Well gang…hola from Querétaro.
After 11.5 hours and over 1000 km…I am safe and sound again.
Notes from the day….
Don’t forget to use bottles water to brush teeth!!
No proporcione a traves de internet, nip or telefono, ni a otras personas su NIP…I saw this on the ATM slip…I like how they use NIP instead of PIN
Awake at 330am when truck alarm went off…big rig started his motor and set off the alarm.
Up again at 530am…ugh
15 toll booths today…almost like tope!!! $1233 pesos…over $100 Cdn
Had a full tank and on the road at 615…found Mazatlan cuota..I was not lost!!
210 km to Maz…I would have made it in 12 hours vs the 15…but would have been asleep at the wheel!!
630 am…farm workers in a field…cooking desayunos? Sun about to come up…into mi ojos!!
Sinaloa (estado) is working on the road side garbage issue. They have set up 45 gallon drums every mile where you can toss organics and inorganics.
I forgot to buy some Oakleys on the way here…was going to stop in Tulalip, but I guess driving by as early in the morning as I did…olvido!!
FYI…1.75 litro of CR is $5 more expensive at the Nogales Walmart vs Duty Free.
85 km out of Maz and the ocean appears on the right as I drive down the coast.
Hit a toll booth and the toll was $93 pesos. I gave him $203 and got a $100 peso note back…and ten $1 peso coins!! Doph!!
Just saw a sign that stated Tropico de Cancer...and nothing else.
Platoon of army guys just jogged by
Good job staying in Culiacán last night…hotels in Maz were $200 to $500 pesos more.
8am…seeing Mazatlan’s Zona Dorado…the Golden Zone where the main hotels used to be. They have now spread out up and down the playa.
No Mazatlan bypass to Tepic…lots of traffic, construction and smog. Ugh. It took a while.
New tienda in Mexico? Auto Zone…a good store to have here. Might stop in and look for a clutch fan…argh. More on that later.
Mazatlan…home of the pulmonia.
285km to Tepic where I will then head east to Guadalajara and then onto Querétaro.
Guy on a motorbike looks down at his rear wheel and comes within inches of crashing into a barrier…yikes
Darn…it was 653pm only seconds ago…until I looked at the bedside clock and found out it is 753pm!! I knew the clock changed again (2 hours diff from Van), I just forgot where.
Oh well.
Back to the day…
One of the first things I remember on my first trip to Mexico, which was in Maz, was the huge prison on the side of the highway. It does not look nice in there!!
Want to know about a GREAT crunchy granola bar? I picked these up in Nogales AZ…Clif bar brand White Chocolate and Macadamia nut….yummy.
Finished the Black Cherry water…boo hoo
I think I that when the signage says 100 km to a destination, my odometer ends up saying 95 km. So if I am going 70 mph, I would be going around 73? All because of these big tires?
PGR security checkpoint…no idea what PGR is about. I am asked “adonde vas” and as I am about to answer, another guy says “gringo” and then waves me through. I say “no gringo…soy Canadiense!!”
Several motorhomes and such with BC plates…in big bad and scary Mexico? Oooooooohhhh
Hit a new estado at 930am…I think.
I was told it was 55 km to the next Pemex…and at 53 km I ran out and had to use the gerry can. I drive 2 more km and I am at a toll booth and ask where the next Pemex is…she says 55 km more. Doph…NO way I am going to make that, especially with the fan clutch issue.
So…inside the oficina and a worked brings out a big container, sells it to me for $200 pesos and I am off and running to Tepic…55 km away.
Bad gas mileage? 400 km plus if everything is working, and 360 if the fan clutch acts up…which it did MANY times today. Many more then ayer…yesterday.
The pisser is not really the noise but the fact I lose power. I cannot go up the hills and to get going from a dead stop is horrible. Argh. I will ask Mike for some $$ relief as I know it will need to be replaced and/or diagnosed by Tony and his his hombres at Nissan in Huatulco.
A GREAT place to build a Pemex gas station…between Maz and Tepic on highway 15…as there isn’t one for 2 hours!!
In the heat…a biking team consisting of ten riders.
Don’t tell anyone where I am hiding my stash of pesos…under BB and P!! hee hee hee
And just keeping some small bills handy in case I
niño to university.
Whipped around a corner on the highway and in the right lane is a 18 wheeler completely stopped…no lights on or anything.
Tons of Federales in Tepic…lots of local cops…huge number of speed traps.
As soon as I enter Tepic, it is all about hills and those are horrible with the clutch fan…oh well. Gas in one km…oops…the road is closed for a parade of 100’s of peeps.
Did a u-turn and filled up…I am good to go. Gerry can ready as well.
Hey…how did that bird get stuck in my front driver’s side wheel rim? Yech.
Doesn’t matter about the fan in Tepic as everyone is going 70 km/hr due to the cops and all the hills!!
Guadalajara is 190 km away.
First muscle relaxer of the trip…1130am on Monday…
Wow…tons of winding roads after Tepic…not a good route for Bexico y her orange bucket!!
