I heard they were thinking about salting the roads there, but they decided not to, because they needed the salt for the margaritas. Crap I want to go to Mexico, the diesel is (relatively) cheap for the drive down right now.
Snow is no surprise given temperatures north of the border and the temperatures and moisture I have been experiencing down here since I crossed the border at Palomas on 1/15. Isn't Creel higer in elev. and more likely to be colder and have more snow than ? San Junito? Travelguy I guess you got insurance sorted out. For others who have insurance questions I have had very good experiences with MAPFRE (though no claims history) through San Xavier Mexico Insurance... fast, efficient, English speaking, offices in US, all done online before departing US... no need or reason to scramble for coverage at the border.... you won't get a "better deal" As Mike Mike informed me, good weather reports are available through Mexican electric utility website. Snow at 7K feet in January in Sierra Tarahumara has been noted and photographed more than once here. http://app.cfe.gob.mx/Aplicaciones/QCFE/Meteorologico/WebForms/Bol_3dias.aspx Great to meet tricepilot, Schizz and Jimmex here. It is cool and raining like hell here (SMA) this afternoon. Thundershowers now and last night. Weather coming out of the direction that the three of them plus Miguelito rode off into at 8:30 this AM. It will be interesting to hear their further adventures as they head for the beach W x SW of here. Right where the storm is coming from. Really dumping at 14:45 local. Glad I delayed my plans for a hike to the top of the hill. It is a genuine toad choker. Vaya con dios boys.
It can happen to anyone, anywhere at any time on this continent. My sweet, dear, Spanish teacher Sara was robbed by two young men yesterday evening around 7:30 as she walked homeward not too far from the school. These two twentysomethings pushed her into a doorway and rifled her bag to find her small pocketbook (bolsillo) that contained 3000 pesos, around $244, that she had just picked up from Western Union. One of her relatives had wired the money from the states to pay for her mother's heart and diabetes meds. The little bastards may have seen her come out of the Western Union office and followed here until they were able to seize the opportunity to mug her. San Miguel is very safe but like anywhere in the world one needs to be aware of what is going on around you. She was walking home, deep in thought, and as a native who feels quite secure was in her own world until these little pricks entered it. The street parallels one of the nicer private neighborhoods in that quarter of the city. Damn shame. This is a lot of money to her. I would still say that Mexico is safe, not much you can do about walking around a corner and finding hoodlums in wait even in Peoria.
Plenty of route planning info on this thread and on the route planning thread. Simple answer: Go to AAA. Get Mexico Map. Choose highway. Head south. Plan for the unplannned. Don't carry US expectations about how far you will go on a given day with you. Enjoy. Don't know when you are planning on leaving but it is a bit late to plan for South America now. It will be getting towards fall/winter by the time you get there. Snows down there. In making these plans there is always the daunting task of how you are going to deal with the Darien Gap. Have you gotten that far yet? Fairly serious obstacle... but before that there is Central America... esp. Guatemala. If you are concerned about safety in Mexico you need to talk to a few Mexicans about safety in Guatemala. As far as planning route through Mexico after you get your AAA map and while you are waiting for your Guia Roji to arrive in the mail look at cities on the AAA map and use the thread search tool here and you will come up with comments about those places. Search radioman's thread for Mexico place names. This website is a very rich resource. Get yourself a Rough Guide to Mexico although the free AAA guide will give you plenty of good information. At risk of jeers from the peanut gallery I have to tell you that I was more than a bit afraid before I took off on this adventure in Mexico, and I had been here before. The scariest thing you will do on a day to day basis is to get on the motorcycle. No shit! There is no one way to peel this onion. Find things in the travel books that interest you and plan point to point. If you just want to blast your way through there are the cuotas, toll roads, and you will go fast, dole out a lot of pesos and see a lot of Mexican tandem rigs... you won't see or experience Mexico... the cuotas are mostly good roads, you can do 80 or nintety or 100, all day and then pull into the outskirts of a moderately sized Mexican city and stay at a Euro style hotel, eat at the nearby Burger King, drink a fucking Corona, and say you have traveled in Mexico... absolutely true.... but you will never have been to Mexico.
We made it safely to Morelia and missed the rain. Great ride on the Mil Cumbres. Very nice to meet RMO at the newly proclaimed ADV Mexican Headquarters, La Posada de las Monjas in San Miguel de Allende.
Bet the thugs scoped her out at the money place. Got paypal? I'd be in for the IMS thread benevolent insurance fund since I'm not spending any of my money in Mexico on myself.
Good to hear jimmex... one night in Morelia? What is it like? It really poured here and it has come back off and on. Mark883: spending money on "entertainment" is spending money on yourself if you are the one who is being "entertained".
Very nice., going to Xalapa tomorrow fro the day it was 88F down the coast and 70F up here at the SIERRA suMADRE ORIENTAL all good .,Stay calm dont panic carry on with the next lesson Saludos
9:24 and I'm sitting solo at a table looking at this view Catedral Morelia con una copa de vino tinto, por supuesto
