Travel Log 6: December 13 -- First Border Crossing into Mexico

Well…here we are in Mexico! To bring you up to date, we travelled from Mesa to Nogales, Arizona on Saturday, December 13. This was our jumping off point into Mexico. The crossing at Nogales is the one most recommended in all the guide books.

 

 

We stayed at an absolutely pitiful RV park in Nogales while we prepared for our crossing on the following Monday. As we drove through the park upon arriving, the office was closed with a posted note saying to park ourselves and put our money in an envelope through the door. As we drove through the park, we saw the most dilapidated and sorrowful looking RV’s and mobile homes. From the Jurassic era, I’m sure. We were just deciding to try somewhere else when we saw a very stylish new motorcoach parked right at the end of the park. We were elated to have a “big rig” to park beside. As soon as we began to install ourselves, the fellow from the big rig came over and we started a conversation. Long story short, they were planning to cross through Nogales to Mexico on Monday as well, and they also planned to land in San Carlos, which was our destination.

 

 

As the weekend wore on, more large RV’s showed up with the same plan…to cross on Monday. On Sunday night, the plan was that four rigs would caravan to the border and cross together. Monday morning, it was back to our big rig friends and us. It was quite comforting to be crossing into Mexico with people who had done it before. They had never crossed at this particular border, however they knew how it was all supposed to happen.

 

 

We crossed the border with ease. The procedure was friendly and only slightly disorganized on the part of the Mexicans. We were done in just over an hour. We had to submit to a compulsory security inspection after all of our paperwork was done. The security checkpoint is mainly concerned about guns being transported into Mexico. The guard asked if we were carrying “arm-ess”. Adrian was like “well of course -- I have two arms”, but luckily I realized they were asking if we had firearms along. The rest of the inspection was a bit ridiculous. Instead of opening cabinets to search, the guard went through our trailer and knocked on the cabinets. I guess he thought any contraband items would return the knock???

 

 

We were relieved to get that first border crossing into Mexico out of the way, and very pleased that it went so well. Now all we have to do is find our way around down south!