Apr 04, 2016
Adios Mexico, hola USA
Not sure how much I have left in me tonight to write a post. It was only a 395 mile drive Sunday but it took close to 11.5 hours and we are pretty tired 😐
The most amazing thing is that in just 18 hours the humidity went from 85% to 30% and now Sunday night we sit at 2%. Our poor noses are going loco with the dryness and I swear I see alligator skin growing on my legs.
The girls have been handling the long days well although today/Sunday it was obvious that Carmeh was depressed and annoyed with us. She loves the beach and we go through this transition every year but this year she is most upset.
We got through the major military check at Benjamin Hill by simply saying that we were coming from San Carlos ( not a lie as that is where we spent the last night ) and that we were on our way to Canada. Second year in a row that we have not had to endure the secondary inspection.
Lots of heavy agriculture traffic on the road.
Miles of vineyards in Sonora. Nice to see different crops.
Did you know that on the longer drives buses require two drivers and this is where one of them rests while the other drives? There is no way that I could be locked in the belly of a bus in a tiny luggage compartment. Doesn’t matter that there is a mattress and a pillow and a blanket.
The roads are under repair North of San Carlos which is a shame as they were redone not long ago. The same holds true for most of the road between Santa Ana and Lukeville. We experienced the agony of the roads being redone not many years ago. Why do they fall apart so quickly?
We were doing well with our timing most of the day. Even the stop to turn in our paperwork for the car deposit went quickly. We also turned in our 10 year permit on the RV. Hard to believe that we were one of the first to buy the 10 year sticker way back when they first came out. Now you have no option but to buy that ten year permit. Glad we went with is as it saved us several pesos in those first years before it became mandatory to purchase the ten year package.
It was a huge shock to us to arrive at the US border only to find an unending line up. First is was a Sunday, then it was the end of the two week Easter vacation as well as spring break and of course Puerto Penasco is a favorite destination.
I suspected we might have a problem but nowhere near this bad. Of course the original plan had us crossing Saturday but then that was yesterdays news 🙄
We were well entertained during our one hour wait by a variety of vendors.
We were officially at the end of the hassle free zone only to be harassed by a variety of vendors as well as the border agents themselves 🙂
Almost out of Mexico. Our arrival in the US was easy with just a few agricultural questions.
Finally we were on that lovely ribbon of highway……heading North…..
…when we were in yet another line up….30 minutes for the border patrol. Rather strange considering we were just checked over at the US border a mere 13 miles south.
Finally we arrived in Ajo, stopped for ten minutes to pick up fruit and a few veggies before heading to our Passport America RV Park. The Shadow Ridge RV Park is only $12.00 per nite including a full 50 AMP service which is perfect in this hot climate. However my thoughts went back to last year at this time when we had a rendez vous with Suzanne for a most perfect evening in the the BLM area just a few miles south of here. The sunset tonight was not existent making the one we shared a year ago even more outstanding.
Taken April 5th 2015 about 10 miles south of here.
So our last day in Mexico with the cross into the US was only 395 miles but with the various waits took us a very long 11.5 hours. Tomorrow promises to be a shorter drive but a very full day. We are trying to make up for the extra day we lost due to the RV repairs. We did spend a good deal of time discussing time today. We so look forward to not being ruled by the clock, hopefully within in a few years we won’t have to work so hard. However it is remarkable that we are able to live the life we are with so much time off each winter. No complaints from us, just a few wishes 
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You finally across that border. O how I wish were back in the dry Arizona climate right now.
So cold and damp here arthritis really acting up. But soon we have summer again!
Enjoy the rest of your journey.
…sigh….oh, that magical night in the desert last April! We will find a way to recreate that one day, I am certain! Glad you have one border down…
Don’t forget you have coconut oil on board for the alligator skin 😉
Glad to hear you made it over one border. The lack of humidity is quite a shock to our poor noses too.
Now living here in Vegas I’m going to have to buy lotion in bulk to keep from looking like someone sand papered me. We got a smaller RV so also turned in our 10 year permit – for once thinking ahead.
Safe travels on the rest of your trip. Maybe see you next year in Mazatlan.
Bill and Carol
Welcome back (well almost). Reading your posts is a joy and as ‘almost’ full-timers they mean so much to us. We tok are headed home from the Rio Grande Valley but plan to ‘smell the roses’ enroute. Loved the incident with the police and pleased they let you go and no bribes I gather.