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Friday, March 4, 2011

Potrero Chico, north of Monterrey

We didn’t leave our parking lot at the hotel until almost 10:00am, figuring that most rush hour traffic would have died down. It was still pretty busy leaving Saltillo, but we made it through with out issue…until we got to the outskirts.

Then, traffic close to the entrance to the toll road came to a standstill. We could see on an entrance ramp to our highway that the traffic was backed up for quite a ways. We were lucky that our lane ended up being the one to move and we made it to a Federal police and military blockade fairly quickly, where we were pulled over. This blockade was different, it seemed they were definitely looking for someone. They asked for our passports and then my drivers licence, as well as the vehicle paperwork. We were sent on our way, and again I thanked them for their security. (As I post this Saturday morning, I read in the news that gunmen in three sport utility vehicles had attacked police in Saltillo on Friday morning, leading to a chase and gunfight that killed two attackers and injured four officers.)

New toll road, Saltillo to Monterrey

We got onto the toll road going between Saltillo and Monterrey. It was nice scenery, but a little hazy due to smog from Monterrey. We paid a reasonable toll of 70 pesos ($5.84), and then on the northern Monterrey ring road we paid a less reasonable toll of 253 pesos ($21.08). Arrived in the town of Hidalgo around 1:00pm, and then a few kms more to the Potrero Chico recreation area. This is a popular rock climbing and hiking spot.

Whiskey and Ruth, going for a stroll

Beautiful parking spot for the next two nights, at 100 pesos ($8.33) per night.

Our friend Chris showed up with only his car…we were expecting to see the new trailer. Turns out they have an unexpected family event to attend, so they will return tomorrow with the trailer.

We socialized with three young international teachers this evening, one from Wisconsin, and two from Canada…one from Collingwood, Ont., and one from Antigonish, N.S….they all teach English in Monterrey and are camping here for the weekend.

Tomorrow we’ll so some hiking, although they are calling for 50% chance of rain! What’s that??!! We haven’t seen any precipitation since November 13 in Dallas!

Today's drive, 110 kms (68 miles) GPS co-ordinates tonight are 25.95728 -100.47757

2 comments:

  1. Glad to see you are with friend's, and no rain since Nov 13th, that is remarkable,Too bad the northern part of Mexico isn't as warm & peaceful as the southern part you were, but I guess there is safety in numbers.Hope you guys have a great weekend. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna..

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  2. Sam and Donna...Our no rain is still standing! Not sure how long it will last now though. Northern part of Mexico might not be as warm as the southern part but for the most part I'll bet it is as warm as Texas if not warmer and the violence that is happening there is just around a couple of the major border cities, not further in. There is still a lot to see there. One major sight is Copper Canyon which we have on our list for one of these years.

    Kevin, Ruth and Whiskey

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