Sunday, March 3, 2013

ZACATECAS

Guess this is a surprise for some of you.

Yup - today is Sunday and we just left Villa Corona today. Following my last post, we ended up postponing our departure from Wednesday the 27th until Sunday March 3rd. Derek's health + the cold weather in Texas + Sunday being a better day to get around Guadalajara, made it a good decision.

We left this morning VERY early! May as well get a good start on the 1,200 kms to the border!


It was just getting light out at 6:45 am when we pulled out of Villa Corona. We were up at 5:00 am - for some reason we thought the sun would be up earlier. Guess that's what happens when you are NEVER up with the sun.

And - we weren't the only ones! Three rigs were ahead of us and more in behind. Looked like a least 10 rigs were leaving today - guess Sunday really is the right day to travel.


I only took a few shots on the Periferico - the ring road around Guadalajara. For 8:00 am on a Sunday it was still quite busy - sure glad we didn't have to do it on a weekday. We almost missed the turn to Saltillo - it's a bit tricky. We knew we were in the lane for Saltillo but when it turns it doesn't say that it's turning to Saltillo. I had Derek move out of it into the next lane only to tell him to go back and make the turn. It was a mere guess on my part - thankfully it was right!


Out of Guadalajara...


really out of Guadalajara.


 We wound our way down to the river and then back up again.


Looking back at Guadalajara. Derek had to pull over and take this shot.










Beautiful flowers.....


and a close up!




A water park!


We stopped at a Pemex for lunch and Roofous made a friend.


Dirty windshield - again! This was a last minute shot - and the only one you'll most likely see from us of the military. You are not supposed to photograph them - this was a last minute decision and thus the bad picture. But with them pulling into the Military compound we figured they couldn't see us. Just so you know - the soldiers sit in the back of the trucks with really BIG guns. This is just south of Jalpa.


Not the best picture  - passing the town of Jalpa - there is a Church on the top of the large hill above the town. I CANNOT imagine the road up - Derek thought we should go look - ahhh - no.


Agave farm for Mezcal. There was a place to stop but we passed.


The town of Guanusco - are favourite town along today's route - very clean and nicely painted. 


We figured we should stay on the well paved road but good thing it's marked - just to be sure.




Nice that route 54 goes passed several towns - we LIKE that.


LOVE the countryside. We are THRILLED that we decided to take this route. LOVE the landscape and it's an easy drive. Yes - topes - but no more then usual driving in Mexico. LOVE the easiness of the drive and the scenery. Grasslands with trees and hills - perfect for us.




Then the grass turned a really light yellow - very Africa like - we LOVED this too!




No going around Villanueva - straight through.


Not bad - we've been through worse.




Zacatecas is the first large city on our route. Thankfully the highway goes by on it's west side. We just needed to make sure we took the Durango/Fresnillo/Saltillo route.


A mere 8 kms up the road and we made our right turn onto 54 heading to Saltillo. More like a turn into the Pemex really since it is RIGHT at the corner. 


A HUGE Pemex with a truck stop and an RV Park - well sort of. 

Makes you wonder why they have the gate - right?!


We are not surprised to be by ourselves. Although Diane and Jacques - friends from Villa Corona - did stop by here a few weeks ago.


There is supposed to be full hook ups here - but no hook ups at all. Not sure if they are taking out or redoing.


Still warm enough for shorts - and no shirt.....

We arrived here at about 2:30. We easily had enough time to the make it the Pemex station we had planned to stop at for the night - 187 kms up the road. However, our driver didn't get much sleep due to coughing and mosquitoes. So - this was far enough for today. 

Not sure how far we'll get tomorrow..... guess we'll see tomorrow.

Sitting here enjoying the sun. 

Teresa

TODAY'S INTERESTING LINK: I'm pretty sure I've linked Road Map to Nomad here before - if I didn't it was a complete oversight! I've been following Monica for a while now - fun to watch a family just getting going on the road. It was very nice of her to include us in her Hit List of Bloggers earlier this week - gosh golly!













4 comments:

  1. Wow, not a cloud in the sky in any of your pictures!

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  2. Dang, Derek is still not feeling well ?? He must be fed up with this cough !!

    We met a couple here in Palm Springs that said the crud is going around in our park. They had never been so congested and when they would start to cough, they couldn't even breathe !!

    Needless to say, we are washing our hands every ten minutes ... lol.

    Take care ... TnT

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  3. Do I see prickly pear cactus in the distance? You can eat the fruit (tuna) from this wonderful plant. I just made some juice today, the purple fruit are magenta inside and very sweet. Peel and blend the fruit, dilute to taste, the seeds fall to the bottom or filter the mix if desired and pour over ice. You can also eat the fruit by itself, the seeds are very hard and you'll crack your teeth and the small stickers will also get you if your not careful. Cheers!

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  4. Another good travel day, 2:30 is a good time to stop and relax, we like those kind of days.

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