Day 60 - Crossing into Mexico

Today we rested at the Desert campground. I cleaned and got caught up with the dairy and bookkeeping. Wally performed some minor work on the camper.

Our "Carnet de Passages en Duane" (TIP) will be valid starting tomorrow. This internationally recognized document allows us to travel through foreign countries and facilitates dealing with temporary import/export documents for the vehicle.

Because of the extreme heat, we decided to leave Tucson at night to be at the Mexican border around midnight.

Everything went according to plan. We dressed up a little and refueled on the home turf one last time. Even at this late hour, the border crossing at Nogales was bustling. We presented our passports and were granted a tourist card, valid for three months. It was a smooth transition.

Then we drove on Mexican soil for the first time! I looked like everything with two or four legs was in the streets, even at that late night hour. Nogales looked miserable, neglected, and unsafe. Small and large, clean and less clean pubs, fruit stands, and bars with flashing Neon signs.

We tried not to stop anywhere and drove an hour into the country and spent the night at alonelye gas station in the mile of nowhere.Read more