We got up around 7 AM and I scanned the Home Depot parking lot to see if Jackson had arrived during the night. No Luck. Being a bit of a skeptic I assumed he had gone without us.
Since we did not want to cross the border in the darkness we waited until 8 AM and then headed to the border. There are two border crossing in Nogales . One is for cars only, however small RV's can get thru and the others crossing is for truck and RVs although anyone can use this entrance. Of course we took the truck crossing, however about 1/2 KM from the border you have the choice of two lanes and they are not mark in any fashion. But once you enter a lane you are "barricaded" in until you reached the actual border. I chose the lane with several trucks and they take forever to get checked thru. After 20 minutes I finally got to an opening in the barricade and a truck driver directed me to the other lane.
When I got to the inspection Kisok, which barely provides enough room for a Class A MH, I clipped a camera and turned my Mirror so I could not see from it. Nobody said anything so I kept on going. Then we were pulled over to have our documents verify. A young lady who spoke English verified the documents and that the vehicle VIN numbers matched and then sent us on our way. It is unlikely that we will be stopped again because the Federal Police can see that we have the stickers on the windshield.
We had seen two RVs behind us at the border so we knew that we would be playing leap frog with them all day. We actually seen they fueling up so we stopped to say hello and as it turns out we are all going the same camp site in San Carlos tonight.
When we got close to the city of Hermosillo we recalled there was a bypass ( perifico ) and if you don't get in the proper lane you are in "dodo". We both remembered it was a left turn but was there a sign and if so should we be in the left lane or the outside left lane. Just a we approached the city the 2 RVers following us passed us so we said great, we'll just watch what they do. They got in the outside left lane so we followed suite. As we approached the intersection the lead guy ran a caution light and the 2 nd guy ran a red light but there was no way I was going to run a red in MX. Since we stopped and we never seen them again until we got to San Carlos. While on the bypass I hit two really, really bad bumps or dips ( wherever ) and when I stopped 1/2 hour later to check what was left of the car I noticed that I had bend a bar on the tow bar. However, thinking back on it, I may have bent it coming thru the border inspection station because I did have to make 2 very sharp turns. However it is still bent and it doesn't seem to be a problem yet but will I be able to hook up the car once I disconnect it? That's a problem I will try to solve once I get to Quayabitos.
Just as you exit Herosillo you again have to get on to the Freeway ( of a sort ) or toll road from the right lane and I knew this. However a Truck without his trailer was ahead of us but he was having engine trouble and was traveling at a very low speed so I decided to go around him but before I could ( safely ) move into the right lane 3 Mexican had pulled in so I could not move over. Mexican drivers are not known to be courteous. Since my entrance to the toll road was fast approaching I just turn on my right signal and a lady let me in. Thank you Lady. From here on it was clear sailing right to San Carlos.
The RV park at San Carlos are back in only and I knew that. However, I also knew that the main road into the park is extra wide so RVers like us who are only staying overnight can park in the lane way, with full hookups and not interfere with people coming and going. ( Not my first Rodeo ) The power cable, water hose and sewer lines are on the sidewalk, but, hell this is MX, who cares. When I went to connect the water line there was no water so I went to the owners and he said , sorry but we haven't had water for 3 days because the city has a problem. So I paid for power, water, sewer and wifi and I get water: hell of a deal
So a resident seen my water hose and came over to explain the water problem and said they get water about 3 days a week so they have to top up whenever it is on. So I thinking : OK, its' about 20 C during the day, its' windy, its' cool at night , there is limited water supply and the wifi is hit and miss; What the hell are doing spending a winter here. I did ask around and the reason is that you don't have to get the Import Stickers for your vehicle because this state of Sonora is considered a Free Zone. People i spoke to think it is too much hassle to get the Stickers but it is not . They just need your insurance, vehicle registration, drivers licence and of course you "wallet". Cash or Visa will do.
The camper across from me noticed my Veteran plate and said I see you are Vet. Yeh, how about you and he said yes, Air Force and as I got closer, I said " we know each other and he said yes I think so ". I ask his trade and as soon as he said Fire Fighter I said Edmonton in 1970 and Comox in 1986. "Game On}. He later invite us over for a beer and we swapped stories for an hour. Small World.
Now about Jackson: We finally got wifi around 8 PM so we pulled up FB and there was a message from Jackson. On his way to meet with us he got hit by a 18 wheeler near Tucson and it demolition his trailer. Luckily he survived the crash but our only means of communication was thru FB and I'm not a real fan of FB but luckily Carroll checked with FB. He send pictures of what is left of his trailer. I'm glad he contacted us because was thinking he left us.cheers
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