I have been traveling to Mexico from El Paso
by motorcycle on a regular basis for the past four years. My past trips have only been for
6 days and 5 nights with 2 nights in Mazatlán. This year I decided to spend more time in Mazatlán to get better aquainted with the city. The travel portion of this trip is typical of my past trips
following the same route with the exception that the return trip has usually taken 3 days with
different routes. I have been trying to cover as many different roads in Mexico as possible.
My goal is to complete as many Mexican highways from end to end as possible as long as I am able
to ride. I have completed all of Highways 5, 8, 10, 16, 23, 40 and most of 2, 736 miles of Hway 45,
589 miles of Hway 49, 147 miles of Hway 85 and 775 miles of Hway 15. I will write these up in later stories.
I currently am 54 and plan on retiring to Mazatlán in the next year or so, and then will be able
to travel further south and east from there. If anyone is planning to make this same trip, I will be
glad to offer any advice that may be needed on tolls, gas, hotels etc.
You may contact me at
Mexicobob.
Day One: El Paso, TX to Jimenez, MX [370 Miles.]
Saturday: 09:30am MST - Left El Paso and proceeded to Mexican Customs to get vehicle permit for bike. Time zone changes from Mountian to Central when crossing the border, it is now 11:30am CST. Took about 30mins to process paperwork and finally on the road at 12:30am CST. It is aprox. 230 miles to Chihuahua City. Four lane divided highway all the way except when passing thru Villa Ahumada stoped here for lunch and pit stop.
The temperature is about 54 deg F. slightly overcast. Next stop is El Sueco for gas. Clouds starting to look darker. About 50 miles out of Chihuahua City the rain starts. Rained all the way to Chihuahua, but not enough to put rain suit on over leathers. Another gas stop. Debated to stop for the day in town but midway thru city saw that the sky was clearing to the south and decided to continue on to Jimenez, another 137 miles.
Sky is clear and warming a little, making more enjoyable ride at this point. Stopped at Las Pampas Motel in Jimenez for the night about 8:00pm CST. Room cost this night was 163 pesos ($21.00). Went to bed early after dinner [13 pesos - $1.68) in hotel restaurant.
Day Two: Jimenez, MX to Mazatlán, MX [500 Miles.]
Sunday: Arose about 8:30 am, it is cold, about 35 deg F. Gased up and on the road by 9:15am.
Not a cloud in the sky, it is too cold, they are all laying around on the ground using the mountians
for a 
pillow. Light fog for about 45 miles until the air heated up from the morning sun.
Very good four lane from here to Gomez Palacio completed in 1995. Stopped for gas and coffee in G.P.
then on to Durango. This four lane was completed in 1993, very good 
road.
Encountered road crew clearing a massive rock slide which blocked one complete lane of the divided highway.
Encounterd first fellow mororcyclist on trip, coming from Durango headed east, a full dress Harley with a couple on board. Stopped in Durango for hamburger, coke and gas (for bike, not me). I am now running about 2 hours later at this point than on previous trips and am worried that I will get caught in the mountians (Sierra Madres) before dark, not a good thing. The road from Durango is two lane thru the mountains, but is my favorite road of the whole trip. It is about 175 miles from Durango to Concordia where you exit the mountians and have flat land to Mazatlán about 36 miles further on.
Concordia is famous for its woodworking craftsmen, who make some of the most unique rocking chairs
which can be purchased for about $50.00 us. The road in the state of Durango was just refinished in
1995 and is in good shape up to the state line with Sinaloa state. After you cross the state line you cross the 
"Devil's Backbone",
which is some of the most beautiful scenery of the whole trip. This section of road, in Sinaloa had contained
some of the worst potholes on the whole route until this year. I was pleasantly surprised to find they had
repaved this section this year.
To regress a little, on the ride out of Durango into the mountains, I started seeing all these cars coming toward me that looked strange. It turns out that they had snowmen build on their hoods, with ribbons, stick arms and funny hats. This caused me some concern as to what I was riding into. As the miles passed, I saw more and more snowmen riding on hoods. I then got into the snow area, which got deeper and deeper the further I rode. The road was clean except in the shadows where there was some runoff, but no ice. There were numerous small rockfalls around the switchbacks which demanded my full attention but added to the thrill of the ride.
As I feared, I got caught in the mountians by darkness about 50 miles from Concordia, it was not a good feeling.
Reached Concordia and gased up about 7:30pm MST. I crossed back into MST when entered Sinaloa. It is now a lot warmer
than it has been all day and very welcome after the snow and cold of the mountains. I am here at last. Allow yourself
about 6 hours for the 200 miles from Durango to Mazatlán due to
25-35mph speed thru the mountains. Arrived at my usual resting place, 
The Sands Hotel (Las Arenas) about 8pm and checked in.
