USA

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Camp Verde, AZ, to Moab, UT

I had a really good night in Camp Verde, to my surprise, getting a solid six and a half hours of sleep and then dozing for about an hour more. I had a lazy morning and then set out around eight. It was quite cold and very, very, very, very windy.

My first stop of the day was in Flagstaff. I had initiated an INTERAC e-Transfer while I was in Camp Verde so I could make a withdrawal at a Bank of America in Flagstaff. My GPS told me that would be my only opportunity to access a BOA ATM before Moab and I needed cash for the hostel. BOA is part of the same network as Scotiabank, so no ATM fees there. By the time I arrived at the bank, the transfer was done, so I was able to complete my part on my phone and then get in line at the drive-thru machine. I felt bad for the folks behind me because my withdrawal took some time. Like the ATMs in Mexico, the machine would spit out my card and make me start over if I asked it to take out  more than I had in my account (sometimes hard to gauge because of the exchange rate).

That finally done, I took off and was pleased to get off the Interstate even if it would be slower going. Olive green hills that reminded me of home slowly turned to rich brown red and that brought the dust. The picture didn’t turn out well, but the clouds were dirt brown. Pardon my gross windshield — no windshield cleaners in the US!

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After several hours, I finally approached Monument Valley! I have wanted to see Monument Valley since November 17, 1986, at approximately 8:05 PM EST. But I was told by a few friends who have been that the tours are the worst kind of tourist trap and that I will be enormously disappointed. However, readers told me I would be able to see some of the monuments from the main highway. Visibility was poor, but I was ready to stop at pull-outs if I saw anything interesting…

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Monument Valley straddles the Arizona/Utah border.

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Wow…

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And, finally, a bit of a clearing!

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Can you see the utter morons in front of me? They flew past me at the really nice scenic pullout right behind me and then pulled over right on the road to take pictures. Please don’t be like them.

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There was still more to see. I actually have dozens more pictures!

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Happy with my taste of Monument Valley, I pushed on through the very scenic town of Mexican Hat.

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And this is why it’s called Mexican Hat, I’m sure!

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Neat cut straight through a hill:

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I climbed up to 7,000ft during my day and then started to descend to 4,000 feet, enjoying the vegetation changes as I did so, like this contrast of the red stone with the poplars. It got less windy as I started going down and a bit less chilly.

 

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Snow…

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More snow paused at a construction zone.

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Another neat rock formation.

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And my first arch! This is Wilson Arch.

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I pulled into the hostel in Moab around six and paid for a second night since I was immediately not sure I would want to spend five nights there. It’s nothing to do with the hostel — it’s a hostel. I knew what I was getting into and this appears to be one of the good ones. I’m just past the age of living a million miles from a shared bathroom and the wifi only works in the communal spaces. But my cabin is private and the bed is good. So we’ll see how my first day at the park goes.

I went out into town to get dinner. Moab appears to be along a main stretch with a few other roads jutting off of it. There are lots of restaurants. It was fun to look up addresses in my GPS because Utah has a unique addressing system based out of Salt Lake City (eg. 60N 100W Moab, UT). I had a case recently where I learned about this and so it wasn’t a complete shock last night.

For dinner, I found myself at a really good Thai restaurant eating super spicy Pad Thai (I actually requested 3 out of 5 stars!) with a cold Chinese beer. But at 24USD, I won’t be splurging like that every night!

I had an early night since I had no internet access in my cabin and didn’t want to go to the communal space to get online as I was exhausted. I also couldn’t use my phone as a hot spot because I was out of pesos and CIBC declined my purchase of more money so I could buy a data plan. I’ll try again tonight.

I had a good night’s sleep, but the morning is being trying since I can’t relax in my private space with coffee to do my emails and online stuff. Hopefully, I’ll be less cranky after a day in the park…

It’s almost seven and the communal spaces are getting busy, so I’m heading out.

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TelCel’s New Sin Frontera Plan

Reading Dean asked me about what I’m doing for cell service in the US and Mexico as he is going to be living in Mexico and wants to avoid having both a US and Mexican phone.

Enter TelCel’s brand new “Sin Frontera” plan that lets you use a phone with a TelCel SIM card in Mexico, the US, and Canada at the same rate as if you were in Mexico, as long as you’re on a roaming partner network. In the US, that’s T-Mobile. I’m not sure about in Canada, but it’s got to be one of the big ones. Right now, I’m actually on AT&T and still using up my pesos as though I was back in Mazatlán — that’s for voice, text, and data! You can also call between the three countries at the same rates. I made one call to Canada at three pesos per minute, or 0.23CAD. A long distance call with SaskTel costs me 0.35CAD… Yes, I can call Canada more cheaply from Mexico than I can call Quebec from Saskatchewan!

