In my experience, the beginning of any trip generally starts off rather uncomfortable. Before this trip, I began building an arsenal of wet wipes, fragrances, dry shampoo, baby powder etc.
“I don’t want us to be those stinky travelers,” I said to The Guy.
Wet wipes or no wet wipes, nothing keeps you from sweating. And sweat we did. Our first night dry camping in Las Vegas was intensely hot, without even a hint of a breeze. I tossed and turned the entire night through, cursing my sweat glands. When I woke The Guy up on accident, he said, “What do you think I did in Afghanistan?” and proceeded to snore 5 seconds later. I felt extreme envy.
I began imagining the many nights ahead of me and started calculating hostel expenses. Who needs to plan for the future if the present is miserable? But alas, Sierra Vista and Bisbee redeemed the dry camping experience with its temperate weather and cool breezes. I need a lot less than I want.
Originally, we wanted to cross the border in Naco (7 miles from Bisbee). Border Patrol wouldn’t allow us to cross with gas inside our containers or propane inside the tank. One patrolman spoke English and suggested we drive to Nogales where it would be less of a hassle. True to his word, the crossing was hassle free, with border patrol barely looking through our belongings. We bought liability car insurance for 3 months ($139), tourist cards (about $22 per person), got our passports stamped, exchanged money at the casa de cambio, and were on our way.
Driving in Nogales was pretty exciting. People turn in and off streets without warning, stop for random purposes, go drastically different speeds, and generally don’t stay within lanes. The signs of buildings are painted more fluorescent colors, typical of Mexico. We were stopped twice before leaving Nogales, once by policia and another by a solicitor asking for donations to feed the children. Stoplights are also rampant with window cleaners and vendors selling fruits and snacks.
Our first stop for gas was at a Pemex. Mexican gas stations are all state owned so they are all called Pemex. The gas station attendant asks how much gas you’d like (in liters) and cleans your window with the expectation of a small fee (about 5 pesos or 35 cents). We went into the store and authorized the credit card for fuel. When the car was finished refueling, we gestured toward the road. The attendant pointed toward the store but we couldn’t understand him so we said we didn’t need a receipt and we both waved goodbye to each other.
We came upon our first toll road which cost 25 pesos (about $1.70). About 5 minutes on that road, a white van pulls up beside us with a man frantically waving his hat and gesturing at us to pull over. It turned out to be the gas station attendant. Apparently we had to go back into the store to finalize the purchase. We had to pay the toll again to cross back over to the gas station. He was very grateful and repeatedly thanked us for returning to the store. I think we both learned something that day. Me, that gas stations don’t work the same in Mexico as the US; And he learned not to let someone leave without payment lest they garnish his wages for the week.
Finally we arrived in Hermosillo where it was the temperature of the depths of Hell. The car began over heating and the drivers were aggressive. We asked a taxi driver on the side of a street if there was a cheap place to stay for the night. He listed off the name of a hotel in the opposite direction and kept insisting that we should u-turn and drive down the one-way road we had just come up. I kept asking him if I should u-turn and he kept answering yes. Needless to say, we didn’t choose that course of action.
Eventually, we ended up at Hotel Ibis for 649 pesos ($43). Not a hostel price, but I was in desperate need of some comfort. Hermosillo seemed to be a business/industrial city more often used as a layover rather than for tourism. Let me tell you that I haven’t savored a shower like that shower in a long long long long time. The water pressure wasn’t good, the temperature kept changing, but I didn’t care in the very least. It was nothing short of fantastic.
Showered and cleaned, the next mission was obtaining food. The 6 food stands across the street from our hotel were all closed and it was only 4PM. There were no restaurants in the direction we went and my sweat was quickly threatening impending dehydration so I ended up eating “Spaghuetti” at the hotel, which was a bizarre version of spaghetti. I didn’t mind though, it was our first meal of the day.
The sweet ladies at the front desk sold us a pitcher of hand made orange/fruit juice because there was not a store nearby. Clad with juice, mom’s snacks, wifi, and A/C, we were set for the night.
This morning, we drove to San Carlos where it is still blisteringly hot but is on the ocean. My body seems to have quickly forgotten how to be in humidity already. San Carlos is a safe, ritzy spot with many yachts and cute eateries nearby. They are known for their seafood, producing the vast majority of Mexico’s supply.
We have parked our car at the Totonaka RV park where it is $20 a day to dry camp. We bought some fish and shrimp fresh out of the ocean and will grill before we jump into the swimming pool. I also found a beautiful shell left on the road outside of a blue store that sells only Budweiser products.
I sit now under the shade of a tree with the sunset casting a warm glow over the ocean and surrounding trees. Traveling may be uncomfortable at first, but we’re quickly finding a rhythm and finding ways to celebrate too!
Thank you!