After getting settled in my room, I took a "pulmonia"
to the Zona Dorada to Tio Juan's restaurant for some dinner, a few cervesas and conversation with my favorite waiter,
Victor. Next I took my usual walk around the Zone and made my way to Valentino's Disco.
As it was Sunday night, the discos were doing a land office business. I sat outside in a lounge area for a while and just
watched all the beautiful people. I then went for a walk up the beach back toward the hotel. I called it a night about 1:00am.
Day Three Mazatlán
Monday: It's a beautiful day and the temperature is about 74 deg F. I got a cup of coffee from the hotel restaurant and took
it out to the pool area. Here I met a man from Washington state who told me about a good place to get the road grime washed off the bike.
I decided to take another pulmonia to Tio Juan's for breakfast and go shopping for a hooded sweatshirt, as it had gotten rather cool
the night before. Found a good one at the Sr. Frogs store located in the Mall area of the El Cid resort complex. Took a walk around the
small vendor shops which line the streets of the Zona Dorada just looking at all the nice goods for sale. This is a great city for finding
a good deal on leather and silver goods. There are also more t-shirt vendors than anywhere else in the world. Took another pulmonia back to
the hotel to get the bike and try to find the car wash I was told about. Found it about six blocks away just north of the university on
the main street. After negotiating a price, the man agreed to 
wash my bike for 15 pesos (about $1.94).
He charges 10 pesos for a car and decided the bike would take more work. He did such a good job I gave him 20 pesos ($2.58).
While my bike was being washed, I struck up a conversation with 
Oscar who runs a hot dog push cart. He has been selling hot dogs at the
same location by the university for the past four years and has done quite well. He has been studing to be a lawyer and has almost
completed his studies. He spoke some english, and I had a chance to practice my spanish.
After leaving the car wash I returned to the hotel and as I pulled in, I saw a BMW parked next to where I usually park so I pulled in next to it. It had Texas plates. This when I first met Jim. He had been on the road for about a week already, having come from north Texas and traveling around central Mexico and coming to Mazatlán about six hours ahead of me. He had gotten to Durango and found that the road was closed due to snow and had to lay over for two days. Finally the road opened on sunday and he crossed the sierras ahead of me. We talked for a few minutes and agreed to meet at Tio Juan's later then he went to make some phone calls and I went back to Tio Juan's for the evening. Turns out Jim decided to turn in for the night and never made it to the restaurant.
Day Four Mazatlán
Tuesday: Had a problem with the plumbing in my room so I decided to check out and change hotels, as The Sands did not have any other rooms available. I tried the Plaza Gaviotas Hotel in the Zona Dorada rigjt behind Tio Juan's. This put me closer to the action and I did not have to walk but about 30 steps to the hotel from my favorite eatery.
After checking in, I went across the street to the Playa Mazatlan Hotel and used their 
beach access. I spent about two hours on the beach getting some sun. While on the beach I purchased a blanket for 50 pesos to lay on so I wouldn't get too much sand in my clothes. I am not one for swimming or getting a bad sunburn, so I never wear swimsuits or shorts, anything other than my jeans when traveling.
Jim was not at The Sands Hotel when I checked out. He was looking for more bike shops in town. He had decided that he was going to take the 
ferry to La Paz and travel up the Baja for his return to Texas, and had ordered a new rear tire for his BMW. The tire was being sent up from Guadalahara and expected to arrive on friday. His ferry was to leave on sunday, so he was getting better acquainted with the city.
The hotel was rather old and the doors stuck and made a lot of noise when opening and closing. Some people I had met from Canada told me there were rooms available at the Tropicana Hotel, about a block from where I was. I went over and checked on availablity and they did have rooms, but only until saturday when Carnaval 97 was to be in full swing. I went ahead and made a reservation for wednesday thru friday nights. If you plan to visit Mazatlán during Carnaval (Madi Gras), you should plan ahead and make reservations at least six months in advance.
As I was walking around siteseeing, I ran into Jim at The Shrimp Factory restaurant. I told him about the Tropicana and he decided to move from The Sands also. He had also made friends with the owner of the restaurant,
Alberto, who rides a custom Harley. He told Jim that the local bikers meet at his resaurant on wednesday nights for a 'bike night', so we made plans to be in attendance. Later that night we had dinner at The No Name Cafe then called it a night.
