After a leisurely start (we could not bear to leave our darling Spring Hill Marriott too early!!), we found our way across the border from McAllen to Reynosa, bought insurance for the car and paid for its import, actually found the highway to take us further into Mexico, and off we went. We had asked at the border if the Migracion wanted to stamp our passports or FM3 visas, and they demurred, however, once we got to km 30, the official called us over to protest the lack of stamp. It is our obligation as holders of the FM3 to get stamped even if we have to demand it, he said. We think he was interested in something besides our stamp, but he got nada.
Now, we've flown and driven in and out of Mexico numerous times and using numerous entry and exits, and we can say with some certainty that there is no set procedure for being stamped. The Cancun and Merida airports have different rules for entry and exit and documentation. The funny thing is that neither the US nor Mexico stamped our passports when we entered the US in March 2009, so as it stands (and except for our newly reimported car being paid for), we've never officially left Mexico!!
We drove through Monterey and headed south before Saltillo to St Luis Potosi and finally Queretaro, where we're staying tonight. Fortunately, we've been here before and taken time to see each of these town since it was dark by the time we finally arrived in Queretaro and we saw nothing but traffic lights. We have now driven more than 2100 miles in four days and our butts can attest to that fact!!!
Before we lost the light, we had a most magnificent sunset off to the west. We drove down a wide valley most of today with some cloud cover, which we appreciate when we drive, and for about 45 minutes, we watched the sun set. Turning yellow, then gold, and finally red then rose, we saw the ball go down, but the sky around it was so incredibly blue and the clouds made fantastic shapes against the blue, that it was really dramatic to watch nature at her finest. No photo could do this justice and we didn't even try, just kept glancing right and oohing and aahing.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009 -- leaving USA
We are poised on the border tonight getting ready to cross over to Mexico tomorrow morning. We've had a relatively uneventful trip in these first 1400+ miles, although someone did rip off our radio antenae -- we think in a very expensive Marriott in Springfield MO (that hotbed of crime). Some rain but mostly overcast with afternoon sun.
Decided to take a different route this trip. Normally, we hotfoot it diagonally through Texas and up through Arkansas into Illinois. This time, we headed southwest through St. Louis, Springfield, and Joplin MO, through Tulsa and Oklahoma City OK, and then turned south through the seemingly endless state of Texas via Dallas, Waco, Austin, San Antonio, and finally, McAllen which is just north of the Reynosa Mexico crossing.
We've enjoyed seeing the Kum & Go gas stations (but have not stopped at any), the Horny Toad Harley Davidson store, a disgusting, giant hot dog encased in breading in Texas, and a plethora of XXX stores especially in Oklahoma. The colors were wonderful until we turned south and now it's mostly flat, green and beige, with vistas forever. The pecan trees that fan out for shade like our Mexican flamboyanes are divinely inspired. We have seen more large, white SUVs and trucks than we thought possible and began to pick out the unique foreign vehicles (like we saw ONE Volvo in all of Texas). And here in McAllen, we stayed in a newish Marriott called Spring Hill which is so trendy and hip and darling, but best of all, they finally moved the desk away from the fan/blower!!
Our plan is to cross tomorrow, get our mandatory and expensive car insurance for a few days until we get back to Merida, and race for Queretero or San Miguel de Allende to stay overnight. We then hope to circumvent Mexico City District Federal in a new way (that is not too close to the town so we avoid any problems of it not being Sunday and our license numbers not being the appropriate odd or even for the day) to get to Puebla to pick up the lovely Talavera things we purchased last March when we headed north. There is supposed to be an Arco Norte tollroad being built which will do just this, go north of and east of DF, but it is not completed, appears on no maps, and yet some Mexican government bureaucrats have claimed they've driven on it. So time will tell if we make our own arc around the town or find one partially constructed, or get stuck there after all. Roads north of Puebla are all quite good, but get iffier as we drive east along the Gulf, then improve dramatically between Campeche and Merida.
We MISS our women friends, clients, and pals with a palpable ache in our souls already. How will we ever make it through 5 months in Merida???
Decided to take a different route this trip. Normally, we hotfoot it diagonally through Texas and up through Arkansas into Illinois. This time, we headed southwest through St. Louis, Springfield, and Joplin MO, through Tulsa and Oklahoma City OK, and then turned south through the seemingly endless state of Texas via Dallas, Waco, Austin, San Antonio, and finally, McAllen which is just north of the Reynosa Mexico crossing.
We've enjoyed seeing the Kum & Go gas stations (but have not stopped at any), the Horny Toad Harley Davidson store, a disgusting, giant hot dog encased in breading in Texas, and a plethora of XXX stores especially in Oklahoma. The colors were wonderful until we turned south and now it's mostly flat, green and beige, with vistas forever. The pecan trees that fan out for shade like our Mexican flamboyanes are divinely inspired. We have seen more large, white SUVs and trucks than we thought possible and began to pick out the unique foreign vehicles (like we saw ONE Volvo in all of Texas). And here in McAllen, we stayed in a newish Marriott called Spring Hill which is so trendy and hip and darling, but best of all, they finally moved the desk away from the fan/blower!!
Our plan is to cross tomorrow, get our mandatory and expensive car insurance for a few days until we get back to Merida, and race for Queretero or San Miguel de Allende to stay overnight. We then hope to circumvent Mexico City District Federal in a new way (that is not too close to the town so we avoid any problems of it not being Sunday and our license numbers not being the appropriate odd or even for the day) to get to Puebla to pick up the lovely Talavera things we purchased last March when we headed north. There is supposed to be an Arco Norte tollroad being built which will do just this, go north of and east of DF, but it is not completed, appears on no maps, and yet some Mexican government bureaucrats have claimed they've driven on it. So time will tell if we make our own arc around the town or find one partially constructed, or get stuck there after all. Roads north of Puebla are all quite good, but get iffier as we drive east along the Gulf, then improve dramatically between Campeche and Merida.
We MISS our women friends, clients, and pals with a palpable ache in our souls already. How will we ever make it through 5 months in Merida???
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