Day 69 - 7 Mar - San Carlos, Mexico to Nogales, Arizona
Photo: Copper Canyon
We were anxious to get on the road and to the border but decided to take a short drive up the road to see what else was in San Carlos. It’s a beautiful area, clean & well maintained, and the beach borders the entire town. We got as far as the big marina, stopped and went in to Barracuda Bob’s for a coffee and killer cinnamon roll. We did not get into the town itself but know that everything we might need and/or enjoy is here if we return. The Nokotaka Campground was wonderful and this is where we would stay. There are clearly lots of long-term snowbirds here…you can tell by the amount of solar and other decorative lights they have on their RVs!
The landscape towards Nogales was much like we will see in Arizona…lots of rolling hills and Saguaro Cactus...and lots of trash along the road. The toll road was 4-lane and the first half was very good and we made good time…unlike the majority of our trip where the road conditions keep us at under 300 kms a day. It’s unpopulated along this stretch…miles of nothing; not even cattle in the brush.
The joy of the road ends about 150 kms from Nogales. The road was worse that awful! The right side of the 2 lanes had been completely destroyed by the number of trucks traveling the roads heading for the border with fruits & vegetables. There was some construction going on but it’s a slow ride and the van is taking a real beating. We were somewhat frustrated that we’ve paid a fair amount of money to travel on this road…the ‘free’ road couldn’t be much worse…but then, this is Mexico so it could!
We finally approached the border and I’ve never seen so many 18-wheelers in one place at one time. We’d been told by other travelers that US Customs will go through our RV, especially the fridge and confiscate foods that can’t be brought in to the U.S. so we were prepared and had eaten or gotten rid of anything suspect. As we pulled up to wait in line, the circus began!!! Mexicans selling food, toys, candy or anything else they could haul, walked up and down the line of cars hawking the stuff. Then there were the ‘squeegy’ kids trying to wash windows. Add the Mexicans in wheelchairs or just begging and it was a busy spot. We finally shut the windows and ignored everyone. Our wait in line was about 1 hr and when we got to the window the nicest agent asked us where we were from, where we’d been and did we have any prohibited food. He actually apologized for sending us to the investigation area so that another agent could have a quick look, “just to make sure you nice folks haven’t forgotten to get rid of a prohibited item”. We pulled into the assigned spot and another agent took a quick look in the fridge, asked us about the mileage we were getting with the van, and told us to have a nice day! That was it! It was probably about a 20-minute stop once our turn came up.
We’d decided to stay at the one park over the border that was recommended in the ‘bible’ of RV camping right in Nogales, Arizona. When we arrived there, we had a quick drive through and decided we’d be better off at the local dump and headed out. It was getting late and we ended up staying at the Pategonia Lake State Park. The drive to the park was gorgeous beyond belief….rolling hills, mountains, and no garbage in sight! As the sun was setting behind the hills, all the colours changed to pinks, mauves and greys, and the sunset was wonderful. Unfortunately, the sites with any hookups were all taken so we ‘boondocked’ with no amenities but it’s not a big problem for the LuvMasheen. There was a clean washroom w/showers so we were fine for the night.
We woke up about 3 am, noses frozen but hunkered down under the quilt and managed to sleep until 6:30 am. We turned on the furnace when we got up which quickly warmed up the van, had coffee and hit the road again. We've decided that we'll head for Los Vegas first...time is getting short, and then come back south and meandre towards home.
The landscape towards Nogales was much like we will see in Arizona…lots of rolling hills and Saguaro Cactus...and lots of trash along the road. The toll road was 4-lane and the first half was very good and we made good time…unlike the majority of our trip where the road conditions keep us at under 300 kms a day. It’s unpopulated along this stretch…miles of nothing; not even cattle in the brush.
The joy of the road ends about 150 kms from Nogales. The road was worse that awful! The right side of the 2 lanes had been completely destroyed by the number of trucks traveling the roads heading for the border with fruits & vegetables. There was some construction going on but it’s a slow ride and the van is taking a real beating. We were somewhat frustrated that we’ve paid a fair amount of money to travel on this road…the ‘free’ road couldn’t be much worse…but then, this is Mexico so it could!
We finally approached the border and I’ve never seen so many 18-wheelers in one place at one time. We’d been told by other travelers that US Customs will go through our RV, especially the fridge and confiscate foods that can’t be brought in to the U.S. so we were prepared and had eaten or gotten rid of anything suspect. As we pulled up to wait in line, the circus began!!! Mexicans selling food, toys, candy or anything else they could haul, walked up and down the line of cars hawking the stuff. Then there were the ‘squeegy’ kids trying to wash windows. Add the Mexicans in wheelchairs or just begging and it was a busy spot. We finally shut the windows and ignored everyone. Our wait in line was about 1 hr and when we got to the window the nicest agent asked us where we were from, where we’d been and did we have any prohibited food. He actually apologized for sending us to the investigation area so that another agent could have a quick look, “just to make sure you nice folks haven’t forgotten to get rid of a prohibited item”. We pulled into the assigned spot and another agent took a quick look in the fridge, asked us about the mileage we were getting with the van, and told us to have a nice day! That was it! It was probably about a 20-minute stop once our turn came up.
We’d decided to stay at the one park over the border that was recommended in the ‘bible’ of RV camping right in Nogales, Arizona. When we arrived there, we had a quick drive through and decided we’d be better off at the local dump and headed out. It was getting late and we ended up staying at the Pategonia Lake State Park. The drive to the park was gorgeous beyond belief….rolling hills, mountains, and no garbage in sight! As the sun was setting behind the hills, all the colours changed to pinks, mauves and greys, and the sunset was wonderful. Unfortunately, the sites with any hookups were all taken so we ‘boondocked’ with no amenities but it’s not a big problem for the LuvMasheen. There was a clean washroom w/showers so we were fine for the night.
We woke up about 3 am, noses frozen but hunkered down under the quilt and managed to sleep until 6:30 am. We turned on the furnace when we got up which quickly warmed up the van, had coffee and hit the road again. We've decided that we'll head for Los Vegas first...time is getting short, and then come back south and meandre towards home.
The weather at home is not at all inviting and recent e-mails from the Scotts have re-affirmed that we really picked a good winter to evacuate Ottawa. Colin has been blowing snow non-stop, only doing two driveways and sounds like he's just about ready to heave the machine into a snow-pile...except they are all too high to get it there! Chins up guys...it can't last much longer!
Until next time, love to you all. Make an appointment for a good back/shoulder message--it should help. xx
posted by Lynne @ 6:26 PM
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