Well, That Was Easy!

We got up at 8:00 Thursday Morning, a little late for trying to hit the border early but everything went well anyway. We retraced our steps from the Walmart where we spent a quiet night (but with the parking lot lights in my eyes all night) back to the highway and Exit 4. We then followed the road to the truck crossing, staying in the far right lane on the USA side to avoid the barriers and sharp turns in the car lane. There was no barricade like Contessa found and we drove right through, waved on by the USA Border Inspectors who showed no interest in us at all.

We then bypassed the Mexican Customs which at that point was only inspecting vehicles taking the exit into Nogales, MX and got on the toll road heading for Hermasillo. In a couple of kilometers we came to Mexican Customs on that road but we got the green light and were waved right through. A few days ago Contessa was stopped here and questioned over the amount of booze they had on board.

After a few more kilometers we arrived at the Aduana buildings where we got our six month FMM’s and TIP for the Honda. We were first in line at Migration where we filled out the applications and showed our Passports. We then headed for the Banjercito where we paid for our FMM’s (+/-$25 each in pesos) and got the TIP for the Honda ($200 USA deposit and +/- $75 USA fee) which we paid for with a credit card (in pesos) because it is easier to get the deposit back that way. On the way back to the rig we stopped at Migration, showed our receipts and had our FMM’s and Passports stamped. We are now legal for up to six months. Easy. Most people spoke at least some English. Total time spent? About a half an hour.

We then drove on the fairly bumpy, under construction toll road to Santa Anna and Edgar and Anna’s Punta Vista RV Park where we got the only pull through with hookups. Anna is always very chatty and updated me with all her stories before taking $150 pesos ($12) for the night. She was telling me how two of her customers had their freezers gone through at the Lukeville crossing and their salmon and beef taken. Another of her customers said had been told by a “uniformed officer at the border” that they did not need FMM visas. Anna told them they did need them and were in the country illegally. The woman said, “I will believe a uniformed officer before I believe you” and they carried on. A day later they sheepishly stopped by on their way back to the crossing to get their visas after being asked for them at an inspection station near San Carlos. You have to know the rules or at least believe people when they tell you the rules! They did not even look at us at the Nogales crossing. It is hot here in Santa Anna but they have pretty good power. Good enough that we can run the A/C on low, a good thing because it is 91F outside.

It is 2:00 and we are going to walk down the road to a nice, clean little three table stand for fish tacos! Maybe a shrimp cocktail later. Life is Good!