I left Tucson the day after Christmas about 6:30 AM. Got to and through the border with no waiting at all. Had not made any reservations, because I had heard horror stories of long waits at the border and I had no idea how much progress I would make the first day. I probably picked a great day to leave for Mexico, ie. little traffic heading south the day after Christmas. Had been thinking that I would spend the first night in Guaymas with the best case being Navojoa. I passed through Navojoa at 3PM and spent the first night in Los Mochis, half way to Puerto Vallarta.
Los Mochis appeared to be a very nice, clean city but everything was closed on Sunday evening. Could not even find a place to buy a beer or an open restaurant in a short walk from my hotel, which was downtown. Fortunately, the hotel had a restaurant and a bar. I had a margarita, dinner and a bottle of wine. They broke 2 corkscrews trying to open my bottle of wine. Went to bed early and got an early start the next day.
Left Los Mochis before 5AM and drove to Culiacan in the dark and then on to Mazatlan. Up to this point the trip was a piece of cake. Took toll roads whenever possible and encountered very little traffic. Although I knew it to be true, was still amazed by how much stuff they grow down there (here). Kind of like driving through Midwest US in the summer except here it is miles and miles of tomatoes and who knows what else, and from what I could see all being harvested by hand.
Four lane highways all the way to Mazatlan. Left lane is truly used for passing only. They were selling parrots at the median at one of the toll booth exits!
Had never been looking to drive in Puerto Vallarta after years of vacationing here and riding in buses and taxis with crazy drivers and strange traffic patterns. But after the drive from Mazatlan to Tepic and from Tepic to Puerto Vallarta, I know that driving here in Puerto Vallarta is child’s play. The trip from Mazatlan to Puerto Vallarta is actually very pretty in terms of the countryside, mountains and scenery. But on the way to Tepic you could go from 20 MPH to 65-70 MPH if you were successful in passing whatever slow vehicle was tying up all the traffic, fly along for miles and go through the same thing all over again. Didn’t want to stop to use the bathroom or grab anything to eat, because then would forego any previous progress made in getting by the many slow buses, trucks, pick-ups, etc.
From Tepic to Vallarta it was maybe worse. Very mountainous and very scenic, but forget passing anything unless you are a fearless Mexican driving a big Suburban. I cannot believe the things I saw. Glad I have more common sense than balls. I don’t really want to make this trip again, so that will be a great motivator for me in terms of selling.
Los Mochis appeared to be a very nice, clean city but everything was closed on Sunday evening. Could not even find a place to buy a beer or an open restaurant in a short walk from my hotel, which was downtown. Fortunately, the hotel had a restaurant and a bar. I had a margarita, dinner and a bottle of wine. They broke 2 corkscrews trying to open my bottle of wine. Went to bed early and got an early start the next day.
Left Los Mochis before 5AM and drove to Culiacan in the dark and then on to Mazatlan. Up to this point the trip was a piece of cake. Took toll roads whenever possible and encountered very little traffic. Although I knew it to be true, was still amazed by how much stuff they grow down there (here). Kind of like driving through Midwest US in the summer except here it is miles and miles of tomatoes and who knows what else, and from what I could see all being harvested by hand.
Four lane highways all the way to Mazatlan. Left lane is truly used for passing only. They were selling parrots at the median at one of the toll booth exits!
Had never been looking to drive in Puerto Vallarta after years of vacationing here and riding in buses and taxis with crazy drivers and strange traffic patterns. But after the drive from Mazatlan to Tepic and from Tepic to Puerto Vallarta, I know that driving here in Puerto Vallarta is child’s play. The trip from Mazatlan to Puerto Vallarta is actually very pretty in terms of the countryside, mountains and scenery. But on the way to Tepic you could go from 20 MPH to 65-70 MPH if you were successful in passing whatever slow vehicle was tying up all the traffic, fly along for miles and go through the same thing all over again. Didn’t want to stop to use the bathroom or grab anything to eat, because then would forego any previous progress made in getting by the many slow buses, trucks, pick-ups, etc.
From Tepic to Vallarta it was maybe worse. Very mountainous and very scenic, but forget passing anything unless you are a fearless Mexican driving a big Suburban. I cannot believe the things I saw. Glad I have more common sense than balls. I don’t really want to make this trip again, so that will be a great motivator for me in terms of selling.