A final segment of our trip….
The last time you heard from the Dos Amigos we were luxuriating on the beaches of Ixtapa, Mexico residing in a bat invested hotel, watching the New England Patriots make an amazing comeback to win the Super Bowl. Early Monday morning the Amigos took flight in their trusty Ford 150 truck heading north toward Tepic. We arrived in Tepic around 4:30 in the afternoon, but got lost and never found the hotel we were looking for in which we stayed on the way south. At one time George had heard of of a surfers village just north of Tepic and thought we should try to find accommodations there.

Driving directly into the setting sun, on a rutted two lane road, with traffic heading at you was not fun, however, thanks to Capt. George’s superb driving skills the amigos arrived in one piece in the poorest town in Mexico. With the light rapidly descending George found a spectacular hotel that offered food as well as clean rooms with comfortable beds. The hotel is named Garza Resort and is by far the best place in San Blas Unfortunately time would not allow us to spend another day and so we were off the next morning to the bustling town of Navajoa, where we again found wonderful accommodations.  The next day we arrived at the Nogales border with Arizona, passed into the country without a problem and in time to help celebrate the 77th birthday of Mike Karem in Tumacacaori, AZ.

Although our journey was cut short both George and I enjoyed a wonderful, educational experience. The people we met in Mexico could not have been nicer, more receptive and helpful. Needless to say we observed a great deal of poverty in the rural areas, however, the people appeared happy and hard working. We were blown away by the size and quantity of farms, which compared favorably with those found in the agricultural areas of the US.The roads in Mexico are improving, however, they are still rutted and decayed with no shoulders.

People drive faster than the speed limits without fear of being stopped by police. The truck drivers are exceptionally courteous especially on two lane roads. Every Mexican town has what is known as “topes” or “reductors”. These are placed in the road to slow traffic and in some towns they are large enough to bring your vehicle to a halt before passing over them. This might be great for those who live in these towns, however, they are murder for drivers and their vehicles.  Just to give you an idea how many of these tope/reductors exist we counted over 384 from Puerto Escondido to Tepic one way.

You might think we are a little anal counting topes, but when your in a car traveling what else do you have to keep you awake? Another observation regarding Mexico is that they do not care for their animals. Dogs looked emaciated and were unattended, same with cattle and horses. I did not see a cat until we arrived in Puerto Escondido. The beaches are lovely and empty and the weather delightful. Mexico is a rich beautiful country, unfortunately corruption runs rampant.  On our journey we observed multiple military and federal police armed check points. Many people live in fear of the cartels, who control large areas of the country.