Somos de Mazatlan! We live here! WOW!
The last two days have been two of the most tiring of the last few months. I know that part of the reason is just the cumulative action of the buildup to moving – but part of it was just the reality of 4-500 miles per day in an overloaded van with two dogs.
We crossed the border at Nogales, entering into the border morass at about 9 am, and we crossed the last hurdle at about noon. We felt pretty happy about that, even though it had its anxious moments. Because of the late start into Mexico, though, we decided to stop in San Carlos at a dog friendly RV park and motel that Brenda had told us about. We took the dogs for a walk on the malecon, ate a delicious ice cream cone, and then left them in the room in the pursuit of dinner. A quick meal and we were back – and were asleep before our heads even hit the pillows.
We got up early this morning and hit the road at 6 am. (Brenda, that’s why we didn’t call you to meet for coffee…) We made pretty good time and really enjoyed the scenery. BUT there were some crazy times with insane road construction projects that kept things interesting! There was some intense rain (for only a few minutes) but overall it was a good trip.
After the last toll plaza we knew we were close to HOME! We kept waiting for Mazatlan to appear over the horizon, and it took too long for our impatient selves. I had thought I would be most excited as we pulled out of our driveway in Washington but it turns out the last 10 miles into Mazatlan I wanted to scream the entire time!
We drove down the malecon towards the B & B in Centro, laughing the entire time. the dogs found a bit of grass to call their own, and after all of us ate some dinner we took a walk along the malecon, around past our house and home. We are all tired, happy, and ready for bed.
Tomorrow will be an adventure. Hopefully we can put the contents of the van in one of our empty rooms. We hope to make arrangements for a bed to be delivered. Mostly, though, we are happy to be here, together, in our new home.
Brenda
September 22, 2007Glad you made it there safe. I never thought to tell you that you should be at the border gate at 6 AM (if you used Mariposa), it would have been much quicker then and less busy.
Hope you enjoyed your stay in San Carlos and that the room was OK.
I remember grinning from ear to ear for about 3 days after we arrived. LOL
Now you can begin to relax and enjoy and start to get your new life together.
Anonymous
September 22, 2007Congrats on getting home!
It reads like you spent three hours at the border – would like to read more about your experience there.
Get some rest. We FINALLY got new tires and wheels – we are about ready to head down to cross at Brownsville.
Saludos,
John & Anita Calypso
Nancy
September 22, 2007Brenda, Our stay at the rv park was excellent. We were the only guests – we had a nice walk and we drove through San Carlos but hardly saw Guyamas at all. I was wondering if the place you fish is by the long dike road on the way out of town? It looked promising for good fishing and birdwatching.
John,
We brought our menaje in, so to do that at Nogales we had to go through the truck entrance. We were told to pull over and that someone would be there to inspect our menaje in a half hour. As the half hour stretched to an hour we kept concocting scenarios where we had to unload and unpack each and every item. But then the inspector came and took a look, looked at our FM3’s and passports, said “just a minute…” and walked away. More worries. Then she came back with the stamped forms and told us to have a nice day.
The rest of the time was spent getting our car permit and FM3’s stamped as well as a long overdue bathroom and dog break.
It really wasn’t bad at all.
Nick
September 23, 2007Woo, hoo. I’m so happy for you guys. I’m 14 years from retiring in Costa Rica (Lord willing and everything else too). Reading about you guys is just great.