every cross road there were trucks selling bags of potatoes, onions, corn, and watermelon. We stopped and bought a watermelon, yum delicious. Passed several small herds of cattle and a few horses grazing right next to the highway. Next to the shoulder of the highway. Today we shared the road with tractors, semis, busses and packed pick ups. Sometimes you wonder how they can possible get that many people in one truck. The only other motorhomes we saw were going north. That time of year, the snowbirds are returning to their home states.
We stopped for the night in Las Glorias south of Los Mochis and about 25 miles off the main highway. Again the campground, Mr. Moro Hotel and RV Resort, is right on the Sea of Cortez. In fact we are parked in the sand. The drive out was interesting to say the least. The co-pilot (me) struck again. Only this time we didn’t drive down a bicycle path but up on to a dirt levee that we had to stay on for a couple of blocks. And we had asked directions and this was them. I was reading the directions out of a campground guide but I miss the part where it said, “Turn right on the 2nd road after getting of the highway.” The 2nd road being the important part. We stopped and asked directions and that is what put us on the levee. Other people were driving on it but…….had to climb a five foot embankment to get on it. Sure must have looked strange to anyone watching us. After we got off the levee we were driving through farming country to the beach again. Mr. Moro has good water and sewer connections and a good 15amp electric connection. The hotel’s pool, showers and restaurant are also available to us. But no Internet. Can’t have everything - we were told that there is an Internet Café in town.
Bright and early the next morning we woke up to the sounds of the waves breaking on the shore and a scrawny rooster crowing his fool head off. Chicken soup anyone? Not much to do except enjoy the sand and surf. There was plenty of wind so Bill and Jeff got the kites out again. Even got the big one way up. Then we tried to get on line - Joke Joke - The people in the office told us there was an “Internet Café” in a tiny town up the road a piece. So we thought we would see how that worked. We finally found the town, a couple of kilometers down a dirt road off the main road. After driving around the streets looking for it we stopped and asked directions of a teenage boy sitting in an abarrotes (a little market.) He gave us very explicit directions, “Down to the corner, right four blocks turn right again and its right there.” He even included gestures so we would be sure to understand. So we drove off and couldn’t find it. Back to the boy. “Oh, well it is right by the mechanics.” Bill and I both remembered seeing the mechanic but no café - so off we went again. There it was - a cinderblock building with Windows written on the side. While Bill went in to find out if there really was a connection I watched a couple of fat white chickens scratching a hole under the foundation and listened to the pig tied to the tree express his displeasure. The little room had six computers three on each side of the room. I could not use my laptop but did have a small portable drive I could put my blog update on. Only one of the computers had a USB port so I sat down to use it. I typed in the address……….Bill sat at another computer and tried to get to AOL to check his mail. We were there for about ½ hour - neither of us got anywhere. I kept getting messages “couldn’t find page” and he just finally gave up. The charge was five Pesos per ½ hour. We are spoiled. Then back at the campground we tried to go on-line with the office’s telephone line. No luck there either. Hopefully when we get to Mazatlan we will find Wi-fi again. So it was a restful day, I read and Bill and Jeff played on the beach with the kites and talked to a couple from California who pulled in to spend the night. They were in a 36foot motorhome and pulling a Jeep too. We decided to travel together for a couple of days as we were headed the same direction.
