By Clay McAdams
Focus Alumni, Clay & Jutta McAdams, came on our February 23, 2008, and have since moved to the area. We’re thrilled that it looks as if Clay is going to be a frequent contributor to our newsletter.
A couple of months ago I wrote about buying a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system for our drive to Mexico. Now that we have arrived, I must report that the system worked like a charm from Edmonton, Alberta, all the way to Ajijic. There were two exceptions where we encountered problems, neither of which were the fault of Nuvi, but as much as I hate to admit it, the first problem was when a human thought he was smarter than the GPS, and tried to second-guess it. The second problem was in a city in Mexico, with a bit of confusion in entering the street name. Nuvi gave a number of variations on the name of the street. I chose “Privada” with the name of the street, and we ended up in a residential area. Nuvi was reprogrammed, entering “Avenida”, and it took us right to the front door of the hotel we wanted. Our trip south was uneventful. We left Edmonton on a hot August day. A three-hour plus drive took us to Calgary, Alberta, and the mountains were visible (rests breaks are mandatory when traveling with Jutta). We were in or near the mountains for the remainder of our trip. As we approached Guadalajara, I told Jutta I never wanted to hear her say she is tired of the mountains.
We took our time coming south. Our border crossing at Coutts, Alberta/Sweetgrass, Montana was uneventful with a few questions as to whether we were carrying any weapons or ammunition, how much money, and our destination, the normal questions one would be asked at the airport. Being a Friday, we didn’t know what to expect for line-ups at the border, so made it a short day and stopped in Butte, Montana. Not having paid much attention to Nuvi when we were approaching Butte, I missed the turn but Nuvi recalculated and took us on an adventurous route through the local countryside to our hotel. After that I made sure I paid attention when Nuvi spoke to me.
From Butte, we went through Idaho and then on into Utah. We made our stop in Springville, Utah, south of Salt Lake City, further than we originally planned. We were making motel reservations on a daily basis as we traveled, using the laptop and Wi-Fi internet connections, so we could make daily changes as we traveled.
Day four saw us continuing south on Interstate 15 in Utah amid the ever-changing scenery as we approached the Bryce Canyon/Zion National Park areas. Passing from Utah into Nevada was absolutely gorgeous as we traveled through the canyons. I wish I had been able to see it. Jutta took a number of photos so I could see what I had missed as I kept my eyes on the roads while driving into and out of the canyons. Once out of the canyons and into Nevada, it was a quick run into Las Vegas.
Ah, Las Vegas. Yes, we were in the casinos every day. No, we didn’t lose any money. The only reason to be in the casinos was for sightseeing and staying cool in the 105 – 107 degree Fahrenheit temperatures. We were very impressed with two, the Paris and the Venetian. Other than that, we considered the casinos to be nothing more than a lot of noise. Neither of us has any interest in gambling. We did a lot of walking through the hotels and their shopping areas, but we were not there to shop either. We took a night tour of Las Vegas, which included a trip up the Stratosphere to the viewing deck for a good overview of the city and surroundings. We also took a flight over Lake Mead and the Grand Canyon. Following the flight, we took in a show at the MGM Grand, KA by Cirque du Soleil. It was a terrific show, the light and the sound, and watching the changing of the stage was just unbelievable. But time goes on and it was time once again to find our way out of Las Vegas and head for Arizona, where we were to spend our last night in the United States, in Nogales.
Our next adventure was to cross the border from the United States into Mexico. Once we were through the border, we stopped immediately after crossing into Nogales, Mexico. Only later did we learn that we needn’t have stopped until about 30 kilometres into Mexico where everything can be done in one stop. With next to no line-up, we were through customs and immigration in quick time, and back on the highway. Our next stop was Cuidad Obregon, again a short day as we didn’t know how long it would take us to get through the customs and immigration procedure.
Now we were onto the “cuotas”, Mex 15D, the toll highway that runs from Nogales to Mexico City. Between Nogales and Mazatlan, we were able to contribute at the toll booths twelve times. We stopped in Mazatlan for the night. The speed limits varied on the cuotas from 90 KMH to 110 KMH. We must have been very noticeable, sticking to speeds very little over the speed limit, and being passed by almost everything except farm implements. There are a good number of Pemex stations and Oxxo stores along the route with the exception of between Mazatlan and Tepic, where we were unable to find any at all. Also quite noticeable was a lack of restaurants along the cuotas, so we ended up eating a lot of fast foods from Oxxo.
We got on to the new cuota from Mazatlan to Tepic, and enjoyed some of the most beautiful scenery either of us has ever experienced. The lush forests and the mountains were like nothing we had ever before experienced, but having said that, we are not in a rush to go back over the route just for the scenery. Once was quite enough. I think we will stick to flying in future. We made it through Tepic, and we were then “homeward bound,” Nuvi bringing us through Guadalajara instead of around it, and with it programmed for the address where we are staying in Ajijic, it brought us right to the front gate.
The tolls for the toll highways ranged in price from $19.00 MX to $114.00 MX. The total cost for the tolls was $1266.00 MX.
It was a wonderful experience, one that should not be missed, but as earlier mentioned, once is enough. Now we are home in Ajijic. We have photos if anyone has a day or two with nothing to do and would like to see them, but we will not force them on anyone.
We just want to share our experience for those who intend to drive from the western U.S. or Canada, so you might have a little forewarning of what to expect. If you do drive down, enjoy the trip.
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