San Carlos-Nogales VFR Direct?

A handy thing to remember if things don't go according to plan:

There is a WalMart superstore on Mariposa Road (Mexico entry and exit road). There's an RV Park in Nogales AZ but I much prefer to free camp.

Border gasoline is cheaper than interior Mexico, and if you buy Premium it is USA refined and does not have one drop of alcohol.

Glad you had a good trip and come back soon!

FYI To bring your dogs into the US, all you need is a current rabies certificate. Cats don't need anything.
Glad you had a good time.

We have often had difficulty using credit cards in Mexico. We once fueled up and then found our card would not work. We really had to dig to find enough cash to cover the bill. Since then we get cash and pay for fuel with cash. That also prevents anyone playing with our credit card number. We always try to get cash at an ATM at a bank rather than one of those stand alone money machines - a bank can fix problems if you are right there. Many more places do take credit cards these days than in the past but we never count on it. It may sound like a lot to carry cash in Mexico for those who have not been but when we talk of carrying 2 or 3 thousand pesos you have to factor the exchange rate we were getting last winter when a pesos was worth about 6 cents US - so 3,000 is about $180US - not like a huge wad of cash. We can almost always find a bank with a machine to get more cash. If we cross back to the US with extra pesos it is not a problem as we know we will be back to Mexico soon - or we know lots of people who would buy our pesos.

Always try to carry enough cash to fill up 2 tanks with gasoline, some Pemex stations can not prosses American isued cards, it all boils down to what bank they go through.

We carry Citi Bank Master and of the 2 Banamex branches close to our house in Mexico City, only one can accses my bank acount in the US in order for us to transfer money to our Banamex account, we can withdraw money whith the US card at any ATM.

navegator

Final report. We turned the lights out since we haven't seen another transient RV in weeks.

7 hours San Carlos to Nogales (including long fuel/lunch break). Wife had to drive the Saturn because the tow bar is broke. Only took 1/2 hour to clear US border! CBP guys were great! RV lane closed and got in a lane I couldn't pass. They stopped traffic, made people move and I backed out to get in the bus lane. They let wife get in behind me. They could not have been nicer. They checked the compartments but surface only. Played with the dogs (never asked for health certificates).

2.5 months in Mexico. Not one hinky feeling anywhere. Never felt that we were in the wrong place. Not one person was rude to us. Everyone was super nice to us. Transitos were very nice to us and helpful when we missed a sign and ended up in Centro of a small town...escorted us out. No one tried to cheat us. Pemex folks were super nice and never cheated us. Many would not start pumping until I saw that the pump was zero.

Amazing trip. Amazing people. Beautiful country. Lots of changes since my last trip in '09. Roads much better. Wifi and 3/4G cell everywhere. Electric in parks was very good. Not as many junk vehicles everywhere. Lots less topes. Miss it already.

One point for this coming season: tried to use a US Mastercard/Visa at probably 6 Pemex's in Sonora and only 1 would take it. Said it had to be Mexican issue. In every other state, no problem (if the network was up). Take cash in Sonora.

Thanks to you folks for the advice before and during the trip.

its a bit rough just past the toll booth in Magdelena.

Glad your trip to Alamos was good. 55-60 mph is pretty darn good just about anywhere. Looks like Mexico was good this season.

OP here: now I see why you folks were busting me for slow time estimates. We did the 600KM from Maz to Alamos yesterday in slightly under 8 hours (with 1 gas stop). Ran about 55-60 much of the way and the roads were in great shape.

This was my first west coast trip in 10 years and we could not have done that back then.

We usually do Mazatlan to San Carlos in one long day, don't really like the alternatives, either crappy so called RV parks or a long detour.

This year, due to a broken serpentine belt just south of Los Mochis we stayed at the large Pemex just south of the city. They have a large overnight lot in the back. Lots of trucks so a but noisy. There were 4 other RVs there that night.

San Carlos to Nogales in very doable in a long day. We usually go to Ajo, crossing at Sonoyta/Lukeville and arrive at Ajo about 5:00 PM. IF you go that route note that the Inmagracion at the checkpoint closes at 4:00 PM IF you need to get you passport stamped and turn in your FMT. You can do that at Sonoyta but parking in extremely limited.