From Mazatlan to the US, the road trip North - 2017

We left on July 10 and got to San Diego,CA on July 12, 2017

Departed Mazatlán on Monday morning at 0830. Traveled Hwy 15 Toll Road entire way to border. Debbie and I split the driving.

Middle of August 2017 - Tied up in Marina Mazatlán, Mexico
We are currently house sitting in Chatsworth, San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles.

Roads were good until San Miguel, just past toll booth; then switched back and forth from one lane to two lanes, old asphalt to new concrete for both days of travel. Still, the roads were not full of pot holes and sometimes we were on the new concrete highway but almost always one lane each way because of the construction. Looks like construction will be going on for some years to come.

We had our fruit confiscated at the state line between Sinaloa and Sonora. No more fruit snacks.

In San Miguel, a little town along the highway (lots of towns named San Miguel) we found a rotisserie chicken shop in the town...a little pricey, yet enough for leftovers for the evening meal.

Best Western Ciudad Obregon

Thunderstorm first night in Ciudad Obregon; rain before heading into Nogales, Sonora MX
Hotels: 1st night - Best Western Ciudad Obregon, Sinaloa MX Special Rate 732 pesos, no reservation. Rooms were a bit old but quiet and good parking. For dinner, I had the left over chicken and Debbie had some soup from room service. The free continental breakfast did not consist of much. 

Our 2008 VW Jetta at checkout.

Nice and warm pool in a lovely setting.

Hang out area.

On the road.

Road work.

More road work.

Road work.

Did we say road work!!

We were by Guaymas and it was like the Arizona desert.

2nd night - City Express Nogales, Sonora MX with reservation thru Expedia for better rate...at hotel, 1125 pesos, thru Expedia 921 pesos  In Nogales, we tried walking to somewhere close for dinner yet found nothing so we had pizza delivered to hotel - almost as good as room service!

The next day we crossed the border at 6 30 am and were pulled into secondary inspection. We have Mexican license plates and Mexican driver's licenses. Debbie also has a California drivers license. The border agent in the booth said she did not know if we could drive the car in the US but we told her we could for up to a year. She also said we had too much in the car to look through. Whatever the reason, we got sent to secondary inspection. There, the car and us were X-rayed and we were put in a holding area under lock and key. They emptied the car and X-rayed it again and went through everything. Then we were released and on our way.  Because it was so early we were out of there in about an hour so not too bad.

 The first of many windmills!

We were pulled over in Arizona by some guys at a check point in camouflage uniforms. Hard to tell what department they were in as there are so many now. They said after we put the driver window down, "Oh, you are Americans" and waved us on. I felt lucky to be white at that point. So far no more hassles.

California wind mills. It was about 110 deg but the car was cool and ran well.

Our lunch stop was in El Centro (temp 106 degrees) where we found an In and Out Burgers - this is becoming a traditional first meal when back in the States.  Of course it was crowded yet worth the wait.

Traffic wasn't bad until we got into San Diego County.  There was a fire in the East County which contributed to the slow-down. Once past that, we stopped in El Cajon in order to wait for our daughter to get off work so we could meet her and our grandson for dinner.  Then off to North County for our first pet/house sit...and our SoCal adventure begins!!