Out Here in Mexico. Chapter1: The Drive by risa
The Drive, by LK.
I crossed the border on October 29th in a Mexican made VW Jetta named Cloey. The car belongs to my crazy french lesbian housemate / co-worker, but we are sharing her down here. I think she is happy to be home so far and seems to love the dirt roads.
My boss led the way after the border crossing, driving a large white Ford F250 which we have dubbed ¨Mamacita,´ which loosely translates into the dreamiest of all dream girls. Mama was pulling the last of our J 80 sailboats southbond.
The drive was out of this world. Just under 900 miles from the border to Puerto Vallarta. Rule number one of driving in Mexico is BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL! Children, dogs, goats, cows, horses, donkeys, cars, and trucks enter the roadway unexpectedly on a regular basis.
Maybe the funniest moment was when we came out of a pit-stop taco stand and found that a Mexican had washed my entire car and was sitting next to it with his sponge and a huge grin. The car was actually dirtier after he did his work, but I gave him 10 pesos anyway for his sheer entrepreneurialism.
The first Mexican state you enter from Tuscon, Arizona is Sonora. I thought it would be flat and ugly but it had beautiful mountains, like the rest of the drive, and scrubby vegetation in between dusty roadside towns. They grow a lot of poppy for US heroin there.
We spent the night in San Carlos on the Sea of Cortez. A juxtaposition of dry mountainous rocky desert and crystal clear blue ocean.
Next we passed through Sinaloa South of Mazatlan at 4 am where we could only find love hotels with big curtains to hide your car from gossip. Wayne slept in the truck and I had a wonderful night of sleep in the J 80 outside a Pemex station in the middle of nowhere. The vegetation started becoming more tropical from that point South.
The road deteriorated pretty significantly South of Mazatlan but the scenery went through the roof. The state of Nayarit is where I live, and I think it is one of the most beautiful places on earth. It is what one thinks of when one hears the word Mexico. Tropical, lush, mountainous, azure ocean, white sand beaches, rocky headlands, pastoral villages, you got it baby. The drive through Nayarit is as amazing as the road is narrow and lousy, and the sites are enthralling.
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