Mexico Trip 2: Copper Canyon and Baja California
Heading Home
Photos heading back from Copper Canyon:
Day 15
Last year David traveled to a corn
and soybean farm in
Iowa to see how modern technology was used in tilling, planting,
fertilizing, and harvesting on high-tech farms. He found this man planting
from the small bucket using his horse an interesting contrast.
While heading through the mountains
we came across this wreck. Thankfully the driver was okay; he said his
suspension had given way.
Not a hundred yards past the burning truck
Richard's rear tire went flat from a nail. We replaced the tube while the
truck's tires burned behind us.
We wound our way out of the moutains
and down to Yecora for the night
Day 16
The view heading towards Hermosillo.
Our lunch stop in Tecoripa.
We were in the flatlands now, and
making better time.
It was Saturday night, and Richard
wanted to watch the Warriors playoff game. We found a sports bar, then the
nearest hotel, the Hotel Lucerna, which turned out to be a very nice place.
Day 17
Richard chatting up some young ladies
in the parking lot as we prepare to leave Hermosillo.
We wanted to drive up the coast, but
no maps showed a road there. David did not like that answer, and kept looking
for some indication of a road. He eventually found this article in Spanish saying that a new road,
called La Costera Sonora, had actually been built, so we decided to take our chances.
Luckily, the road did exist, and was mostly very good.
A section of the road had been
washed away, presumably by a flood.
Views of the desert from the road.
As we approched our destination,
Puerto Libertad, the ground became very sandy.
Eventually we came within sight of
the Sea of Cortez.
Arriving in Puerto Libertad.
The end of the road in town,
overlooking a wide bay.
We had been told in Hermosillo that there were no hotels in Puerto Libertad. Thankfully, it wasn't true.
The bikes parked in back, next to our rooms.
Day 18
We had breakfast in an open-air restaurant where the menu was recited by the owner.
Back on the road northwest.
Much of the road followed the sea.
The road, which was essentially empty (because it is not on any maps and therefore is not traveled), had nice picnic area rest stops.
As we got further north we began to see crops instead of just desert.
A late lunch in Puerto Penasco, our stop for the night.
We had been fighting wind for several days (and would continue to do so for the rest of the trip). The seas were choppy from the wind.
We stayed in a hotel built in the shell of
the oldest permanent building in Puerto Penasco; in 1927 it was called the
Marine Club, and was supposedly a hangout of Al Capone during prohibition.
Our shared patio at the hotel.
Dinner at sunset.
The sunset.
A view of the bay at dusk.
Catching up on email in the hotel sitting room.
Day 19
On our last day on the bikes we continued north.
The winds continued to blow, often
blowing sand over the road.
We came to a surprise military inspection checkpoint. We never learned what they were looking for, but we didn't have any.
A sign pointing towards the USA.
At the U.S. border crossing.
We reached Dave & Linda's casita in Yuma as dusk was falling. We loaded up the bikes and drove into California. The next day we were home.