This plan is brand new, there isn’t much information about it yet online, and not all the TelCel employees are familiar with the details so I feel a bit like a guinea pig.

Now, how does one get onto that Sin Frontera plan?

In my case, I started with an unlocked iPhone. SaskTel gave me the phone back in February of ’14 when I switched to them from Verizon. I paid about $70 to unlock it before leaving for Mexico the first time. This means I can switch out the SIM card and use one from any carrier I want. What I’ve been doing is getting an AT&T Go plan SIM when traveling in the US, and a TelCel SIM in Mexico. That means three different numbers, two of which change frequently since I would get a new SIM for every trip. But at least I’m using the same phone. So Dean, if you love your phone, find out if you can unlock it and then you can use it anywhere.

When I got to Hermosillo last fall and went into a TelCel store, I asked for a new Amigo SIM card. Amigo is TelCel’s pay-as-you-go plan that is very popular. There, I was advised that for a few pesos more (something ridiculous like 50 pesos), my account could be set up with Sin Frontera. That’s it!

The piecemeal rates for an Amigo Sin Frontera plan are:

3 pesos, per minute/MB/text. Which is dismal if you use your phone regularly, I know, but you can get a number of plans at better rates. I’m going to check out the WiFi in Moab tonight and if it’s unacceptable, I’ll get a 3GB package for my phone so I can use it as a hot spot. That will be cheaper than getting an AT&T SIM card and data plan for my current needs. If I needed more data, then I might have considered going with the unlimited AT&T plan.

Now, this pay-as-you go plan is good for light users. I basically only use it to have data on the go so I can look up things. Yesterday, I was able to research hotels and use Gas Buddy, but I wouldn’t have started watching YouTube! It also gives me piece of mind that I can call out if I have an emergency.

If you are in Mexico full-time, then you’ll want to consider a proper monthly phone plan with much better packages. These plans can also include Sin Frontera. I was going to upgrade my iPhone when I got home, but now that I’m not spending the summer at Haven and firmly intend to move to Mexico next spring, I’m going to wait and get a better deal in Mérida.

I’m going to keep my current TelCel line active for a bit because it’ll be nice to be able to use my phone if I do any runs into Montana this summer before leaving for Europe. And I am also considering considering canceling SaskTel altogether if my TelCel SIM works on their network — but only as I’m heading out to Europe. No sense paying them $80 a month for the next nine months to keep a plan I won’t need anymore. There are lots of possibilities to consider.

The only issue with using TelCel as my main phone while still living in Canada or US is, of course, having a Mexican phone number. But if you’re primarily living in Mexico, then a phone plan that you can use at no extra charge the odd time you’re in the US or Canada makes perfect sense and is the option I will be going with.

I don’t believe that Movistar, TelCel’s competitor, has anything similar to Sin Frontera.

Dean, I have no idea if any of this made sense to you. Please drop me another comment if there’s anything else you need explained. 🙂

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Driving Through the Desert on a Bridge With No Name… Guaymas to Camp Verde, AZ

I was in driving mode today, so you get another novel… but no illustrations. I am the worst blogger on the planet. 🙂

It was a pretty good night in Guaymas. I woke up around 3:30, but managed to doze until 5:30ish. I went to the office to check out and get my key and remote control deposit back as well as receive my coupon for a complimentary breakfast. That was running late, so I went next door to Oxxo to get a coffee. By the time I came back, the breakfast room was open. For egg eaters, the breakfast was decent enough — one fried egg with toast and coffee. I asked for just toast and coffee and got three slices since I wasn’t haven an egg. It wasn’t much, but I wasn’t particularly hungry and was happy to not be leaving on an empty stomach. The coffee was okay, but not worth lingering over, so I left about a half cup.

It was 6:40ish when I finally took off. I didn’t need to get fuel just yet, so I was able to get some miles under me. I stopped at the southern end of Hermosillo to put in $400 of fuel. That would get me to the border with about a quarter tank of fuel to spare.

