We only noticed the 112 degrees when we arrived at the campground and got out of the van. The four hour drive from San Carlos to Alamos (which means poplar trees in Spanish. “Remember the poplar!”) was completed in blistering heat from which we were protected by virtue of being inside lovely GANNET2 with lots of air conditioning!
We stopped in Enpalme, the town where we had dropped off a stray dog in January, the first of two we’ve rescued on this trip, and were glad to see he’d found a home. We gave Matty Parra fifty bucks to help her good work at Huellas de Angel (Angel’s Footprints) and we said hi to the three dozen happy friendly street dogs she currently has at her shelter. https://m.facebook.com/HuellasDeAngel.AC/
Rusty sat outside the fence giving us the stink eye until we climbed back aboard with no extra dogs. He is a jealous old hound and does not play well with others. We got on the road, Highway 15 south toward Navojoa just the three of us.
This was not fresh ground for us as we had driven south along this stretch five months ago. I must say that driving it again with all our Mexico experiences under our belt made for a different drive, a little less agog of course but very happy to be on the mainland and away from Baja. Technically Highway 15 here is a Cuota (toll road):
After you pay the toll the employee switches the sign to say “Buen viaje!” and the light goes green. Only the camera failed to pick out the words!
Even though this is an Autopista - a toll highway- it slips into neighborly informality as the road unspools.
Utility motorcycles ride the shoulder and bicycles of course aren’t allowed. Sort of.
The activity roadside we had missed in Baja was in full force here.
I bought a weird yam filled empanada above that Layne thought was disgusting. She bought a Dulce de leche cake which is actually pretty good. How can you say no to these people working to make a living in 100 degrees on the street? Even if you don’t eat it you’ve spent two bucks…
From being a four lane highway through the arid desert suddenly you find yourself dealing with speed bumps and pedestrians and village life!
And then you are back to serious travel! The open road!
Aside from the official tolls there are the Indian Reservation tolls. The inhabitants of the Rio Yaqui reservation say they are forgotten by the federal government so they set up toll blocks at each end of their land and charged us 50 pesos ($2:50) to pass.
Some Mexican drivers blow through but to me the toll is of no moment so we stopped and paid.
What seems to me to amount to an act of charity drives some Gringos crazy. They rant about the legality of paying the toll and so forth though sometimes you’ll get stoned if you run these blockades.
They give you a receipt and such is their poverty I can’t think of any reason to get mad.
Standing around in the heat takes dedication too. They aren’t taking welfare.
Mind you some people complain about paying the official tolls too. That money goes to the private companies operating the toll roads in the manner of Florida’s Turnpike.
And that’s how you drive the toll roads in Sonora State. They are more or less the sane all over Mexico. Some states have better road surfaces (Jalisco and Colima) and some worse (Sonora Michoacán and Chiapas) and some states have more rest areas (Baja) and some less (Oaxaca and Veracruz) but I much prefer paying a toll rather than increasing my travel time on more topes potholes and hazards on the toll free highways. We use those when we have to but crossing some of Mexico’s vast open spaces is much easier on a toll road. And the public art can be hard to decipher:
Eventually though we made it to Alamos and got GANNET2 ready to hunker down for a couple of days till the heat calms down next Tuesday.
Our insulated inserts are in the windows, the shore power is plugged in and the air conditioning is keeping things bearable. With a swimming pool and WiFi on the pool deck I think we will be fine.
Now I’m wondering if anyone delivers pizza to the outskirts of Alamos? What are the chances..?
