Day 3: Crossing the Border

Jose:
Pues, day 3 and we’ve crossed the border into Mexico, but before we did we filled up on desayuno at the Congress Hotel. Spinach omelette with provolone with red papas baked in olive oil. Mmmm. After that we headed to San Xavier Mission about 45 minutes from the border. It was a Jesuit mission built in 1797. It was beautiful and hopefully the picts will do the talking. We said a prayer and were off to the border. I made a call to my sister before we crossed the border and lost service. (luv ya Joy) Crossing the border was pretty easy. We got our special visas given to us by the Mexican Gov. stamped and then bought some car insurance. Cheap by American standards. Naomi wanted to have lunch at Café la Roca, but I wasn’t too keen on staying in a border town for too long. We got onto the 15 and drove for about 4-5 hours to a small city called Guaymas in the state of Sonora (btw, we drove through the capitol of Sonoroa, Hermosillo, their claim to fame and main economy is that Ford motors builds cars there). Guayma is a coastal town on the Gulf of California. Naomi and I didn’t have any idea where to stay and it was getting late. However, the stars have been aligned for us on this trip. So as we’re driving, getting slightly nervous as we’re following these winding roads and we literally run out of road. But then we drive into this huge creamy white arch with a sign that reads “Hotel Playa de Cortes.” It was pretty amazing looking and relatively cheap. Plus, we were by the ocean and had a pool to cool off after a long drive (btw the drivers are okay so far and the gas is about $1 cheaper). We paid for our room took a dip in the pool, ate dinner in the hotel restaurant (decent food and a delicious local cheese soup with some heat called Sopa de Queso, Stilo Sonora. Tomorrow we’ll continue our trek south to Los Mochis or maybe Culiacan. We’ll see were the trusty stead takes us.

Naomi: At San Xavier de Bac (Bac is a European-ized version of the local native name for “where the water emerges”), we saw beautiful paintings of the spider from the creation myth: “the world was a little wobbly until the spider people sewed the skies and earth together.” Our border crossing was uneventful, but I was struck all day by how green things were. Our hotel seems classic and it makes me wonder if my mom and her family stayed here when they drove down to Mazatlan in the 60’s. We’re on a beautiful cove and the sunset was incredible. Getting in a warm pool is the perfect way to relax muscles after driving all day. And I passed out and slept for 8 hours. The blessings continue.

Naomi walking towards the mission San Xavier, Tuscon.


2 spider symbols on wall of school at San Xavier mission.

Nogales, Mexico.

On our way to Guaymas.

The Scenery, nice.

Checking in at the Hotel Playa de Cortés.

Courtyard in Hotel Playa de Cortés.

Sunset in Guaymas ahhhhhhh!