We drove from Chicago
and crossed at Laredo
Bridge #1 this Tuesday
around 11 am, (and if you bring in anything, clothing, computers, etc.,
you have to declare it (not in writing just go in that lane). There was
absolutely no wait and the guard took one look at our car filled to the max
with clothes, pots and pans (Don likes to cook), our laptops and all the other
things you "think" you'll really need, and after feeling around the
roof top panels in the car - for what I don't know - he waved us on.
Please note, our guard did not speak English, but Don knows how to say,
"you have a really big gun" in Spanish, so maybe that helped.
The only problem we had was when we went to get
the permit for our car. We had been told to turn right after the
inspection, but we turned too soon and ended up in what I guess was
immigration, but we already had our FM3 and the guy behind that desk (who
didn't speak English) misunderstood and was telling us to go to Bridge 2......
We found that if you ask enough people, sooner or later you'll find someone who
speaks a little English and they told us we had turned in too soon and gave us
directions to get to the permit office.
The directions are --- after you have been inspected
leave the only way you can go and drive back out onto the street (stay in the
right lane). Then almost immediately turn right - it is a
u-turn down a little street that goes under the bridge you were just at.
You will see a large building on the right and drive in past the little guard
house. It's a huge parking lot; park at the first set of stairs.
Once inside turn right, go through a little door to where there are areas
marked 1 through 4. If you don't have an FM3, go to window 1 and he'll
give you the immigration forms (at least that's what he started to hand us
until I told him we had our FM3s. So we went to window 2 - and he spoke
English - we handed him just my husband's passport, FM3, original car
registration, driver's license AND two copies of everything. The guy
checked them out and then, since we had all the copies, he sent us to Window 4
where they took the documents and a credit card, and gave us our car permit -
which has to be placed on the left of the rear view mirror (keep the rest of
the form in the glove compartment). All this also took no time - we were
the only people there!!!
After that we got on the toll way and drove to
Matehuala where we spent the night at Hotel del Parque for $60 US. I
don't know if they accept animals, but their site is www.delparquehotel.com.
It was right in the center of town with parking under the building. Our
dinner at the hotel was just okay - but we had eaten at so many wonderful
places, it was a small price to pay. From there we drove through some
desert-looking areas, some roads that were not toll roads (if you are given the
choice – toll roads [or "cuotas"], although relatively expensive, are
the way to go), and some of the most unexpected and beautiful countryside you
can imagine. Also, even though the posted speeds are sometimes really
dumb (40-50 on well paved straight-a-ways), you'll learn to go with the flow
(usually around 75-80 mph) - you will still get passed. The police cars
are black with white hoods and roofs.
Trust your Bing maps and your GPS and the trip
should take about seven hours (we left at 9:30 and got in around 4:30) - even
going up some high inclines behind trucks. The truck drivers are mostly
very considerate - if you are behind one and he knows you can pass, he
will flash his left turn signal - I only found one that was actually making a
left turn......
Now, as to safety. We live in Chicago - that should say
it all. Every night, sadly, there are drive-by shootings on the south
side where people caught in the cross-fire end up dead. That's what we
reminded friends of when they told us they were concerned about our driving in Mexico. We
never once felt concern - except when we were driving on a straight-a-way that
had no turns anywhere --- and our GPS suddenly said, "turn around
immediately"! We never did figure that one out.
The people are the nicest, most polite
folks. The Pemex bathrooms are always clean - although some are without
seats (we were warned, but only found one). Sometimes the toilet paper is
outside of the door, so you leave 2 pesos in a box and take some paper or use
your own. When you get gas you will have one guy pumping and one washing
your windows (which you will desperately need), tip them both about 5 pesos
each or more if it is called for - which we learned from one of Focus's
newsletters.
I know this is a long letter, but I think there
were a few things we learned along the way that might be of help.
All-in-all the whole trip was an experience that was just the beginning of
the experience of living in Lake
Chapala. The help
we got from Focus left very little in the way of confusion - Thank you Focus.
Leslie D