We left Las Glorias in the morning. They had come in a different way (no levee) and we followed them out. So anyway we took a longer way out and just had to share the road with tractors, horses, cows, cowboys and various farm vehicles. Also had to pass a bus that had run out of gas while still in the only right lane. As we were passing a couple of guys were standing in the middle of the road pouring gas from a big plastic container into the bus. At least there was a little dirt shoulder that helped us get around him. Back onto the TOLL ROAD and that is with capital letters - Five, count ‘em, five toll booths from Los Mochis to Mazatlan. Totaled almost US $90. Also we drove longer than we planned on. First we were going to stop in Culiacan about half way between Las Glorias and Mazatlan. But it was only one in the aft when we got there. Too early to stop, especially since we were going to stop in the Wal*Mart parking lot. Also the area around Culican is one of the heavy drug areas, not a place we wanted to be. So instead we stopped at a roadside stand and had lunch. Pollo asada - grilled chicken. Refreshed we continued on to Mazatlan. In total drove 286 miles, way too many. Then I missed the campground entrance and we ended up driving through the tourist beach section of town. To make it worse, it was Saturday and there was a VERY big motorcycle run from all over Mexico in Mazatlan this week. Kind of like Sturgis on the beach. Zillions of bikes darting in and out. We finally got turned around and headed back up the beach and stopped a police man for directions. It is right after the Holiday Inn, right there. Sure enough there was a big stucco wall with Mar Vista RV written on it and a gate to turn into. As we pulled in the manager came up to us and said, “Your friends are in space 6, they’ve been here a long time and were worried about you. Then the campground was hard to park in. The manager helped with the back and forths - I figured I’d done enough damage for the day. Mar Vista RV was set up years ago (stayed here in 1978) when rigs were much smaller. Again we were parked in the sand a couple of yards from the water. Had full hookups with 30 amps so we can run the air conditioner without problems. And we have Wi-fi - well as long as we pay $5 per day per computer for it. After getting parked and settled in we went out for dinner and well deserved drinks before retiring.
None of us got much sleep as the motorcycle enthusiasts were busy roaring up and down the street and through the campground all night. The run was over Sunday so it calmed down by evening. That afternoon we found a Wal*Mart! Bought some groceries and went to an Office Depot to get a couple of maps that show more detail and found a much need car wash for poor Willie.
The next morning we left Mazatlan around 9 in the morning. We were again following the other motorhome. A truck wanted to pass them. So they pulled way over, almost putting their right wheels in the dirt. The truck was, of course, in the oncoming lane to pass. BUT so was another truck coming towards him. He just made it around when they passed. Whew!!! Still going through lots of farm land - corn, onions, and tomatoes - but now we were also seeing mangos and bananas. And still some cacti off in the distance. At every town people had set up shaded tables at the roadside and they were selling shrimp in packages also shrimp tamales or fruits of all kinds. At one section of the road we got stuck behind a tractor for 12 kilometers doing 20 mph. He finally pulled off. During the drive we passed by a couple of inspection points, one agriculture and one federal, both times we were waved right through. We stopped for lunch at a little truck stop along the way. Spent about 1 ½ hours there for lunch. Time has a whole other meaning here. The autopista isn’t completely finished through this section. So sometimes we were on it and sometimes not. We passed into the state of Nayarit on our way to Tepic.
We stopped for the night in Las Glorias south of Los Mochis and about 25 miles off the main highway. Again the campground, Mr. Moro Hotel and RV Resort, is right on the Sea of Cortez. In fact we are parked in the sand. The drive out was interesting to say the least. The co-pilot (me) struck again. Only this time we didn’t drive down a bicycle path but up on to a dirt levee that we had to stay on for a couple of blocks. And we had asked directions and this was them. I was reading the directions out of a campground guide but I miss the part where it said, “Turn right on the 2nd road after getting of the highway.” The 2nd road being the important part. We stopped and asked directions and that is what put us on the levee. Other people were driving on it but…….had to climb a five foot embankment to get on it. Sure must have looked strange to anyone watching us. After we got off the levee we were driving through farming country to the beach again. Mr. Moro has good water and sewer connections and a good 15amp electric connection. The hotel’s pool, showers and restaurant are also available to us. But no Internet. Can’t have everything - we were told that there is an Internet Café in town.