Day Five Mazatlán
Wednesday: I checked out of the Plaza Gaviotas Hotel and checked into the Tropicana. As I pulled in to the parking area I saw Jim just leaving. He had checked in already and really liked his new room. He went for a ride while I got settled into my new home for the next three days. This was a very nice hotel. I was on the fourth floor with a view of the city. For a few pesos more I could have gotten an ocean view, but I was on a tight budget. The room at The Sands was 163.00 pesos ($21.00), at the Gaviotas 234 pesos ($30.19) and 224 pesos ($28.90) at the Tropicana for a city view and 234 pesos for an ocean view.
I took the bike and went out to the 
marina and ISLA Mazatlán to take some pictures. Saw an old sailing ship called the 
Nina which takes tours around the islands. I did not find out if this was a replica or the real "Nina". [PS Found out in March that it is only a replica!]
Later that night I met Jim at The Shrimp Factory for a shrimp dinner. He had almost every thing on the menu and I had a shrimp cocktail. Our total bill came to 428 pesos ($55.23) The bikes started ariving about 7:30 pm. After about six bikes had shown up, We could not stand it any more, we had to go back to the hotel and get our bikes so we could join the lineup. In all there were thirteen motorcycles, two of us from TX., two from MO., one from Vancouver and the rest from Mazatlan. It was a mix of BMWs, Honda's and Harleys. My GoldWing was the only fulldress bike there and drew a lot of attention from the tourists walking by as well as from the locals. It was quite a show. There was a Hindu who was walking around and stroking all the bikes and saying a prayer over them, I guess he was blessing the bikes for our long journey home or just wishing he had one. About 11 pm, everyone left as the restaurant closed for the night. I took my bike back to the hotel and walked down to the Gringo Lingo for a few beers. Turned in for the night about 12:30. Good thing I had bought that blanket on the beach, as I needed it that night.
Day Six Mazatlán
Thursday: Slept in till about 10am then went down stairs and next door to the Cowtown restaurant for breakfast. They serve a good meal of eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, orange juice, coffee and the best home made bread for 28 pesos ($3.61). This became my breakfast stop for the remainder of the trip.
We decided to do some maintenance on the bikes today. I cleaned the ocean spray off my bike while Jim changed his plugs and adjusted his 
steering head.
I had been looking for the local Internet Provider while in Mazatlán, but had failed to write their address or phone number down before I left El Paso. The year old phone books did not help, and no one I talked to knew where they were. I finally found a computer store who gave me the address but I still could not find it. I guess I was too proud to take a taxi and have him drive me there. I wanted to be able to find my own way around this new city.
I went back to the hotel then walked down to the El Cid resort and sat by the 
pool for a while and did a little people watching. Did the usual walking around site-seeing and then went back to the hotel for the night.
Day Seven Mazatlán
Friday: Another good breakfast at the Cowtown to start the day.
I went for another ride along the beach and out past the ferry docks to the 
Muelle Pier and parked the bike to take some more pictures. The US Navy was in town on a training cruise from San Diego. There were three ships, frigates. One, the 
USS Reinz FFG 46, was docked at the pier while the other two were anchored in the bay on the other side of the breakwater. On the way back to the hotel, I had to take some detours due to the preparations for Carnaval 97 had closed off the beach road to vehicle traffic.
Met Jim later in the day and rode with him over to the 
bike shop where he was to get his new tire mounted. The tire was not there yet, it was still seeing the city in the back of a delivery truck. While we waited for the tire, we had a conversation with a local restaurant owner, 
Pedro, who fixed us a very good meal of stir fry vegtables and a breaded beef wrapped around some ham. After waiting about 3 hours for the tire, the bike shop owner said to go back to the hotel and he would call Jim the next morning when the tire came. We went back to the hotel and parked the bikes before going out for the evening. I went upstairs to get cleaned up. Jim went to check on his ferry reservations.
As this was to be my last night in town, I wanted to stay up late and have a good time. I went down to The Shrimp Factory to see Alberto and have a beer. Jim arrived a little later and had some more of the great shrimp and a few beers. The local police were blocking the side street to the restaurant and people were already dancing in the streets and having a great time. The music was very loud. Canaval 97 was getting under way.
I left and walked up the street to the Gringo Lingo where I wound up staying for the remainder of the evening. After about an hour, Jim came by then after about 30 minutes Alberto came in and joined us after closing up The Shrimp Factory. He had Robert (Bob) from Vancouver with him. Later we were joined by Julie and Susan, two sisters who had just moved to Mazatlán within the last two months and operated a bagle cart between the Gringo Lingo and The Shrimp Bucket. Julie left with her boyfriend to go for a motorcycle ride along the beach and see what was happening with Carnaval 97 in other parts of town. While all of this was going on the waiters had been singing and dancing directly behind my chair. When they would quit for a few minutes, a group of mariaches would take their place, it was VERY loud. Robert invited Josie a woman from Winapeg to join us. Now my lone little table had six people at it. We all had a good time listening to the music drinking and telling tall tales. Robert invited Josie to join him for a bike ride with the club on sunday to go up into the Sierras. I would have liked to stayed in town longer and gone with them. About 1:30 am, our group broke up and went their different ways. I went down to Tony'sBar and Grill on the corner to listen to a band that was playing there. On the way back to the hotel, I thought I saw Jim ride by. I went to the parking area and saw that indeed his bike was gone. I hoped he would be careful.
