Sunday, May 8, 2011

Due North (5/5/11-5/7)

Zacatecas

south of Zacatecas
Having said my goodbyes to Barb and Sal, I hit the road around 11am to begin the ride north to the border. I had been to Zacatecas 5 years earlier and would include it in my list of favorite colonial cities - a list that keeps growing - but this time it's only a pit stop. As I started driving, the thought of getting back into the US became my primary motivation. I'm ready to leave Mexico.


Mazamitla to Zacatecas
black is prior trip
click to enlarge
The country north of Mazamitla is hilly and pretty and there is even some green, but north of Aguascalientes it becomes drier and more like desert. You'll see most of the pictures are interchangeable. It takes me 6-1/4 hours to cover 243 miles and to get to your basic interstate business hotel - a CityExpress, new, clean and secure - north of the city of Zacatecas.




Hildago del Parral

south of Parral
My next destination, this drive was a big one taking 8-1/2 hours to go 426 miles. Except for a short piece of toll road north of Zacatecas, it's all free road. Of note, somewhere north of Zacatecas I cross over the Tropic of Cancer, thus ending the 'tropic' portion of this trip.

Once north of Durango, there are hardly any trucks and very few towns, meaning very few topes. The roads are in great shape and speeds of 50-70 are the norm. And only one military checkpoint, which I get waved through. Parral is another town I had been to on my first trip and I chose to stay in the same convenient hotel, the American Inn, also clean and secure.

Ojinaga

on the way to Chihuahua
towards Ojinaga
This is the border town northeast of Chihuahua across from Presidio, Texas. It's fairly remote which means it should be quieter and easier to cross. And there aren't any drug dudes around here, at least that's what I read. More free road north of Parral, all safe and fast two-lane going through desert country with few towns. The full trip takes 5-1/2 hours and 289 miles, with about 45 minutes of that used to wend my way through Chihuahua and buy gas.



my last checkpoint

Past Chihuahua, still more good two-lane with little traffic. About 35 miles out, there is a new toll road option that I elect to take. Anything to make the ride through this desert go faster, and it only cost $7. Finally arrive in Ojinaga, known locally as OJ. It's like a fricking frying pan here. And I run into the only military checkpoint of the day, surprising to me since I've been driving in the border area for a while. This is a pretty serious one, all camo. and rifles and face masks (note the guy next to my car in the photo - click to enlarge). They even look around in the car.




my last border...B14

the 715 miles from
Zacatecas to Ojinaga

I buy more gas - it's less than $3 here - and head to the border on the river. I had forgotten to pay for my tourist pass when entering via Belize so I lost close to an hour fixing that. You also have to be sure to cancel out the vehicle pass if you want to ever get back in, which I do. After that, I simply drive over the Rio Grande (there's a 21 peso toll), and I'm back, back in the U.S.A.!!

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