Mexico to Europe adventure (Part one)

 Before retiring we always dreamed about going to Europe to celebrate our freedom and we wanted to explore the southern United States. We weren't able to do it right away since we had our dog  and we needed to come down to Mexico and get things settle first. After a year of exploring some cities within Mexico, having our house finished and my parents babysitting our dog, we were ready for our big travel adventure!

We made our plan and after adding up numbers, I was concerned because I felt that it was going to be a huge expense for what we wanted to do. I have to admit that I am the worrier in my relationship and I tend to over think stuff that sometimes it's better just to go with the flow so, JJ made me understand that it was our chance to do it and not to worry about it... So we did it!

We decided to make things more exciting and take the road all the way back to the states... We departed from Colima which is in the south west of Mexico by the Pacific Ocean  and made our first stop in Puerto Vallarta for two days to relax and have some margaritas on the beach.


    Perfect spot in Los Muertos beach to relax and  have a margarita in Puerto Vallarta!

After enjoying beautiful Puerto Vallarta, it was time to hit the road again. We drove along the coast for about seven hours to make our next stop in Mazatlán. We heard good things about this city and also all the trouble that they have had with drug cartels and being an unsafe place but, that didn't stop us from spending a couple of  days and having our own experience.   This is a great place with a nice historical center and an about 8 miles long malecon (Boardwalk) where we enjoyed a nice and peaceful walk with amazing views of the ocean. I have to say that we felt safe and didn't have any issues at all but, the most important while traveling is to stay in the safe areas and be always alert... it's always better to prevent.
It was time to keep going north and  our goal was to make it all the way to the states before midnight but sometimes things don't go as we plan them. We left in the morning after having a delicious breakfast at the B&B we stayed at, as getting out of the city there was a checkpoint of the federales... Checkpoints are very common in Mexico, specially on the north side, they look for guns and drugs so they usually ask some questions and sometimes might ask you to step out of the car for a quick check. There is nothing to be scared about as long as you don't carry drugs or guns, I guess we're used to it by now.
 While the federales where checking on my truck, one of them asked the regular questions... "Where are you coming from and going?" "Are you Americans?" "Are you carrying guns or drugs?" My issue was when this cop started asking questions about my job and income which I considered very personal so, I let him know that there was no reason for him trying to get into my personal stuff, that his job was to make sure we weren't carrying anything illegal so he backed off and we were good to continue our adventure.

 

We had a nice and long 12 hours drive on the "cuota"(toll road) to get to the border of Nogales. As getting close to the city, we were excited to find out that the toll road would take us direct to cross into Arizona without having to enter the city of Nogales which is a fast and easier way. For our disappointment, this border checkpoint  is open till 10:00 pm so we had to turn around and go back into the city and look for the other border entrance which it was a bit of an adventure. We finally made it through and stopped in Green Valley, AZ  to satisfy our hunger and rest in a hotel room.

 

 

  After a well deserved night of beauty sleep, we departed the following morning to go all the way to Las Vegas! We spent a week visiting our friends, having some fun and preparing for our next part of the adventure which would be driving from Las Vegas to Miami, making stops in different cities... to be continue.

 

Spending some time with my best friend while in Las Vegas :O)