Day Eight: Mazatlán, MX to Benjamin Hill, MX [675 Miles. ]
Saturday Got up about 9:30 am and packed up the bike. Went down to the Cowtown and had breakfast. While I was eating, Josie and her roommate Ivy, came by and joined me. They wanted directions on how to get to the Muelle Pier. Josie had met some of the sailors and was invited out to their ship for an open house tour. I gave them the directions and they left. I finished my breakfast then went back to the hotel to check out. After checking out, I went to the parking area and gave the security guard my exit slip to get the bike out.
I made one last pass thru the Zona Dorada (Golden Zone) and went and gassed up the bike. On the way out out town I went by the pier to see if the girls had found it. They had, and were waiting for a water taxi to take them out to the ship. I stopped long enough to say goodby and told them I might see them next year.
On the road at last at 12:00 noon. Stopped outside Culican to gas up. Onward to Los Mochis, the gateway to the Copper Canyon by railroad. Got gas again then headed for Navajoa and got gas again then pulled into the Pizza Hut for a medium meat lovers pizza. Just as I was leaving, a Carnaval parade went through town.
It was staring to get dark now and a chill was in the air. I put on my sweatshirt and heavy gloves to keep out the cold wind. On the way out of town, I passed the parade and honked my horn at the girls riding the floats. Hit the toll road and headed for Ciudad Obregon. Took a wrong turn in Obregon down a one-way street. I quickly pulled off to the side of the road and turned around, found the right road and proceeded to Guaymas. I got gas again in Guaymas and decided to stop in San Carlos for the night, but missed the turnoff and was on my way to Hermosillo.
I stopped at a restaurant at a Pemex station about 40 miles south of town and got some hot coffee and a plate of burritos and warmed up a little. I had stopped earlier at one of the rest stops that are next to the toll booths and had put on my hooded sweatshirt and my fullface helmet to try to keep warm. The further north I went, the colder it got. I now planned to spend the night in Hermosillo.
As I entered town, the traffic was terrible. Everone in town was out on the road, honking their horns, waving Mexican flags and shouting "Viva Mexico". The traffic was bumper to bumper all the way thru town. Every hotel I came to had a 'No Vacancy' sign. Everything was full due to Carnaval. It was now midnight. I stopped for gas and then headed north. It was very cold, must have been down in the low 40' or mid 30's by now. I kept forgetting that this was still winter time and I was no longer at the warm beach. Only 104 more miles to Sata Ana, maybe I will find a room there. About 39 miles from Santa Ana is the little town of Benjamin Hill, there is a very small motel and a Pemex station there. I stopped in hopes of finding a vacancy. Good luck, a clean room with heat for 100 pesos ($12,90), I took it and spent an hour thawing out before going to bed at 3 am. This room with it's steel door and no windows made me think this must be what it's like to be in a prison cell. I found a radio station from Grand Junction Colorado with a rerun of the Art Bell show. I listen to him every night and had not been able get good reception from the San Diego station while in Mazatlán so I did not know Art was on Vacation. Finally got to sleep about 5 am when Art's show was over.
Day Nine: Benjamin Hill, MX to El Paso, TX [420 Miles.]
Sunday Got up and gassed up and back on the road about 9 am. Forty miles outside of Santa Ana, Hyway 2 splits off to Cananea. Since this was a section of road I had not been on yet, I took the turn off.
It is aprox. 100 miles from the junction at Hyway 15 and 2 to Agua Prieta and cross back into the United States at Douglas, AZ. I spopped in Cananea and got gas and took a picture of the copper smelter, but it did not turn out well enough to see anything. On to Agua Prieta.
Crossed into the United States at Douglas at 12:00 noon and was going to stop at the Dairy Queen and get a hamburger and milk shake, but it was closed. Stopped at a Seven-Eleven and got some water and a Snickers bar. Headed out US 80 to Lordsburg, NM 99 miles away.
Stopped at the
Geronimo Surrenders Monument and enjoyed the view of the mountians. Got gas again in Lordsburg and headed down the back streach to El Paso. Went right on through Demming without stopping. Same thing with Las Cruces. One mile from the house, my fuel light came on and I stopped for gas one last time. Home at last. It was now 5:00 pm, man was I hungry!