The Border


Friday July 16

To get ready to leave for Mexico. Ken got up early to buy insurance for the car on-line. It was already hot when we left to get salads at Whole Food (very small one in Tuscan). He got the van filled up with gas and I shot pictures of anything unusual in this desert city of Tucson.

We drove Nogales about to enter Mexico at the truck crossing - Mariposa crossing.

From Nogales to Mazatlan



We arrived Migracion to purchase our tourist cards. Now here is were life got very interesting as Ken chose not to get a passport!






He got himself an "enhanced indentity card" instead - "this is not a passport" said the border dude.  Some kind lady translated for us letting us know we must go to the Nogales Migracion office.  Ken was in shock, I was reminding him that I had encouraged him to get a passport earlier, like January, before we left. - stubborness reigned.  To help further set the scene for this looming catastrophe on our vacation, it was about noon, about 100 degrees Fahrenheit and we now had to go into  centro Nogales, a border town.  Ken was directed to park in a very busy, crowded, HOT area by some guy with an identification tag around his neck.  The Migracion official, after some deliberation, decided to issue us both tourist cards.  When we went to pay for them we did not have enough pessoes, Ken had to return to the van where we had them stashed.  Then when we got back to the van the policia were issuing Ken a ticket for parking in a "red" zone and for blocking a pedestrian cross walk.  We recieved a two motorcycle escort to the Police Station.  Ken again did not have enough pesos to pay for the ticket and had to return to the van.  

Ken drove out of the city to the Banjercito to get our vehicle permit, again they wanted a passport and recent vehicle registration.  Ken had not passport and somehow he gave them the expired registration.  We must have been there for at least two hours in the heat.  "Next time bring a passport" is the lesson.

lunch WholeFoods - picnic $20.98 good
groceries OXXO - Hermosillo 18 pesos good
Today's eating where cost rating
Tonight's sleep Flamingo Inn - Tucson very good

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