Bombing and I come to a sign that says I can head to Guadalajara, Magdelina OR Tequila!!! And yes…I saw lots of tequila factories etc.
85 km away from Guad…lots of agave being grown.
Hungry…made a PB sandwich at 110km/hr…using the mapa as a plato!! Ja ja ja
Just saw a car go by with a bunch of surfboards on it’s roof. After this drive, I will be SOOOO ready to hit Mojon, take care of Max and watch Bexico surf!!
9pm here…first Diet Coke of the trip!!
Saw a sign for a military checkpoint…no one home.
The directions in Guadalajara are not the best. I was looking for 15D and could not find it. I looked at the mapa and it looked like the highway goes right through Guad…and it does. It took an hour to get in and get out.
If you cannot find your highway number, look for a sign with a city that is in the same direction as you want to go. Ah ha…Mexico City is close to Querétaro…go in that lane. And it worked!!
Bex’s type of stop light…tons of cotton candy being sold!! Not her stop light…a guy painted silver head to toe and juggling things that were on fire.
Peeps here do have some $$...one of those brand new J-Lo Fiats just drove by.
8 pick up trucks full of Federales racing by in the opposite direction. Very dramatic as they have two standing up with their guns hung over the cab and they all wear these masks. Oooooohhhh.
Autobahn 2…some big Mercedes blows by me at 180 km/hr
Pine trees? Pino?
Saw what might have been the first turn off…but it was not called the same as what I had. Ooops. Picked it up 30 km down the highway and did a little back road driving to get back on track.
In the estdao of Jalisco now. There are 31 states in Mexico and one DF. I think I am now in Michochan…where did Jalisco go?
Another prison? This one is in La Piedad.
And a sign in La Piedad…El Purgatorio…who knew?
Crazy 90 degree turn to get me onto the right road. But I honestly have no idea where I am. It is the right place…but no idea where it is. Does that make sense?
What? A Walmart and Sams in Piedad?
Success!!! I just saw a sign that said Querétaro cuota!!
Driving through town at 330pm and it is VERY quiet. Por que? Hello…siesta time!!
This one is for mi novia…acabo de ver a un perro graingy tomar una caca!!
Paid a toll for this stretch of road…and I am going 5 km/hr?
I t would be interesting to research how Mexico ended up with their roads where they are…they seem to make no sense.
I am bombing down a highway and go under an over pass. There is a road that comes down from the overpass and connects onto the highway, in the same direction I am driving. How is it possible I just saw a car drive UP that on ramp?
Is the grass greener on the other side? Tons of grass and hay in their pen, but the cows stick their heads through the barbed wire to eat the “forbidden” grass on the outside?
About 40 km before Irapuato there are some very cool tequila buildings, sales shops and sampling places. Looks very rich $$$.
For the day, I just went under the 3rd overpass to no where. It is an underpass that is not connected at either side. Someone made some $$ off that mistake!!
Tons of fresas con crema…would that be fresas frescas con crema? Say fresh strawberries fast 10 times….fresas frescas…fresas frescas…
Querétaro 140 km away at 4pm...no warning for the last turn off…but I made it without killing anyone!! Phew!!
I made it in by 530pm..actually 630pm…before the sun set. I am staying at the same place I did on the way up to Vancouver. Pricey…but nice. What I did not notice last time as I arrived in the dark, was that there is a funeral home a block away and across the street is the crematory and a garden store next to that? Human fertilizer? Yech.
The same desk agent was working and she remembered me because of the surfboards that had been sticking out of the truck at the time, and because of the two mordida that I had to pay on the way here.
I showed her fotos of Max and she loved them and liked the “hecho en Mexico” part of the tattoo!!
I asked them to order me a Dominos and that, mi cerveza and a DC…la cena is finito!!
I did manage two video chats with the gang in Vancouver…sounds like everything is on track and everyone is having plenty of “Max time”. Only issue is that it seems like the landlady is being a snatch…not sure why as we have been ideal tenants. If she continues this way…she can keep the bear she gave Max!!
I sent her an email and I hope that clears things up.
Also got a hold of TD and even though you don’t talk to a person, a computer verified I am who I say I am and that the charges on my US $ visa were approved by me. Who knew?
Ok gang…did not expect to lose that hour. I need to hit the hay as it is one loooong last day mañana. It took 15 hours to get from Huatulco to Querétaro in September and that included getting lost twice, running out of gas once and having to stop twice to deal with some mordidas.
Mañana? I am hoping for 12-13 hours and be home by 7 or 8pm!!
The route? Querétaro to 57 south…somewhere I get on the Arco Norte and get off at San Martin Texmelucan. Somewhere I get on 150D and then go all the way past Cordoba where I hook up on 145D (Minatitlan) until 185 south and then 200 west to Huatulco!!
Easy eh?
Have a great Tuesday…hasta mañana…from HOME!!
And then I see mi familia on jueves!!
saludos
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