I’m shocked that I slept well last night! I fell asleep around 10:30, woke for some reason around 1:00, and then slept soundly until 5:15. I uould have probably used another hour, but I was awake and it was still pitch dark out, so I was highly motivated to get done packing and cleaning and head out at first light!

I’d left out the coffee supplies, but had packed the BBQ lighter! Thankfully, I found a match that worked, even if I burned my finger lighting it! 🙂 I had my coffee in between doing bursts of stuff. By 6ish, I just had the floors left to do, but it was pitch dark out still. And then, just like at night, someone switched on the light and it was day. There’s really no build up to it!

I made sure I hadn’t forgotten anything, left a note for the landlady telling her I washed all the bedding, towels, and curtains and turned off the water heater, as well as confirming that I’m planning to be back November 25th and that I’ll call if that changes, gave the floor a final mopping, and that was that!

I had promised myself I wouldn’t get too maudlin about leaving, but there was still a huge lump in my throat as I wound my way through the narrow alleyways of my neighbourhood and made my way to The Road.

The Road was in fine shape, but I took my time.

I pulled over at the golf course to get some water since I had put my Nalgene bottles into the back for some reason. As I was getting ready to pull out, my water guy passed me! He pulled over and called out, “¿Adios?” and I replied, “No. ¡Hasta noviembre!” (See you in November). He replied that that was wonderful and wished me a good trip. I didn’t realise that the water guys go to Maz every day!

Traffic was light coming into Maz.

I knew there was a Panamá’s near the Santa Rosa Soriana and, with traffic not requiring my undivided attention, I was able to spot it, tucked away into a strip mall. It was just a tiny one. I got a sandwich for breakfast, pineapple empanada for my coffee break, brownie for lunchtime dessert, and a croissant for tomorrow morning (that will likely be stale, I know).

Then, it was time to find fuel. I never noticed that there are bunch of Pemexes between the airport road and Maz southbound, but none on the northbound side until you get into town. I finally found one where getting in and out wouldn’t be a sport. I asked for 700 pesos’ worth and went to use the bathroom while the fueling was being done. The bathroom had paper, soap, AND seats!

700 pesos was full tank, so that meant I would be able to track my gas mileage. When I bought the truck and drove it cross-country, I was able to do about 125KM per quarter tank and get the ‘you need to fill up’ light at about the 500KM mark. My Ford Ranger forum guys said these were normal figures for my truck. On the trip down this fall, I was lucky to get 100KM per quarter tank. Having been told that the brake job would help my gas mileage, I kept a close eye on my gas gauge for the first part of the day.

The first part of the drive was the Libre to Culiacán. Like on the way down, it was a smooth easy trip and the slow speed is easy to accept to save over 200 pesos in tolls!

I encountered my first agricultural inspection and military checkpoint before Culiacán. I just rolled through the military one.

The ag inspection was funny at first, then turned creepy. The guy took one look at me and said in perfect English, “You got fruit?” His tone was hilarious. Then, he asked me if I was alone and yelled to his buddy in Spanish to come see the “hot Canadian woman.” (Yes, I was hot, but I doubt that’s what he meant). For the second time this winter, the hairs on back of my head stood up. It was a very good reminder that I need to be smart about staying on the beaten path until I am much, much, much more used to this sort of behaviour in Mexico and know when to feel threatened or not. I’m not used to be viewed in this manner and my instincts about it are not well honed at all. Anyway, all was well and off I went.

By 9:30, I was ready for a coffee, so I pulled into the first Oxxo I spotted, about 30 minutes south of Culiacán, around 10:00. I decided to try the cinnamon creamer (yum!) and braved the Oxxo bathroom (glad I had wipes in my purse).

I missed the turnoff for the cuota when I reached the city limits. It’s just tiny sign put up at the exit as an after thought. So I had to find a place to turn around and come back. Not a big deal.

I then encountered my first two toll booths and was not impressed. Even though my receipts said $63, I was charged $73. With the first one, I handed over $63 because that’s what the sign said and the lady said, “No. Se-TEN-ta tres” (emphasis hers). Sixty is se-SEN-ta, so she was being very clear. I was not impressed by these extra charges.

The third booth was marked 20 pesos and the guy in front of me had the EXACT same truck — dark green Ford Ranger XLT! I saw him hand over a $20 and I decided to question the discrepancy if I was charged more. Well, I wasn’t, and from there on out, I was charged the posted amount. Mine not to wonder why…

I needed a break by the time I hit Los Mochis, so I decided to get gas since I was past the three quarter mark. By this point, I knew that my brake job was going to pay for itself because I had been doing slightly BETTER than 125KM per quarter tank AND my gas gauge had not gone from half full to running on fumes within a few kilometres!

Once again, I asked for 700 pesos of fuel, but the guy said Moya would only take 655 pesos’ worth. Curious, because that only put her just past the three quarters full mark. That was fine by me. With my gas mileage back to normal, that would take me to San Carlos, where I had planned to refuel anyway.

A little boy did my windows and was very happy when I gave him five pesos for his hard work. He actually asked his dad if he could accept them! I’m guessing that it’s more than he’s used to getting more than him not being used to getting paid.

This bathroom had an attendant who was handing out paper (a nice big wodge of it, not a few stingy squares!). I asked how much and she said to pay what I wanted. I also gave her five pesos. And since I was in a giving mood, I gave the guy who pumped my fuel five pesos, too. 🙂

The next stop was about 165KM down the road, Navojoa in the state of Sonora. By this point, I had hit two more fruit and military stops, with one of each at the border, where it took me almost 20 minutes to get clear and back on the road.

The first fruit stop went like this, “Uh… fru-it?” “No tengo fruta” and then I got motioned to go. The second fruit stop, I had to get out and unlock the back of the truck. This fruit inspector did not speak English and asked me if I could tell him what I was carrying. I replied, “Clothes and things for the house,” and that satisfied him.

