BIENVENIDOS A MéXICO!

After a foggy departure from Carrizo Springs, TX, we finally made it to Mexico, crossing the Rio Grande at Eagle Pass/Piedras Negras.  Because of our naïveté we took the wrong lane at customs and had to turn around, pulling the trailer, in a two lane road with traffic going in both directions.  We must have set off all the alarms because they wanted to inspect the trailer.  Due to the Grandes Topes (big speed bumps) everything was on the floor.  It was a mess, we had “trailer stew.”  The customs inspector was completely dismayed and overwhelmed when we opened the door. She looked at a couple of things, shook her head and asked, “La camioneta?” (The truck?)  Finding nothing of interest there, she gave us the go ahead.

We drove through brush and cactus covered plains with a view of mountains in the distance.  Our first night in Mexico was spent at a 24 hour truck stop with big rigs all around.  Not exactly a romantic tropical paradise.  But there was a decent sunset.

We drove through a yucca forest or two

The next day, we continued on to Saltillo where we made the huge mistake of driving into the center of the city pulling the trailer.  We’d hoped to find a place to park so we could explore our options.  That was not to be.  Home for the night was the parking lot of a gas station/convenience store.  It was located near some large middle class subdivisions of tightly packed apartments and townhouses.  

 This was not the lazy Mexico of the guidebooks, but it was an interesting view of modern Mexican life.  One of the most interesting features of the housing complex was that each and every unit was topped with a huge water tank for heating water.  I’ve never understood why solar water heating is not widely used in Florida.

The trip so far has been an adventure.  We will push on to the historical and picturesque town of Zacatecas.