Nov 04, 2011
Bienvenidos a Mexico !
I ( well we ) really love Mexico! So great to be back!
We started the drive at 6:15 AM….thank goodness as you shall see. We crossed out of the USA at 7:30AM ( I suggest using the truck lane on the right and avoiding the wacky barricades )but first we had to answer a guantlet of questions. How much money do you have? Exactly how much is pesos and how much is US? I really don’t know… do you want me to count my pennies?? Do you have guns ?…..well we are Canadians….No I did not say that, just a simple “no”!
KM 21 presented an entire new scenario today. First Migracion as usual but then you go the Banjercito to pay your Tourist Visa, then run back to Migracion to get the official final document, where you go to the head of the line. Then you go get a variety of copies made ( for way too many pesos, inflation has hit the border copy machine ), then go back to the Banjercito, but now there are 25 people ahead of you in line!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go to the front of the line to the original agent you stared with 38 minutes ago.!!! Finally she takes you, in front of the other 25 people….we paid by Visa for the Tourist Cards and also much later for the towed car permit. They are very modern now and you even have to type in your PIN # thru the tiny communication window. You are then asked to sign your ‘PIN authenticated Visa slip” and then your Visa card is put under a piece of paper while the agent runs a pencil over the numbers…making a copy just in case the ‘PIN” was not for real???!!!!
The next step was the deposit on your vehicle. First you had to pay the whopping huge fee of 666.67 pesos for the car permit then in our particular case a $300.00USD ( or credit card deposit if you chose to ) deposit on our 2006 tow car. What surprised me was that Colin as the importer of the car had to name a ‘benefactor’ should he die in Mexico, so that the car could eventually be removed from Mexico. That particular document had to be signed in 2 places in triplicate. Seriously, by now my head is spinning. Remember we have entered Mexico by RV at least over 12 years…it is not even 9:00AM and my head is about to fall off….not to mention the increasing anxiety of the 25, no, now 30 lined up behind us. I said to Colin, that they really needed a dedicated line to deal with just the payment of the tourist visas and that would speed things up. We finally were done in 80 minutes and when we left we could not believe the parking lot. At least 15 RV’s waiting to be processed!!!! This is not going to work in the long run.
There are RV's behind the RV 's not in the cameras eye!
Meanwhile we kept heading south. Not once today did we get stopped or boarded. Just lots of smiles and keep on moving along. At KM 111 we were astounded at the 4 mile line of semi’s waiting to go through the military check point. How do these fellows make any money??
4 miles of trucks waiting hours and hours to proceed.
Hermosillo is going through some major road constuction. Just as you pass the prison on your right you will see two signs, one says for heavy vehicles to go this way and for those with lighter vehicles to go that way….which is to the right and the usual way to navigate the perifico. The detour signs are in orange and very visible using the word Guaymas and directional arrows. We used the heavy load detour and were thru in about 20 minutes. Very fast and efficient.
We stopped for diesel just south of Hermosillo…..wow….992 per liter of diesel….best fill up in the US before crossing into Mexico. While at the Pemex I saw a car all wrapped up in what looked like Saran Wrap. I asked our attendant what was the reason and he replied ” the car is mucho frio”! I had to laugh. How many of you joke with these fellows. Just love communicating with the locals.
Are you cold little carro?
Before we knew it we were in San Carlos….the day seemed to fly by ( well… after KM 21 ). A bit of a surprise to see the park only 25% full. Jose at the desk mentioned that he had 15 RV’s pass thru yesterday and then already today at 3PM we were 6 RV’s. By nightfall there were about 12 checkins and we are the only ones passing through, some staying for the season, some for a few days. I really think there are more RVers in Mexico this season. Met a few couples late today who were behind us at KM 21, they said that after we left they added a separate window for just tourist visa payments……did I not suggest that????
For us it was a 323 mile day but seemed like just a few hours.
The beach, the glorious beach.....but the girls know its not the real thing!
Sat outside and enjoyed the breeze and listened to all the birds roosting at sunset. Took another family walk and back home discovered that something was not right electronically, you could smell that bad electronic fire smell. This is not the first time we have had problems here so please be extra careful. Living on the inverter tonight.
Next stop….Culiacan!
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Looks like fuel prices have really risen wow! At least you have cleared some obstacles and getting closer by the minute. Enjoy and travel safe.
George, yes the prices have gone up bit by bot over the past few years.
Kevin…it was great seeing all the rv’s and then hearing that about a dozen had come thru the day prior. Someone mentioned that one of the parks in Mazatlan is full!
Chris…I think they now have an idea what to do at the border, it was a bit overwhelming for them. It is going to be a wonderful winter. The ocean is warm….never been like this before.
Connie….Gracias!
LInda…..We have always had problems there but how awful for you re the inverter. Big bucks to repair. Are you in Mexico this winter?
Sandie….the girls are even happier to be here on the Isla. They didn’t know what to do first.
Croft…..I even had our marriage certificate this year for the first time!! They seemed satisfied with a small to moderate amount of money…..we added that we them got funds at an ATM! They seemed happy with that. You will need US cash for you vehicle deposit as well.
T n T….no more mechanical issues for certain. We had a perfect trip ( almost, you have to read about the road yet to be written) and everything went smoothly.
Welcome back to Mexico!
Wow, lots of RV’s crossing the border. Nice to see.
Glad you made it safely. Hopefully the new border regs will be straightened out. Now that you are past the border and the paperwork, enjoy the weather. Looks like it will be a great winter!
Soooooooooooooooooooo glad you made it this far – awesome pic of you and the doggies at the beach! Have a great day!
Glad to see all the RV’s heading into Mexico. Interesting read! By the way, we fried our convertor at an RV Park in San Carlos last year. We happened to be there when the puff of smoke happened….a bit of an inconvenience until we got home and had it replaced. Power was running very high when we were there. Have a great winter!
Wow – sure glad they made some changes to their procedures to hopefully speed things up just a little bit. Glad you’re there in the nice warm weather. The fur kids are looking good on the beach.
We will cross at Lukeville/Sonoita and hopefully it will not be as chaotic! I always have a knot in my stomach when we enter the country thinking we may have forgotten some document or other. One year they asked for our marriage license which we did not have. They let us in anyway.
We have never bee asked how much money we had and it makes you wonder what the correct answer would be. Are they concerned if you have too much or too little? Probably concerned about too much “drug money”. We usually carry very little cash across the border and then stock up at the ATM in Sonoita. Maybe this year we should get a few hundred in USA cash.
Yeah !! You made it !!
So happy for you, and we sure hope your mechanical problems are done for the season….
Enjoy your time in Mexico, as we follow along with you …. take care….TnT
We are trying to figure your diesel price out … if its $9.90 pesos, our figures work out to $2..89/per U.S. gallon. $09.9(pesos) X 3.79(us gal) = 37.52 /by 13(exchange rate) = $2.89/U.S. gal.
We are in Palm Springs right and paid $4.49, only put in a little to get to Lukeville/Sonoyta
Good to hear you made it ! We are heading to Los de Marcos, then Troncones