On down the road to Laredo we made our way to the Casa Blanc International State Park in Laredo, Texas.  Made camp and waited for Jean, Jason and Hans & Nellie to arrive.  Relaxing and catching up on chores, some fishing without success and soon the others arrived.  Bright and early Monday morning six VW buses headed out of the park into Laredo traffic and made our way to the boarder crossing led by Jan who had done this before.  After much paper work and confusion due to lack of Spanish except for Jean & Nellie we got our papers in order and headed into Mexico !  Now we are on our way to Zacetecas !  Winding our way through the crazy traffic of Nueveo Laredo, trying to keep the six buses together was a chore.  We finally made our way out on to the open road to Monterrey.  We were all feeling quite amazed that after a year or more of planning we were here in Mexico and all’s well.  Soon we pass through Monterrey on the Quota Perifico at the toll of $11 for each van and make our way to Saltillo by the end of the day.  On the outskirts of Saltillo we find a Pemex and settle in for the night.  Jean has a coolant hose leaking but that’s soon fixed and we then crawl into our respective campers and sleep to the sound of passing trains growing and whistling their way up the mountain every 15 minutes !  Leaving our camp in the Pemex this morning where the night was cold and the Propex heaters were working again, we began the climb up the mountain stopping for pictures and a false overheating problem on Jason’s 1.9 engined Van.  Winding our way through the Sierra Madres Mountain elevations reaching some 8900 feet entering Zacatecas was a chore for all except Ben & Sylvie and Hans & Nellie having Subie powered vans, Hans especially with a Subie six !  Excitement was building as we neared Zacetecas and were getting waves from the peoples along side the road in the villages we passed through.  All in all it was quite the experience.  After arriving, meeting Patricia and Mark the folks having the engine installed, getting set up in camping mode in the parking lot of the Hoteles del Bosque overlooking the central town of Zacetecas and the Teleferica, a cable car crossing over the city from the Hotel to a mountain top across the way, we all did some Internet and other chores the off to town for diner in a wonderful Mexican restaurant with our guides Patricia and Mark, Thanks so much for that, it was amazing.  After diner some of us went on a walking tour of ‘el Centro and what a sight, pics to follow soon, so come back and have a LOOK !  For now, it’s late and I’m off to bed.  Tomorrow we will explore Zacetecas and then leave for Zamora on Thursday morning.  One other bus, Jason, may join us.  The others will stay here until the engine has been installed and working then they will catch up to us in Zamora.

Adios,

Frank, Rita & Hunter

Posted on December 5th, 2007 by FrankandRita
Filed under: Rita and Frank Condelli