The roads were good, but there were a lot of “desviaciónes,” where you drive in the opposite lanes and only have one going in each direction. So it was pretty slow, albeit steady going. I know I passed my favourite “Puente sin nombre” (bridge with no name) at some point, but didn’t see the sign since I was on the wrong side of the highway. I had a stop or two by the federales where I pretty much just rolled through. I might have had a fruit stop, too, but I can’t remember. If I did, it wasn’t memorable!

I didn’t let the first part of the day lull me into complacency, knowing I had three major roadblocks ahead of me: the big military checkpoint before Santa Ana, the US border, and then the secondary inland customs checkpoint. So I had no motivation to dawdle since I really wanted to get at least as far as Phoenix tonight.

Before I knew it, I was in line for the big military checkpoint, where I was sent to secondary inspection. The officer thoroughly went through everything he could reach without taking too much out of the truck, asking we what such and such was. I didn’t have the words for “external hard drive” so I went with “thing for my computer that has pictures on it.” And I completely blanked on the word for printer and went with, “the thing that puts my computer things on paper.” That one got a laugh. The soldier was just a kid and very nice. I was there about ten minutes total.

Coming into Santa Ana, I remembered, yet again, that I forgot to pick up some powdered milk to take with me to Canada! A bag in Mexico is about 3CAD while the exactly same product is 12CAD at home! I figured Santa Ana would have a  grocery store and, sure enough, I saw a “Super Norte” as I came into town that had to be a grocery store. I missed the turnoff for it, so I circled around the block and parked on the street since the store lot was cramped. The milk was more expensive than at Ley, but only by about $6, still a substantial savings.

It was about 10:30 by this point and I was feeling peckish. I’d just happened to park behind a taco joint, so I went in and ordered just one taco as a snack. I don’t know if “tacos de burro” needs to be taken literally or not, but I’m fairly certain that I wasn’t eating beef… Whatever it was, it was yummy!

I then realised that I was out of money on my phone so I stopped in at an Oxxo to top up. You might find that odd, thinking why do that when I was right on top of the border, but I have the new “sin fronteras” plan, where I can use my phone in the US and Canada at the same rates as in Mexico. I figured that I’d test with just $100 on the phone and if it worked, then I could buy a banda ancha plan to use while in the US, saving me from having to buy a SIM card and deal with AT&T.

Next, came a fourth roadblock I hadn’t anticipated based on my experience last year: the vehicle permit return. Since I was getting cash back, I had to get a photocopy of my passport and driver’s license (on the same sheet of paper) and go to Banjercito. So I was there about a half hour. The process went smoothly and I got two crisp US $100 bills back. It was nice to get that little influx of cash that I won’t have to convert to CAD.

And then, it was time to ignore the GPS and head towards the Mariposa Road crossing rather than Noagales Centro. I had just one final toll booth for the day, the third. I haven’t done the books yet for today, but tolls were around $145, or 11.CAD. Once that last toll was paid, I was left with about $60! Wow, talk about good budgeting on my part! My last withdrawal amount was exactly right, and that’s taking into account all the unexpected splurges my last days on Isla.

The line up for the border started way back this year and moved very slowly. There were only four of twelve lanes open, and no bus or RV lanes! Those of you who follow me on Facebook were treated to my live Facebooking my wait. I waited exactly 40 minutes to finally get to a customs inspector. He asked me a couple of questions, poked through the back of the truck… and sent me on my way! That was not expected!

Once clear, it was just past 1PM. I was happy to get clear of Nogales and push north. The inland customs checkpoint was open, but the line move smoothly. I was asked if I’m an American citizen and replied Canadian, which got me wave through.

I stopped just past Tucson for a very late lunch. Channeling Tony Stark, all I wanted after my grueling time in the desert was an American cheeseburger, so I decided to try In-N-Out Burger for the first time, having heard so many good things about them. All I can say is meh. Oh, well, at least it hit the spot. I also bought fuel at just 1.899 a gallon! Wow, that’s great price even with a the exchange rate! And I got my stupid phone working on the T-Mobile network after multiple reboots. I just checked my balance and it has barely gone down despite my doing some surfing on the phone, so I know that I can definitely get a banda ancha plan to use in the US. Wow!

I then stopped at the Walmart in Tempe, hoping to find a pair of Earth Spirit sandals I like since I went clear through my pair from the spring over the winter, as expected. As luck would have it, they had both of my favourite styles of the sandals in my size! I grabbed both as well as a couple of tee-shirts.

