Adventures driving in Mexico with Big Red the Jeep

I recently drove with my most excellent house/dog-sitters, Anne and Mike Howard of www.honeytrek.com, who are globe-trotting travel bloggers of some renown, from Puerto Vallarta to Austin, Texas.  I needed to renew my permit for the Jeep for another six months, which means a trek to the border and re-entering with a new permit.

Anne and Mike had been staying at my apartment with the dogs for about 6 weeks while I was up in Calgary.  They fell in love with Mazatlan, my dogs, and apparently many people here returned the love.  They were very popular people, and for good reason.  They are young (both still in their 30's), energetic, engaging and friendly people with many fantastic stories of their travel adventures on an extended honeymoon.

I flew to Puerto Vallarta because flights were much less expensive to there from Calgary.  They drove down and picked me up at the airport - then we were on our way driving north.  We stopped in Tepic, Durango and Saltillo for a night each, then up to Austin where they had friends to stay with before flying back up to New York.

I planned to meet up with a fellow driver in Laredo, Texas, a border town, the next day to drive tandem with him back over the border and back to Mazatlan, 1060 kilometers.

However, my Jeep had other plans.  

I had experienced some signs that all was not well with the Jeep when we sat at the border crossing on the way up for over 2 hours in the heat, idling the motor.  But, after a some TLC at a Pep Boys after crossing, it seemed to be fine. 

I left the hotel at 5 am in Laredo to get to the border crossing, 4 kilometers away, at an early hour when it wouldn't be busy.  My travelling partner was driving behind me on the highway when the Jeep suddenly began back-firing and stuttering.  I pulled off and he followed me to a parking lot.  The Jeep died.  I told him to go on without me, I would have to get it towed to a Pep Boys for repair - and god knows what was wrong with it.  

He had it set in his mind that he was going to drive the entire distance in one day and so was not about to delay his travel - he left me in the dark in an empty parking lot in a border town.  I didn't know quite what I was going to do then.

As bad as that guy might be, another guy was great.  A man in a pickup pulled up near to me (I was a little nervous about that) and rolled down his window.  I rolled mine down a little.  He asked if I was okay - did I need help? What a lovely man - he was Mexican-American.  He drove to a Pep Boys to see if they were open (they weren't) and then came back and called a tow truck for me to get towed to the Pep Boys and wait for them to open.

They opened at 8.  I sat in the Jeep needing a bathroom but finally got in and explained the issue.  They took the Jeep in and said it was a blown distributor.  It was replaced and I was back on the road by noon - $500 lighter.  But it could have been worse.

Then I was faced with driving on my own across Mexico.  I debated with myself about it, but in the end I sucked it up and figured I had no choice - anyway, a lot of people do it every day and the toll-roads are excellent.  I actually decided to wear a black, loose-fitting shirt and no makeup or earrings to make myself as non-attention-grabbing as possible.  Anyway, a middle-aged woman with short grey hair, in a 1998 Jeep, isn't going to get much attention.

The first day, leaving around 1, I drove to Saltillo and stopped for the night before dark at 5ish.  About 300 kilometers, but with an hour of processing at the border for my visa and the car permit.

The next day, I was on the road at 9 am and drove the rest of the way, descending out of the mountain passes 30 kilometers from Mazatlan before dark.  The Jeep ran like a dream.

More details and where I stayed in Calgary, Vancouver, Houston, and Durango.

I used Airbnb properties a lot on the May trip and only had one slightly bad experience - in Calgary.  I won't even post the link to that property because I can't recommend it.

The owner seemed to think that an open cat litter box just inside the front door where people came and went was just fine.  What?  Do you have a problem with animals in the house, she asked?  It states right in the profile that there are animals, she said.   No, I said, I love animals,  but an open litter box in that location is just unpleasant, not to mention something of a health hazard.  I wouldn't subject my own friends and family to that, let alone paying guests.  She didn't get it, and claimed that there was no other spot to put it. C'est la vie.

In Vancouver, I stayed for two nights at an older, 1930's row house in the Mount Pleasant section of Vancouver, and area that was great for walking and stopping at interesting shops and cafes/restaurants. Hosts were a younger couple who were very nice.  https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2045298

In Calgary, for one of the other nights, I stayed at a good, comfortable house that we had stayed in before. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/764034

In Houston, I stayed with an older, single retired man, a long time resident of Houston, and his dog Duke in gorgeous area of Houston called The Heights - leafy, green and very interesting architecture in that area.  It was very comfortable and I had my own ensuite bathroom which is always nice. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/598228

Gwen and I stayed at a Wyndham hotel in San Antonio using my time-share points.  It was fine, but nothing special and I am always annoyed by the salespeople there trying to get me to go to a breakfast presentation when I am only there for 2 days!

We stayed in Durango at Hostal de la Monja, a hotel housed in a beautiful 200-year-old building across from one of the Cathedrals and right on a walking street, closed to traffic.  It used to house nuns at one time. The rooms were very spacious with 20 foot ceilings, two double beds, and air-conditioning. It was a treat to be there for two nights. There is a lobby bar and restaurant - breakfast was included.  The staff were wonderful and there was parking behind the hotel in a secured lot.  http://www.hostaldelamonja.com.mx/

We absolutely loved Durango, a colonial city dating from the 1500's.  It has recently become a tourist destination for those who live in Mazatlan due to the opening of a new toll highway and the second largest suspension bridge in the world between Durango and Mazatlan.  It cuts the time of the journey from the border of Texas to Mazatlan by about 4 hours I am told.  We found it to be well-maintained with actual clean, modern bathroom buildings and SOS phones placed frequently along the way.  Not to mention incredibly scenic.

Durango was VERY clean and orderly.  Everyone we met was so pleasant and helpful, and happy to see tourists from north of the border in their city - something they are not used to yet but they seem to love the fact that we want to visit the city - they are very proud of it.  The architecture, museums, walking streets and parks are all so worth going for.  We had dinner at two different restaurants that we just have to go back to. One called El Esquilon and the other La Fonda de la Tia Chona.  Unique interiors and ambiance and excellent food for such reasonable prices, especially when compared to prices north of the border.

I tried a dark, rich mole sauce that had the taste of a hint of dark chocolate and cinnamon, on chicken in Tia Chona, and a lighter-flavored yellow mole at El Esquillon.  Both were delicious.

Have to go back!