Feb 22, 2013 - Three Weeks! (time truely can fly)

A Sunday drive to a small Mayo village resulted in us caught in this traffic jam on our return. The guide book said "a paved road". It neglected to tell you about the 26km of UNPAVED road through The Zona De Proteccion De Flora Y Fauna. Returning to Alamos from that adventure, we set off on another, The Alamos Car Show on the Plaza. Cars from Sonora and Sinaloa were assembled around the plaza by proud owners, stereos blared and much cerveza was consumed. The event was a family affair attended by the young and old and all ages in between. ...

Dec 30, 2012 - Rain, Rain, Go Away

Given the distance we had to travel on Sunday we got a nice early start. We rolled out of Totonaka, San Carlos and back on the main toll road while it was still dark. After 45 minutes we hit the first toll booth and I could just see to make change. It started out as an overcast, but very pretty morning. Once it was light we recognized that we were driving adjacent to the main north-south railroad along Mexico’s west side, the Guadalajara - Nogales Ferrocarril. Before too long we noticed a good sized train heading north towards us. In...

Oct 27, 2012 - Down Mexico Way...

Up at dawn and over the Mexican border we went as soon as it opened at 6AM. The first day went very smoothly, and we made excellent time. So excellent that we went an hour past our half-way stop and continued on to Guamuchil, Sinaloa which is an agricultural town off the toll highway. We found a no-tell motel without trouble and settled in for a quiet and peaceful night. No-tells are special establishments built for Mexicans to have secret romantic assignations. They suit all travelers very well as they are super secure, very clean and...

Mar 14, 2012 - El Fuerte,Sinaloa

Nous faisons un arrêt d'une semaine dans ce "pueblo magico" qui est apprécié pour ses demeures coloniales, son atmosphère agréable et un endroit pour débuter la visite en train pour le majestueux Barranca del Cobre (Copper Canyon). Cette ville a été construite en 1564 par le capitaine espagnol Francisco de Ibarra. Ville coloniale aux couleurs pastel, avec son zocalo entouré de palmiers, le museo El Fuerte, réplique du fort original, à son sommet un mirador appelé Cerro de las Pilas qui donne un excellent point de vue sur la région d'El...

Mar 11, 2012 - Concordia et El Quelite

Concordia est une petite ville située à l’est de Mazatlan. Cette ville fut fondée en 1565. Elle est réputée pour la production de poteries de grande qualité et ses meubles artisanaux. De plus, nous pouvons admirer l’église du XVIII siècle à la façade baroque et aux colonnes très colorées. El Quelite est une autre petite ville très intéressante à voir le dimanche. Ville très attirante, colorée, fleurie et propre. Le dimanche, il y a des démonstrations de partie de balles de l’époque pré-colombienne de la civilisation Meso Americaine.

Feb 13, 2012 - Mazatlan, Sinaloa

Départ pour Mazatlan. Quelques 70km sur une petite route serrée et tortueuse, par contre, lorsque nous prenons l’autoroute (1 ½ voies de chaque côté), ça va très bien et pas de montagnes. L'autoroute par contre est assez dispendieuse +- 60.00$,ça fait cher du Km , mais c'est mieux que les petites routes tortueuses et pleines de topes... Nous nous installons au San Bartelo au nord de la ville a un coin de rue du Pacifique. Un seul Québeçois,quelques B.C. surtout des Américains.Nous prenons un mois... Très bon choix de camping, grand...

Nov 11, 2011 - Mazatlan

Arrived there tonight. In Baja I just rode around alot. I met a family from Arizona that were renting a Condo for their extended family in this really fancy resort and they let me camp on their roof for free so I could take advantage of all the resort ammenities and beach access. I spent some time in La Paz and Todos Santos where I got to see baby turtles hatch and make for the sea. I did the loop to Cabo San Lucas but that entire area was too touristy, too ritzy for my taste. Met about 6 other bikers on the ferry back to the mainland with...

Mar 15, 2011 - Topolobampo

Left Alamos about 9:30am to Navojoa where we immed boarded another to Los Mochis. Arr in LM about 2pm and took a taxi to the Bajaferries office where we bought our cabin tickets for tonight lvg at midnight. Then to a nearby mall where we ate and played cards and sat out the afternoon before walking the 8 blocks to the bus for Topo (last one leaves at 7:45). Bus dropped us off at the gate to the ferry and we ended up in the waiting room playing cards until 10:30 when they let us on the boat. Glad we got a cabin even tho it cost each of us...

Jan 23, 2011 - Mexican Plans

Dear Family and Friends, We are still nibbling away at Mexico, the Pacific Ocean, and our own plans. Perhaps I should deal with the latter first. It is obvious to some of us that at many of life’s stages we have an infinite number of choices of what to do next. To make any sense of this difficult situation we all choose parameters and make our choices accordingly. As we sat and pondered our next moves on Chirpy, we chose, in no particular order, the adventure of travel, our enjoyment of (and mild addiction to) physical activity, and our...

Dec 15, 2010 - Mazatlan, Mexico

We were up and at ‘em early this morning getting ready for our shore excursion at Mazatlan. We booked a Zip Line adventure, along with Tequila tasting and a bus tour of Mazatlan. The excursion group took us about 30 miles out of Mazatlan, where they outfitted us with harnesses, helmets and gloves in preparation for zip lining. Then they drove us up the mountain to the first platform. We zipped through 9 zip lines, all taking us down the Sierra Madre Mountains. Some were faster and higher than others. It was exhilarating, to say the least! I...

Nov 29, 2010 - Los Mochis

Sonntagabend kamen wir in Los Mochis an... ein grauenhafter Ort, jedenfalls bei Dunkelheit (wir habens nur Dunkel gesehen). Viel kann man nicht dazu sagen, wir haben uns ein Hotel gesucht, natuerlich dem Lonely Planet Fuehrer folgend.. allerdings war das fast doppelt so teuer wie im Fuehrer angegeben, deswegen haben wir uns ins gegenueberliegende "Hotel Hidalgo" begeben, wo wir fuer 260 Pesos ein ertraegliches Doppelzimmer fuer ein paar Stunden okkupierten. Um halb 5 mussten wir schon wieder aufstehen um den Zug nach Creel zu...

Nov 28, 2010 - Mazatlan

Nachdem unsere Famulatur im Hospital Civil in Culiacan am Freitag geendet hat, hat unser Gastgeber Juan uns in seine Heimatstadt Mazatlan eingeladen. "Maza" ist eine nicht besonders schoene Stadt, liegt aber an einem wunderschoenen Strand und hat einige kleine Inseln vor der Kueste. Wir haben das Wochenende mit sightseeing verbracht, insgesamt wars ganz nett, wenn auch (wie leider fast immer) ein bisschen anstrengend, weil wir einfach immer andere Vorstellungen von Spass haben als unser Gastgeber. Aber es gibt dort wirklich ein Wahnsinnig...