Then, I tried a couple of motels along my route and the Motel 6 was the best deal for a ridiculous $61 if I wanted internet. I decided to push on a bit. I knew this would be my most expensive hotel night and I didn’t mind splurging, but if I was going to spend 80CAD or more, I wanted some value to my expenditure.

Well, I ended up climbing and climbing and climbing to over 4,000 feet and then descending a bit to land in Camp Verde for the night at an off chain motel (my GPS thought it was a Super 8). The attendant gave me the AAA rate so I paid close to what the Motel 6 would have charged, only I got a pool, a much nicer room, and a semblance of breakfast in the morning. Even though it was past seven by this point, I hit the pool for a few laps then soaked my kinks in the hot tub!

I was peckish by this point, so I went to the Denny’s nearly next door and it was hopping. I knew I would not get out of there quickly unless I did soup, so that’s what I ordered. I’m pretty sure they just open up a tin of store brand cheddar soup and mixed in some frozen broccoli… It really wasn’t great, but it was nourishing and cheap and I got out of there before people who had been ahead of me even got a chance to order their food!

It was a very long haul today, but I only have 600KM to do tomorrow and the hostel in Moab isn’t expecting me till about seven. I plan to leave pretty late (nine) and I have one major stop en route.

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Lunch at Mary’s and Off to the Cinema

I used to go to the movies a lot, but with the decline in film quality over the years and difficulty to get to a cinema when there is something good playing, I’ve lost the habit. The only movie I really wanted to see last winter never came to Maz, so I never got motivated to figure out Going to the Movies in Mexico. But there was a big movie coming out this fall that I wanted to see in theatres and it just happened to be opening in Mexico today: Spectre, the new Bond movie.

I figured that with the number of Mexicans who speak English I could surely find a showing of Spectre in English, possibly with Spanish subtitles. Absolutely! In fact, I had quite my pick of showtimes and locations. I chose the 2:20 show at the Gran Plaza Cinépolis. 2:20 because it was a very long movie and I didn’t want to get home too late. Gran Plaza because of its convenient location near Mega. I knew that I could walk to the store after, get some groceries, and then easily grab a cab to the embarcadero.

I left home around 11:30 this morning and did my usual walk to the Fisherman’s Monument to grab a bus. For the first time, I managed to flag one down outside an official stop! I got off deep in the Golden Zone since I wanted to grab lunch at Mary’s, a burger joint reader Sandy has recommended more than once.

I wish that I had glowing reviews for Mary’s, but it just wasn’t my thing. Sorry, Sandy. Yes, the burger was good, but last year I could grab a really good plain burger just up the road for half the price or a fancier burger at Beach Burger at the Plazuela Machado for a third of the price. I also didn’t care for the Gringo ambiance, with the English only and late ’90s’ music that I was sick of listening to 17 years ago.

Look at these prices. They’re steep even by US standards!

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I had the Texas burger, with jalapeño, cheese, BBQ sauce, onions and bacon. Beach Burger does something very similar, only with avocado instead of jalapeño. I found Mary’s burger quite salty, but I liked the mix of ingredients. The peppers weren’t spicy at all, but added some zing.

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I did appreciate that they serve Heinz ketchup!

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The bill came in both pesos and USD, so disheartening. The peso price is a better value, by a full USD.

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I would go to Mary’s again if that’s where someone wanted to meet me or if I had a guest who was craving a little slice of the States, but not on my own. I’m glad I tried it out, but it’s not the Mexico I came here for.

From Mary’s, I headed south towards Rafael Buelna, stopping to get a cold bottle of water at an Oxxo and an ice cream at Thrifty’s (in lieu of a snack at the theatre). I had no sooner turned onto Rafael Buelna when I was accosted by a gang of Mexican tourists from out of state who mistook me for a Mexican! I sent them off to Taco Loco, after they complained that they couldn’t find a taco joint with ‘real’ prices, no English on the menu, and spicy salsa. I have a feeling that my directing Mexican tourists to authentic tacos in the heart of Gringoland is going to be my favourite story of the winter!

By the time I reached the Gran Plaza, I was more than ready for air conditioning! The cinema is located in a mall, a very similar setup to what you see NOB. I had no trouble buying my ticket (saying, literally, “Double zero seven” because I had no idea how to pronounce Spectre in Spanish! One thing that surprised me is that they have assigned seating. I had to pick my seat without ever having been in their theatres, so I chose one right smack in the middle of the theatre, which wound up being row G. G is not an easy letter to pronounce in Spanish (it’s sort of like yeah, but more guttural), but I was apparently very clear. What can I say, I like a challenge! A movie ticket was just $43!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That’s 2.56USD or 3.40CAD!

