The night before we left Villa Corona we all went to dinner in the little town of Cocula, about 15 miles
from the park. Cocula is famous for being the birth place of the Mariachi Band. The town has a Mariachi School and students
came to the rv park in Villa Corona to give a small concert during the day. The restaurant in Cocula where we had dinner had
live Mariachi entertainment that was very entertaining.
At 7:45am on Tuesday morning our three rigs with Rick and Dianne, Fred and Jenna and Diane and I left Villa
Corona heading for Texas.
For some reason, I was designated the leader and with the help of the GPS, printed maps and Diane's directions
we made it through the heavy traffic on the big by-pass around Guadalajara and then we were on to San Juis Potosi where
we got on highway 57 that would take us north to the border.
Jenna felt that we could make it to the border in two days if we didn't waste time and knew of a motel in
Matehula that let RVs park in their motel lot.
After a 10 hour day we reached Matehula and the motel where we all retired early after the long day.
From Matehula it was another long day up highway 57 and past the city of Saltillo and then to the city
we all dreaded. The city of Monclova was were we were stopped on the way down by corrupt Transit Cops and forced to pay
a bribe.
Monclova is an undustrial town with a U-shaped by-pass around it where the transit cops lurk. I cautioned
Rick and Fred to carefully watch their speed and to be sure to stop at all stop signs. However we were almost through
the by-pass when I saw the flashing lights of a Transit Cop truck in the mirror.
Again we were given the story that we were speeding and didn't stop
for the stop signs and needed to pay. Fred who speaks Spanish was able to negotiate their initial high demand of 3,000 pesos
down to about 300. I think next year, I'll look for an alternative route around that town.
The rest of the trip was uneventful however at Allende where the Mexican Immigration office is located and
where you have to turn in your Visa and Vehicle permit there was a final military checkpoint to go through. Our companions
in the other two rigs were flagged through but I guess the soldiers were curious about our motorhome as we were
flagged down for inspection. We're pretty used to these inspections so its no big deal except if you're in a hurry.
We found our way through Piedras Negras on the Mexican side of the border and crossed over to Eagle Pass
on the U.S. side. Getting through the border took about one and a half hours what with the amount of traffic and the inspection
of the motorhome by the Border Customs & Immigration people. They took most of the fruit and veggies and some frozed hamburger
but fortunately they didn't ask about dog food bought in Mexico. We also had to take Leo and Hayley out of the motorhome and
put them in a temporary cage while the Customs Drug Dog sniffed all around the motorhome and Jeep.
It was dark by the time we were all cleared at the border and headed off to an Indian Casino in Eagle Pass
to spend the night in their parking lot.
We got there just in time before the Casino's dining room closed but we had a good buffet meal before heading
back to the rigs and bed.
It was another long day but we did make it from Guadalajara to the border in two days.
In the morning Rick and Diane headed south to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas where they plan on spending
a couple of weeks before heading back to Ontario.
We travelled with Fred and Jenna to San Antonio where they were planning to visit some relatives before
heading north to Oklahoma. Diane and I continued on toward Houston and home but because we just went through a couple of long
days driving, we decided to stay at a rest area for the night west of Houston.
We started off early the next morning and arrived back in Livingston on Friday the 20th.
Our MotoSat/DataStorm new Controller was waiting for us in the mail however even after installing it, and
long conversations with the Tech Support people of MotoSat, the system is still not operating correctly. There has been heavy
rain storms in the area for the past few days and I'm hoping that they are the cause of some of the problems... we'll see.
In the mean time we're having our house telephone/tv/internet service reconnected and I've made an appointment
to have the broken windshield in the motorhome replaced.
Once everything is up and running, I'll upload some pictures that were taken on the trip home.
One thing we've found this year on our return is the number of people voicing concern about how dangerous
it is in Mexico because of the ongoing violence and drug wars.
However we can say that during our four plus months traveling and staying south of the border, we did not
experience one minute of concern about our safety. All the Mexican people we met and had contact with were as friendly and
helpful as anyone could want.. (except of course the Transit Police of Monclova. but they were just looking for bribes)
