We had a good night's sleep in the parking lot at Garcia Caverns and we headed out at 8:00am. We had to make our way around Monterrey, and we took the very expensive cuota (toll road) to do it. Cost was 196 pesos ($10 USD, $13.50 CAD) to do the 20 km (13 mile) stretch. But, the road was in great shape and not much traffic. Worth it to avoid the Monterrey traffic.
From there, we headed north on the free road towards Laredo, Texas.
Leaving the mountains near Garcia Caverns.
The free road was in good shape at this point.
The free road was in good shape at the beginning, but the bypass around Sabinas Hidalgo and from there to where it meets the toll road was not very good. We could have take the toll road, but it's hard to justify the 350 peso ($18 USD, $24 CAD) cost to save maybe 20 minutes.
Yesterday's drive, 336 kms (208 miles).
Still in good shape.
The free road south of Sabinas Hidalgo.
Wildflowers are out.
New concrete highway.
Once the free road meets the toll road, they are doing some major road construction. And we can't figure out why. It seems the two 2 lane roads are fine, yet they are building this new concrete road right beside. Maybe a new toll road? Maybe something to do with the amount of truck traffic? Not sure.
New road being built on the right.
At the Colombia Bridge border station west of Laredo, we stopped and some handed in their Mexico RV permit. The permits are valid for ten years, however you need to be very confident that you are going to return in that time. We kept Sherman's permit for the time being, because we do expect that we will do this trip again next winter season. And if we don't, the worse case scenario is that we need to drive to the border to hand it in. Sherman is remaining in Texas for the summer, so it would not be much out of our way to do that.
The border crossing was smooth. One of the reasons we like using the Colombia Bridge crossing is that it's not usually very busy, and there is lots of room for RVs. (Last year, this was not the case, but we think that was an anomaly).
It was a smooth crossing, and we were in and out of there in less than half an hour.
From there, we all headed to the big H-E-B Plus store in Laredo to do some stocking up. The fridge had been near empty, and we spent $136 USD ($185 CAD). A bit of sticker shock on some items, especially when you add the 35% exchange rate difference.
From there, we went to Lake Casa Blanca State Park.
The four month long Mexico RV Caravan tour is officially over, but we're still together! We got five sites in the same area, with water and electric. Sherman is plugged in to 30 amps and we can run our electric heater.
Yes, we need the heater! It's only a high of 54F (12C) today! And it's raining this morning.
We bought another Texas State Parks annual pass. For $70 USD ($95 CAD) we get unlimited day use in all the parks, as well as buy two nights of camping and get the second night half price. Good deal, and we will use it for the next two and a half weeks as well as when we return in the fall.
Sherman, parked up in site 135.
Camping here for two nights. Using our pass, the cost for camping (electric and water) was $13.50 USD ($18 CAD) per night. Not bad.
Yet another happy hour with the group!
So, we said goodbye to Mexico for now. But there is more adventure coming up with our three month Australia RV trip starting May 17th! So stay tuned!
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There hasn't been an Instant Pot deal for a while. Nice price drop on the 6 Quart DUO60 7-in-1 right now.
And in Canada...
enjoyed following your winter trip. so many neat places. keep up the good writing.
ReplyDeleteThank you Carol and Bill! We sure did take the group to some interesting places and there are still so many more that we missed. Maybe, we can get to those ones next winter. :-)
DeleteSuch a great trip! Enjoyed following you all
ReplyDeleteThank you Jana! We are glad you enjoyed following along on our adventures. :-)
DeleteNice that you made it back across the border and getting ready for more adventures.
ReplyDeleteThank you George! Yep, we certainly have some neat adventures ahead of us. :-)
DeleteI see that CTV's program W5 is contributing to the fear-mongering about Mexico being a dangerous place for tourists: https://www.ctvnews.ca/w5/
ReplyDeleteYep, you have to hate the media sometimes! They really like the drama. The problem is unless you have been here yourself, most people would buy into all that, forgetting to look into their own backyards at all the problems there.
DeleteActually, we mentioned this winter that we would prefer to have people scared to come here, otherwise it might get to the point where there are too many people coming down here for the winter. ;-)
That was a nice smooth crossing, especially with a big group. Glad you guys didn't get hassled.
ReplyDeleteIt was a smooth crossing, much better than last year's crossing with only two units!
DeleteIt was a delight to follow your Mexican Adventure! I eagerly await your Australian quest!!
ReplyDeleteWe are so happy that you enjoyed following along on our trip through Mexico this past winter.
DeleteWe can't wait to see what will be in store for us in Australia but we are sure that it will be fun! :-)
Welcome back to the USA!
ReplyDeleteMaybe start compiling an honest list of the things you miss---and don't miss---about Mexico---and the US as well?
Thanks Doug! I would say it is nice to be back but honestly we wish we were still in Mexico. :-)
DeleteThe list would be a mile long on the things that we miss about Mexico, as for the don't miss things, on the top of that list would be topes and potholes! As for the US, that would be a harder list to make because nothing really comes to mind for either category.
Great trip. Looking forward to Down Under. Tell Ruth hello.
ReplyDeletePete, Pam, Pepi and Shep
Thanks Pete and Pam! Yes, we had a good trip, we were able to show the group some really neat places and give them an real Mexican experience.
DeleteWe are looking for to our adventures in Australia as well and being able to write about them, for all of our readers to enjoy. :-)
Feel like we were with you on the entire trip. Great reporting, as always. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThank you! We are happy that you enjoyed our posts. :-)
DeleteQue les vaya bien!
ReplyDeleteGracias Chris! :-)
DeleteHave you seen videos from "Keep Your Daydream"? They just finished a fantastic tour of New Zealand in their rented RV. Do you plan to go there while in Australia?
ReplyDeleteYes, we have but not much because videos use up our data unless we happen to have free wifi.
DeleteNo, we aren't planning on going to New Zealand, at least not at the moment. As it is we aren't really going to see a lot of Australia on this trip. We are planning on just seeing a small section of it and taking our time, if the truck camper works out we may keep it and either rent it out to family or friends or put it into storage. We would then come back again and use it for another 3 to 6 months until we see all that we want to in Australia and at that point we could then ship or ferry it to New Zealand and start working on exploring that country. We aren't in a rush! :-)