The paperwork took 45 minutes for us two and GANNET2 for we were the sole customers and thus leaped to the head of the non existent line. Customs looked at Rusty and the only inspection he got was the usual question in Mexico: Does he bite? Customs looked at our home more out of curiosity than as a search and our fridge stuffed with food was not even opened. Our Motor Home designation on our registration, fresh from Florida, got us the much desired ten year import permit which means all we have to do next time we enter Mexico is get our tourist cards, a ten minute operation. Mexico wants tourists and they couldn’t make it easier for us to visit.
We had four hundred bucks in pesos left over from our last trip and we had already bought car insurance so all we had to do was drive and we were on the road by 10:20.
Our first destination was Saltillo four hours away as I had developed a hankering to see where GANNET2 was created and the factory was close by our route. In fact I soon started to see flatbeds hauling brand new Promasters north.
The factory is in an industrial zone in a valley outside the city of Saltillo and it’s marked on Google maps as the “FCA Van Assembly Area” even though Fiat Chrysler America is now called Stellantis.
I know it’s ridiculously nerdy of me but Layne put up with a thirty minute deviation and I enjoyed getting to see the factory. Three factory works ambled by and smiled when they saw our van and I don’t suppose they get too many sightseers at the Ram factory, even the part where they assemble pick ups!
There are trucks lined up all over the place and where there are trucks there are places to eat. The Promaster gives a lot of work down here to Mexicans who now don’t need to cross the border seeking employment.
Four more on their way to dealers in Mexico, Canada or the US:
Our idea had been to spend our first night in Mexico at altitude among the peaks of the Sierra Madre to escape daytime temperatures near 100 degrees. The plan worked but what I didn’t know at the time was the presence of a nature reserve an hour from the factory at eight thousand feet. Described on iOverlander it Sounded like an ideal wild camp in the forests. Never mind, we kept on keeping on.
We passed three police checkpoints on the highways and one actually stopped us and checked our vehicle import permit. He was very friendly and as usual curious about our home on wheels but as we pulled away to buy a cold drink at the convenience store Layne remarked how helpful it is to be able to speak Spanish with the people especially the officials we encounter. Who they pick for a real inspection seems entirely random.
It was when we got back on the road after the factory stop that Layne started to feel under the weather. The comment about the delayed reaction to the Covid shot was spot on.
While I drove Layne spent time on the bed napping, so smooth was the highway and as usual she got all the Covid symptoms, fever chills, sweating and so forth. We neither of us regretted our loud our decision to leave Laredo even though we did consider staying for one more night in hotel luxury.
I pressed on, there was nothing else to do. Ironically I had been knocked low by the flu shot we got in Houston but neither the RSV or Covid did much damage to me except for a slightly sore arm.
These aren’t easy vaccines to get in developing countries so we felt lucky to have taken the opportunity to get properly vaccinated before departure. Some people aren’t given a choice.
iOverlander showed a campground in the town of Matehuala in San Luis Potosí state but we didn’t feel
the need to pay $20 for hookups if overnight temperatures were going to dip into the 50s so we pressed south of the city.
Layne started to perk up and began her recovery pretty quickly. After some sleep in the back she was ready to sit up again and take an interest in the countryside which to be frank was pretty much all desert.
The next iOverlander stop an hour south of Matehuala was supposed to be a large truck stop on Highway 57 but ten minutes before we were due to arrive Google maps reported a blockage, probably a bad accident. It was 6:30 and we were passing a Mobil station with a vast open area out back. Good for a dog walk and not bad for a noisy night’s sleep. Actually truck traffic in Mexico usually dies out after ten as most truckers sleep normal hours and drive all day.
It worked for us and Layne had a bowl of chicken soup as Jewish tradition dictates when you aren’t feeling well and she was in bed by 7:30 hoping to wake up as good as new.
With gas around $5:20 a gallon and our day’s worth of tolls paid to speed our journey south around $60 it wasn’t a cheap drive but we got south.
Rusty was perfect all the way, sitting on his pillow patiently and jumping out when I gave him permission to stretch his legs, uncomplaining all the way.
Webb Chiles made a joke which I rather liked when I mentioned our impending border crossing:
Here are millions trying to get across to the US and you are going the other way. Typical.
Good for you.