The first military checkpoint, I had to speak to a soldier who did not speak English and who spoke very fast with a thick accent. I asked him to repeat himself and the second time I caught “a donde”, so I thought he was asking me where I was going. I replied, “I am going to San Carlos,” and that must have been the right answer because he wished me a good trip and waved me off. I just rolled through the second military checkpoint.

There was also a checkpoint by the major crimes unit, but they just ignored me and I drove through.

I’d heard that the roads in Sonora were terrible, but these reports were obviously by people who have never been to Quebec and don’t know what a terrible road is. Some parts were bumpy, but didn’t slow me down in the least.

Navojoa has a big Soriana at its southern limit and that seemed to be the perfect (late) lunch stop because I knew I could do four things there:

1) grab a quick cheap lunch of ideally pizza;
2) use an ATM (I spent a lot more on Isla in the last week than I had planned on, so I was about 1,000 pesos short if I wanted a nice dinner in San Carlos);
3) buy a pump for my water bottles back home (hard to find, expensive, and poor quality in Canada versus ubiquitous, cheap (35 pesos), and good quality in MX);
4) pee. 🙂

I had Soriana’s pizza for the first time, 18 pesos for a large and delicious slice! Very good pizza, almost New York style. It was my third time having pizza by the slice this winter all at different locations and they’ve all been great. Rumours of crappy Mexican pizza appear to be unfounded….

A whistle man insisted on guiding me out of my spot even though I was in a pull-thru with no one around me. I decided to make him pay for his tip and asked him to confirm the way out of the lot to turn left since I managed to come in the wrong way down a one way (in my defense, there were ‘entrada’ signs facing me!). He told me which exit to take and to just cross the median and turn left. Then he said, “Going north?” I replied that I was heading home to Canada and like everyone else I said this to today (including several toll takers), I almost gave him a heart attack! 😀

I couldn’t believe that by this point, I only had 200KM left to go! My ETA to San Carlos was 6:15 to 6:30, making for a very long day, but the trip had been very easy so far, with good roads and minimal traffic and construction. Being able to break every 200KM helped my stamina.

Ciudad Obregon was easy in this direction, with no detours, and by the time I was clear of it, I was ready to be done for the day. I was glad to see the sign for Guaymas taking me away from the toll road since I’d had enough of the endless parade of 65 peso tolls! I spent 427 pesos (34CAD) on tolls today and am glad that I saved the big ones in Maz.

Just before the San Carlos exit, there was another major crimes checkpoint! They were stopping everyone ahead of me and I almost burst into tears! I was really tired and sore and just wanted to get there! But, blessed be, the police man just waved me through! So I have NO idea what the two police checkpoints were about!

Even though I knew what to look for for the San Carlos exit, I almost missed it! But I didn’t and I was soon rolling into town. I managed to miss Totonaka, though, so fixated was I by the sight of an Oxxo at this end of town!

I managed to turn around and pulled into the RV park, grateful that the office was still open and that I wouldn’t have to hunt for the security guard. I was delighted to be served in Spanish, which made up for the reservation being under “Ray Cludders.” They had the name in my email, for pete’s sake! 😀 450 pesos for the room, a better deal than paying in USD. I got a different room from November, but right next to it and a mirror image of it. But there is one HUGE difference. The bed isn’t hard as a rock!

Speaking of rock, I didn’t get a coupon for a free margarita this time, so I changed my mind about going to Los Arbolitos for octopus tacos and instead went to Charly’s Rock for the view. There, I was asked if a Spanish menu was okay and left to peruse it while they got me a Pacifico and some cold water. As it turned out, Charly’s Rock also has octopus tacos and they’re cheaper, 90 pesos for three, versus 38 for one at Los Arbolitos!

I was surprised that didn’t get chips (and Contessa, that’s what the call totopos here, too!) with my beer, but they came with my food.

OMG, they were good. There was a crema-based sauce to put on them, as well as lime and hot sauce. Octopus is amazing when done right. It’s a very tender and mild flavoured meat that really doesn’t taste ‘fishy’ the way that shrimp does. I think that if a person can get past the visual image of the suckers on the tentacles, it’s a very good introduction to seafood.

This was the absolute most perfect last supper for this Mexico trip and I even had a second beer! The total for the meal was just 142 pesos, plus a 30 peso tip.

Dining at Charly’s is such a unique experience. It’s not particularly sanitary, what with the bird poop on the counter you eat at and the gulls landing right next to you, but the view can’t be beat!

I refused a second helping of chips since I hoped that Thrifty’s ice cream would be open. I walked down there and they were! I got a scoop of “chocobrownie” in a sugar cone.

Thrifty’s is the perfect distance from the back end of the RV park where the rooms are, as I am just able to finish an ice cream by the time I get to my room. Once I arrived, I had a shower and settled in to write this post. I’ve been at it for over an hour!

Today was a really good day of travel. For one thing, my truck performed splendidly and didn’t give me a moment of worry. Another thing is that there was zero stress. When I came down, everything was stressful. Would I be able to read the signs? Where could I get a quick cheap meal that wouldn’t make me sick? Where could I get a coffee? Where were the bathrooms? OMG, why was that guy waving at me; did it mean stop or go? Today was a trip where I was just as comfortable as I am driving in Canada and the US. There were coffee and bathrooms and food when I needed them and of course I understood the signs. The flag wavers, though, need more study. 🙂 I can’t wait for tomorrow. It was drilled into me that once I cross the border at Nogales I have to drive and not stop till San Carlos. I don’t plan to obey that tomorrow. 🙂

I have more, but I think it warrants its own post, especially since this one has been so long.