Tue, Apr 4 - Driving from Green Valley to Álamos

 Once again, Katy, Bob and I are off on a week-long adventure.  Katy and I plan to alternate days writing the blog so here’s my first entry

An eventful but successful day!   We left my house in Green Valley, AZ just after 6 AM heading to Tubac to grab some breakfast and then to the border.  We got to the Tubac Deli and Coffee Company a couple of minutes after they opened at 6:30 AM.  They bake pastries and pies there and Katy and I had a Walnut Cinnamon Blossom (delicious) and Bob had a large cinnamon roll.  They were still slightly warm from the oven, but Bob zapped his in the microwave for a gooey treat. 

  

We wended our way through the maze of roads and orange cones and barriers across the border passing a few guards who didn’t seem to be interested in us at all.  We drove along into Mexico to Kilometer 21.  This is the magical spot where you must stop if you are going past the Sonora safe zone because you need a tourist permit and your car needs a TIP or temporary import permit.   What amazed me was that there is virtually NO signage or alert that this is Kilometer 21 so it would be easy to miss.  That wouldn’t matter unless you get stopped somewhere and must produce these documents that must be obtained at this point - a bit strange but at least we knew how to look for it.  

 

We parked and were walking towards the Tourist Permit little building when a couple stopped us and told us that they have done this every year for 14 years and had just been sent back to the parking lot to take photos of their car - front, back, license, VIN, both sides with doors open etc.  So, I went back and took the requisite photos too.  We then went up to the Tourist Permit building with a few people waiting outside.  It was open but they weren’t letting more people in and we couldn’t figure out why.

  We waited about 30 minutes and finally a woman said we could go in.  There was only one woman working behind the counter which may be why they were limiting access, but it would have been helpful if they had at least let us fill out the forms while we waited.  But once inside, it did not take long.  We could have done this online but all three of us have passports that expire in August and that is in less than 6 months.  It did not matter to the woman working there - she gave us permits for 180 days regardless but the online form would not accept a date that was earlier than 180 days. 

 So that part was successful - finally.   Then we walked to the Banjercito building.  This whole complex does all sorts of official work but looks totally unofficial.  I did have all of the car paperwork organized and handed it over to the guy at the bank.  There were at least 3 windows open there so we didn’t wait more than 5 minutes.  He was very nice and didn’t need copies of my license or my Mexican car insurance nor did he need those mythical photos of my car.  I had the original and a copy of my car registration which he did need and the most critical letter of permission from the bank that has my car loan.  I only have a small balance on my car loan and would have paid it off if I had known what a hassle obtaining this letter was to be!   I had such a low interest rate that I had been advised to pay just the monthly amount and not pay it off.  So, I needed a letter of permission.  I went on the Chase Bank site to request it 2 weeks ago.  I received an answer back a few days later that explained the details that they needed.  I sent a message back with all the details.  The next day I got another message that said that’s nice, but we need a letter with a wet signature - one wonders why they didn’t add that requirement to the first message.  I wrote up the same information but in memo form with a wet signature.  I imported that letter as a pdf and attached it back to another message.  I tried calling a local branch of Chase, but they don’t deal with car loans or anything locally anymore.  I called customer support, and he told me that he learned not to take his car to Mexico - so not helpful.  

  I got another message back that they had my request and would get the notarized letter to me in 10 business days- hmm, I didn’t have 10 business days before I left.  I thanked them in another message but asked if they could expedite since I was leaving on 4/4.  They messaged back that they would see what they could do and could probably send me a pdf via a message.  I heard nothing further that week.  I sent another message on Monday via the secure message thing on their website requesting an update.  I heard back from them very promptly that they were FedExing the letter, and they attached a pdf copy to the message.  

In the meantime, Katy and Bob had flown into Tucson on Monday afternoon and we were contemplating whether we would have to drive to Texas since I might not have the documents to take my car into Mexico in time….  On Tuesday, FedEx did deliver the original notarized letter of permission, so we were good to go.  Whew.  

So back to the Banjercito office - the nice guy did need a copy of my passport and a copy of the Tourist Permit I had just received so I went back to the copy place - they do have another small kiosk where you can get copies made at a small cost.  At least this very unofficial group of buildings does have everything you need in one place.  There is also a building where they sell car insurance to cover your car in Mexico - I had already gotten this via AAA.  Once I gave the guy these copies, he put all of the papers together.  He charged my credit card - you pay not only the fee but $400 but you get the $400 back if you stop by on your way out of Mexico and get the permit cancelled - interesting process.  So, we were finally all permitted, and we could drive on.  It only took just over an hour, which was great as we thought it might take up to 2 hours to get the permits.  

 

It was now just after 9 AM and we took off down the highway towards Alamos - about another 7 hours of driving.  Most of the highway is 4 lanes now and in very good shape.  All the cities where you used to drive through now have toll road bypasses.  These save a lot of time though there are almost no services on these bypasses.  Some are so new that they aren’t on any of the maps we had.  The terrain is quite similar to southern Arizona except that the saguaros are less frequent and there are a lot of organ pipe cacti.  

 

We finally stopped at a gas station around noon and grabbed a coke and a carne asada taco each and

swapped drivers.  We reached Navojoa about 4 PM and headed up to Álamos.  Google maps took us on an adventurous drive to find our hotel.  I was driving up narrow cobbled roads and then dirt roads and then we figured this was not the B&B. 

Katy walked across the dirt that I would not drive up and was quickly at the B&B while Bob and I waited in the car, we figured out how we should drive there.

  A car drove up just down the hill from where we sat.  I was worried that I needed to move my car so that they could come up where I was but then Katy got out of the car!  The nice woman at the B&B had driven her around so we could follow her back the right way.  It was just as Bob and I had figured out and we were finally at this lovely villa overlooking Alamos. 

 

Steps down to first courtyard at B&B - Casa Serena Vista

Terrace overlooking Álamos

We got somewhat settled in our rooms but soon walked down the steps to town - down the concrete steps, down a bit of cobblestone road, down more steps and along more cobblestone and down a block to the recommended restaurant - Charisma.

Inside of lovely restaurant - Charisma where we ate

 

 The interior of the restaurant is very nice.  We ordered drinks and food. We got this quickly along with a dish of peanuts with a spritz of lime on them - very tasty.  We got our ensalada de la casa with a nice balsamic dressing.  Then we waited.  It took a long time to get our main dishes as there was a table of 9 who had unfortunately ordered just ahead of us while they enjoyed many margaritas.  But eventually our food arrived and the fish that Katy and I had was delicious, Veracruz Huachinango- it had salsa on top with capers and thin perfectly cooked asparagus alongside.  Bob had ordered the Petit Filet but received a giant Filet with a great mole sauce on a mound of mashed potatoes.  He liked it but it was huge.  They offered gelato but we were too tired to contemplate but we will get some tomorrow.

Nighttime as we walked back up the many steps to the B&B