Trip back to Mazatlan

Hello from Mazatlan. First thing this morning we got up got dressed and headed across the street to our favorite breakfast restaurant. The Torres hotel where the restaurant is right on the ocean. As always good food and beautiful scenery.

Yesterday, Sunday, morning we left the campground at 8:30. Picked a good day to leave very little traffic. We were out of the city of Guadalajara in ½ hour. Amazing – It took us over an hour to travel the same road coming in on a week day afternoon. Stopped to get diesel – 38 gallons, $142. About 3.74 a gallon. Then headed to Mazatlan. The road was good 98% of the way. Which is good because it cost US $144 in tolls for 300 miles! Only a couple of small bits of construction and only a few miles that need repaving. Took us 7 hours. Bill says that is the last time he wants to drive 300 miles in a day. Of course he wasn’t feeling well. On Saturday he came down with a terrible cold and we both spent most of Saturday night awake with his coughing. Anyway we are here now for at least three or four weeks.

Just a picture of one of the agave fields.

The landscape is covered with them between Guadalajara and the town of Tequila down there nestled in the valley. We had a “déjà vu all over again” time in Tequila this year. But that will be another post.

The drive from Guadalajara to just past Tepic is mountainous – drop about 4500 feet in elevation. And going north lots of steep downgrades.

And lots of curves.

This sign says. “Vehicles without brakes follow the red line. You can see it in the inside lane.

A better look at it.

If you don’t have brakes does this make you feel better or worse – “Runaway Ramp 1 KM.” Also another steep grade sign and a get out of their way sign. 

And this sign I love – “Let the vehicle without brakes pass you.” Duh – no kidding.

Getting closer to the ramp the red line is crossing to the right lane.

Here is a look at the GPS – mainly I’m showing it because the orange route is the old or free road. That is the one we took in 1978 when we drove our motorhome to Argentina. And one of those curves is the one we stalled out on. It is continually up hill going south in this area. 

You can read all about that trip in our book All The Way To Argentina available as an e-book.

Nearing Tepic we started passing lots of sugar cane fields also tobacco and sorghum fields. I like the color of sugar cane kind of a light yellowish green.

A cemetery out in the middle of nowhere – no towns in sight.

Going through Tepic. This road is MUCH improved – has been entirely repaved.

And they are sprucing up their overpasses too.

From there on it was pretty much a straight drive to Mazatlan. However right at the beginning of the new bypass around Mazatlan they are already repaving so it was down to one narrow lane for a few miles. Got to the RV park and discovered some one was already in OUR favorite spot – how dare they? Anyway parked a few spaces over and all is well. There are four of us here in the back of Las Jaibas. Usually it is only us.

Everyone probably knows that I’m an avid NASCAR fan and my favorite driver is Kyle Busch. On Saturday evening while driving in the Ixfinity [formerly Nationwide] series he crashed into the wall at 150 miles an hour and the part of the wall without safer barriers. So he has a compound fracture of his right leg and broke his left foot. Pretty well takes him out of the races for a good long while.

Last evening we went to WalMart and Bill saw the doctor and got some pills to help with his congestion and cough. They seem to be working, we both got a good nights sleep last night.

And the weather – well the weather is not to warm, only highs of 82/83 but high humidity. Can’t have it all I guess.

We have a small leak in a water supply hose in the Alfa – so getting that fixed today. Otherwise all is well.