San Carlos

I did a bad thing today, I helped to subvert a nice young man from the path of productivity and proper social behavior. I wasn’t alone and it happened in two parts. Layne was with me both times and added her own fuel to the fire.

P

He was traveling alone in his Minnesota registered car and he stopped by to ask for some travel advice which of course is the right and proper thing to do.  We told him about the iOverlander app with all its camping and useful facility information. We discussed how to buy safe drinking water and we showed him how to use Google maps with minimal gigabyte wastage. After a while he meandered back with a rather important question: was he in Mexico illegally? It’s easy to do as crossing the border is the first step in learning how to take care of yourself, Mexican style. 

T

When you leave the US you drive straight through, no one checks you when leaving by road. The trouble is, when you enter Mexico no one checks your papers. If customs (aduana) finds you interesting they will pull you over as they did us at Nacho, but they were bored at the small frontier post and they were curious about our camper. Then we were free to go, however we were fortunate in that we knew what to do: we found the immigration office and got our 180 day permit to be in Mexico, no problem. Then we asked where to get our Temporary Import Permit for the van and the officials said to go an hour down the road to Cananea. Who knew? We put Banjercito into Google maps and followed the blue line to the tiny office where the clerk gave us a 180 day permit for our van. But no one told us to follow those steps. And guess what? Young Justin breezed through Nogales with his paperwork prepared, and his deposit paid online but he arrived in San Carlos, four hours south without the precious office stamps showing he had been formally entered into Mexico. What a scofflaw!

For some reason an alarm bell jangled and he came to ask us if he was okay, which he was not. I showed him where he needed to go on Google maps and his shoulders sagged at the prospect of an eight hour round trip through the desert to put himself straight with the law. He started muttering about this all being too much work so Layne and I set him straight. I don’t suppose he really did plan to go home to Minnesota to resume chiropractoring but I wanted to make sure he knew what he would be missing if he stopped short. I know I got through twenty years of sitting still by remembering our sail through Central America and other journeys and I reminded him that when he did come home and settle down he needed travel memories to sustain him through his work years.

I suppose it goes without saying I saw myself in him, thirty or more years ago. I envied him his car and his tent with Mexico laid out at his feet. I am psyching myself up for five dollar gas, leashes for Rusty and Covid precautions that will isolate us in a country determined to override masks and social distancing. Tuesday we leave San Carlos and drive towards the border. Wednesday we get up good and early and go meet the nice folks in green at Naco and pop back to reality after a winter spent through the looking glass. 

Apprehension and excitement. Many people to see and more places to go. Change is good. I expect I shall feel the same way when we return to Naco in December going south with no plans to return.