An inauspicious beginning as it rained all the way from Los Banos to LA on Tuesday. Rode 500 miles and stayed in Monrovia just east of Pasadena. Next day was more rain until I got east of San Bernadino, then clear sunny skies from Indio into Yuma. Checked into my motel and went exploring, also picked up a few more items from the local Kawasaki dealer.
Today, Thursday, turned out to be quite a deal....
Mauricio did not have Mexican insurance, so we spent about an hour while he bought some via phone and had the policy faxed to the motel. At the border, a scant 22 miles from Yuma, we obtained our tourist cards OK, but the computer was down at customs so we proceeded into the country nearly 120 miles to the first checkpoint where we went thro the relatively minimal hassle of getting our vehicle permits. This all involved a lot of running back to the copier to duplicate license, passport, etc, but was pretty painless all in all.
More painful by far was the weather once we set out on Mexico Hwy. 2 from San Luis de Colorado. We traveled thro desert reminiscent of the worst parts of Nevada thro some jagged hills and most of it in a constant downpour. Part of this area is protected habitat and is indicated by roadsigns depicting coyotes, roadrunners prairie dogs and other animals we would consider vermin in the USA. Road quality is fairly good, but the rain was unrelenting which made passing the double trailer semi rigs really tough: Mauricio blasted along at 75 mph, a pace I wasn{t about to match given the conditions. At one point, we were forced to detour around construction on a muddy dirt road for several miles. Not fun. At least I was semi'dry, albeit cold, in my gear, but Mauricio was soaked since he didnt bother to pack any rain gear! It was all pretty miserable and about the time the lightning began, I had to stop at a remote roadside cantina and buy 10 liters of gas for 10 bucks as I was on reserve and no way could make it to the next town. The highway is peppered with signs imploring you not to drink and drive nor pass on the double yellow ....right! That went on its butt about 2 miles from the border when several pickups roared around us as we were primly following the rules. When we arrived at Caborca, we both agreed it was time to call it a day after a grand total of only 220 miles. We got a room without a heater at the Hotel Blanca, ate a chicken dinner and now I am typing this while Mo watches Spanish TV. Forecast for tomorrow is better and I sure hope so. No fun today and little progress. And oh, by the way, Kevin bailed out of the trip two days before it was to begin so it is only we two. Funny punctuation is because this Mexican keyboard does not type the same characters as are shown. Pics - Happy Mauricio in Yuma, Hotel Blanca in Caborca after deluge, Mauricio sleeps anywhere, any position
Today, Thursday, turned out to be quite a deal....
Mauricio did not have Mexican insurance, so we spent about an hour while he bought some via phone and had the policy faxed to the motel. At the border, a scant 22 miles from Yuma, we obtained our tourist cards OK, but the computer was down at customs so we proceeded into the country nearly 120 miles to the first checkpoint where we went thro the relatively minimal hassle of getting our vehicle permits. This all involved a lot of running back to the copier to duplicate license, passport, etc, but was pretty painless all in all.
More painful by far was the weather once we set out on Mexico Hwy. 2 from San Luis de Colorado. We traveled thro desert reminiscent of the worst parts of Nevada thro some jagged hills and most of it in a constant downpour. Part of this area is protected habitat and is indicated by roadsigns depicting coyotes, roadrunners prairie dogs and other animals we would consider vermin in the USA. Road quality is fairly good, but the rain was unrelenting which made passing the double trailer semi rigs really tough: Mauricio blasted along at 75 mph, a pace I wasn{t about to match given the conditions. At one point, we were forced to detour around construction on a muddy dirt road for several miles. Not fun. At least I was semi'dry, albeit cold, in my gear, but Mauricio was soaked since he didnt bother to pack any rain gear! It was all pretty miserable and about the time the lightning began, I had to stop at a remote roadside cantina and buy 10 liters of gas for 10 bucks as I was on reserve and no way could make it to the next town. The highway is peppered with signs imploring you not to drink and drive nor pass on the double yellow ....right! That went on its butt about 2 miles from the border when several pickups roared around us as we were primly following the rules. When we arrived at Caborca, we both agreed it was time to call it a day after a grand total of only 220 miles. We got a room without a heater at the Hotel Blanca, ate a chicken dinner and now I am typing this while Mo watches Spanish TV. Forecast for tomorrow is better and I sure hope so. No fun today and little progress. And oh, by the way, Kevin bailed out of the trip two days before it was to begin so it is only we two. Funny punctuation is because this Mexican keyboard does not type the same characters as are shown. Pics - Happy Mauricio in Yuma, Hotel Blanca in Caborca after deluge, Mauricio sleeps anywhere, any position
2 comments:
Ay hermano....memorias (o mejor dicho, pesadillas) de los viajes por Flecha Amarilla me inundan. Ojalá que el tiempo se mejore pronto.
¡No te desanimes!
David,
The sun'll come out tomorrow!
Ride safe and don't eat the
burro tacos. Marty
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