Bright and early the next morning we woke up to the sounds of the waves breaking on the shore and a scrawny rooster crowing his fool head off. Chicken soup anyone? Not much to do except enjoy the sand and surf. There was plenty of wind so Bill and Jeff got the kites out again. Even got the big one way up. Then we tried to get on line - Joke Joke - The people in the office told us there was an “Internet Café” in a tiny town up the road a piece. So we thought we would see how that worked. We finally found the town, a couple of kilometers down a dirt road off the main road. After driving around the streets looking for it we stopped and asked directions of a teenage boy sitting in an abarrotes (a little market.) He gave us very explicit directions, “Down to the corner, right four blocks turn right again and its right there.” He even included gestures so we would be sure to understand. So we drove off and couldn’t find it. Back to the boy. “Oh, well it is right by the mechanics.” Bill and I both remembered seeing the mechanic but no café - so off we went again. There it was - a cinderblock building with Windows written on the side. While Bill went in to find out if there really was a connection I watched a couple of fat white chickens scratching a hole under the foundation and listened to the pig tied to the tree express his displeasure. The little room had six computers three on each side of the room. I could not use my laptop but did have a small portable drive I could put my blog update on. Only one of the computers had a USB port so I sat down to use it. I typed in the address……….Bill sat at another computer and tried to get to AOL to check his mail. We were there for about ½ hour - neither of us got anywhere. I kept getting messages “couldn’t find page” and he just finally gave up. The charge was five Pesos per ½ hour. We are spoiled. Then back at the campground we tried to go on-line with the office’s telephone line. No luck there either. Hopefully when we get to Mazatlan we will find Wi-fi again. So it was a restful day, I read and Bill and Jeff played on the beach with the kites and talked to a couple from California who pulled in to spend the night. They were in a 36foot motorhome and pulling a Jeep too. We decided to travel together for a couple of days as we were headed the same direction.
We left Las Glorias in the morning. They had come in a different way (no levee) and we followed them out. So anyway we took a longer way out and just had to share the road with tractors, horses, cows, cowboys and various farm vehicles. Also had to pass a bus that had run out of gas while still in the only right lane. As we were passing a couple of guys were standing in the middle of the road pouring gas from a big plastic container into the bus. At least there was a little dirt shoulder that helped us get around him. Back onto the TOLL ROAD and that is with capital letters - Five, count ‘em, five toll booths from Los Mochis to Mazatlan. Totaled almost US $90. Also we drove longer than we planned on. First we were going to stop in Culiacan about half way between Las Glorias and Mazatlan. But it was only one in the aft when we got there. Too early to stop, especially since we were going to stop in the Wal*Mart parking lot. Also the area around Culican is one of the heavy drug areas, not a place we wanted to be. So instead we stopped at a roadside stand and had lunch. Pollo asada - grilled chicken. Refreshed we continued on to Mazatlan. In total drove 286 miles, way too many. Then I missed the campground entrance and we ended up driving through the tourist beach section of town. To make it worse, it was Saturday and there was a VERY big motorcycle run from all over Mexico in Mazatlan this week. Kind of like Sturgis on the beach. Zillions of bikes darting in and out. We finally got turned around and headed back up the beach and stopped a police man for directions. It is right after the Holiday Inn, right there. Sure enough there was a big stucco wall with Mar Vista RV written on it and a gate to turn into. As we pulled in the manager came up to us and said, “Your friends are in space 6, they’ve been here a long time and were worried about you. Then the campground was hard to park in. The manager helped with the back and forths - I figured I’d done enough damage for the day. Mar Vista RV was set up years ago (stayed here in 1978) when rigs were much smaller. Again we were parked in the sand a couple of yards from the water. Had full hookups with 30 amps so we can run the air conditioner without problems. And we have Wi-fi - well as long as we pay $5 per day per computer for it. After getting parked and settled in we went out for dinner and well deserved drinks before retiring.
None of us got much sleep as the motorcycle enthusiasts were busy roaring up and down the street and through the campground all night. The run was over Sunday so it calmed down by evening. That afternoon we found a Wal*Mart! Bought some groceries and went to an Office Depot to get a couple of maps that show more detail and found a much need car wash for poor Willie.
The next morning we left Mazatlan around 9 in the morning. We were again following the other motorhome. A truck wanted to pass them. So they pulled way over, almost putting their right wheels in the dirt. The truck was, of course, in the oncoming lane to pass. BUT so was another truck coming towards him. He just made it around when they passed. Whew!!! Still going through lots of farm land - corn, onions, and tomatoes - but now we were also seeing mangos and bananas. And still some cacti off in the distance. At every town people had set up shaded tables at the roadside and they were selling shrimp in packages also shrimp tamales or fruits of all kinds. At one section of the road we got stuck behind a tractor for 12 kilometers doing 20 mph. He finally pulled off. During the drive we passed by a couple of inspection points, one agriculture and one federal, both times we were waved right through. We stopped for lunch at a little truck stop along the way. Spent about 1 ½ hours there for lunch. Time has a whole other meaning here. The autopista isn’t completely finished through this section. So sometimes we were on it and sometimes not. We passed into the state of Nayarit on our way to Tepic.
