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November 24, 2011 - Thanksgiving in Mexico

We got in line to cross into Nogales Mexico at 11:00 which was a simple nothing procedure quite hyped up with very little hoopla. About 25 miles into Mexico is when you have to stop and show all your documentation, passports, licenses, etc. and get your tourist visa and your car entry permit. The whole process from beginning to getting on the open Pan American highway (Route 15) took 2 hours.

Interesting to note that a person coming into Mexico in a car has to pay $400 for their Visa and $400 for your car and when you leave you get about $350 back, however if you come in a Motor Home you have to pay $49.50 for a ten year permit and about $35.00 for each Visa. We were excited to have a motor home in this instance.

Also more interesting to note, we made it all the way from Woodstock New York where our license plate was stolen to Nogales, Mexico without any plates, no insurance because we live in a state that doesn’t require insurance and an outdated inspection sticker. Really makes you wonder why we spend so much money on these items each year. We did buy a 180 day (6 month) Visa and insurance which was around $170.00.

We drove about 1 hour into Mexico and couldn’t help ourselves but to stop at a Taco stand. There were lots of them, but just like in the US, you stop at the restaurants that have lots of local cars because you know it’s got to be the best and it was! Four tacos and a big plate of condiments and fresh vegetables. . . delicious, healthy and cheap. Less then $5.00 bought us all we could eat and a windshield wash to boot.

Funny things we’re noticing is these small religious huts which are about the size of an American dog house on the side of the road with crosses on them. At first we thought it was a spot where someone had died but then realized they were probably just a prayer station or almost like a mini church. Cars for the average person just must be out of reach. Coca-cola is a MAINSTAY of the diet down here, probably because there is no such thing as cold tap water....luke warm at best.

The other thing which is quite prevalent are the greenhouses growing things hydroponically which are HUGE. Acres and acres of them, lined up like soldiers. We saw a couple of sites which probably had 1,000+ greenhouses on them. At some of the greenhouses you’d see 10+ guys waiting for a ride after work. There are lots of people hitchhiking

We kept on driving seeing signs for a “Hassle Free Zone”’ which we liked although we never did know what it meant but it made us feel good. The first major city we came to was Hermosilla which was a city of over 600,000 and home to a gigantic Ford Plant. People hunkered down in small concrete houses lined up right next to each other, many painted bright bold colors. We just expected to fly right through but as the sun was setting the rain started and we got lost.

No big deal except that a man was driving my RV and you know what they say about men and directions. Well once it got dark and the rain turned into torrential rain and the streets started flooding, I demanded Sterling stop so I could ask directions. Luckily, I found a young girl about 15 years old with a heavy beard who spoke a bit of English and got us turned back in the right direction.

Great, we thought, until the flooding got deeper and deeper. Sterl decides to go to the middle of the puddle vs. the edge and he guns it, rather then going slow, making a GIANT wake that came up over the hood of the truck and windshield, stopping us flat dead in the middle of an intersection. Slight panic set in but as they so often say about Mexico roads, there are no rules and the Angles appear when you’re in trouble. Sure enough, almost immediately, a guy pulled up beside us in a big truck and said he’d push us out of the way. He hit the back of the RV a couple of times getting us out of the depth of the flooding and our faithful Toyota Peace Mobil started right up again and we drove off. My atheist son started singing Halleluia and thanking patron saints of somewhere for getting us back on track.

We finally get back on the Pan American highway heading south at about 50 mph, when a man, dressed in a black trash bag rain suit appears on the medium strip and trys to step out in front of us with a white cane. Talk about panic! We swerved and we got the hell out of that City never to return!

Luckily, we drove another 50 miles until our nerves settled down and sleepiness started setting in. Our rig is leaking and the curtains bounced and ripped right off the walls but we made it through a harrowing day. Sterling asked I make his favorite dinner, macaroni and cheese with Kielbasa and the storm has passed. We parked out back of a seedy hotel in a dirt parking lot, both thankful for this gift of each other and one of the most grateful Thanksgivings ever. Sure beats working at the church, I think.