I was early, so I sat with my phone in the lounge until it was close to start time. I had a glance at the food, and it was super pricy, close to NOB prices. Popcorn is ‘palomitas.’ Then, I went in. The seats were very comfy and reclined slightly. Row G was one row too close to the screen for me, so I’ll go with H next time.

Pirating warnings, commercials, and previews started promptly at 2:20 and lasted for what seemed forever. So going to the cinema in Mexico is just like going to the cinema in Canada and the US. I went to the cinema twice when I was in Scotland, and mind you this was almost 20 years ago and in very small town theatres, but if the movie started at 2:20, it started at 2:20. All the previews and whatnot were before then.

The movie was absolutely amazing! I can’t believe how bad Quantum of Solace was when Casino Royale, Skyfall, and Spectre were so good. I’m tempted to go back and give Quantum of Solace another chance now that some of its issues have been addressed…

I sometimes have difficulty with the British accent and wish I had subtitles, so I was glad to have them for this one, even if they were in Spanish! They actually helped me out a few times.

The movie finished at 5:00 and I spent a full 10 minutes wandering around the mall looking for an exit! I finally made my way back to the entrance I’d come in on, clear across the mall from the cinema, so the equivalent of walking two extra blocks from Mega. It was still light out and I headed off to the grocery store, refusing service from a pulmonía along the way.

While I prefer to shop at Soriana and Ley, each grocery store has some things the other doesn’t. Mega has the best bakery section (Raisin bread with no sugar! Pumpernickel!) and I can count on it to have hummus (thanks again, Sandy!). I got what I needed, amounting to three bags’ worth, and headed down to get a taxi.

There was a pulmonía and a regular taxi waiting out front, with the drivers sitting at a table chatting. Normally when you come out of a store laden with packages, taxi drivers will fall on you in droves, but not these guys. I said to them, “Taxi?” and they looked at each other until one finally asked me where I was going. When I told him the embarcadero, he said, “Why do you want to go there?!” That’s very unusual for my experience with Mexico. People here don’t question you and assume you know what you’re doing unless you ask for help. I was tired and retorted, “Hoping to sleep in my bed tonight, thank you very much.” He did a double take and told me that the fare would be $60, which is average for that ride, so not worth bargaining down. He didn’t help me with my door or my packages either at Mega or at the embarcadero, so I didn’t tip. Oh, and this was a real taxi again, dang!

Here’s a map of my day. The red tear drop is Mega. Pemex la Ceiba at the bottom right is across Emilio Barragán from the embarcadero. So I walked from there to Fisherman’s Monument, where I got on the bus to get to Mary’s. From Mary’s, I walked to the cinema, then back to the Mega, where I got a cab. The cab took a winding route that mostly parallels the bus route.

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I was tempted to get a couple of hot dogs for supper at the embarcadero, but I was hoping the hot dog lady would be up and running on this side so I could get them to go and put my own mustard relish on them. Turns out, she’s out of business. Dang. I did pick up some beer on the way and decided to have one with some of my bread, cheese, salami, and hummus for a quick and easy supper.

It’s been a long, full, and great day in Maz again! But I think tomorrow will be an Isla day… 🙂

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Costs For the Trip Down to Mexico

I’m glad no one asked me in a comment about how I was handling the exchange rate in the US while I was traveling down last week because I didn’t want to talk about that until I was landed in Mexico. You see, the exchange rate wasn’t an issue for me because I was traveling with way more (USD) cash than I feel comfortable traveling with… One of my clients pays me through wire transfer into a USD account. For whatever reason, I’m not allowed to access that account from outside Canada.

So I crunched some numbers and made a large withdrawal that would cover all my fuel, hotel, food, and miscellaneous costs (like sandals), and leave me enough to pay cash for my vehicle deposit so that that amount, plus a little extra, would mean that I at least had fuel money in USD cash to get me back home in the spring.

So how did I handle the exchange rate? I refused to think about it. If I had, I wouldn’t have had nearly as good a time! I always plan my budget as though USD and CAD are at par and the currency difference, at least at this time, is ‘bonus’ money. So I didn’t get my ‘bonus’ for October, but I at least didn’t have to think about how much that $20 meal (or whatever) was ‘really’ costing me!

My fuel costs to come south were:

In the US: 244.35USD (about 330CAD)

In MX: 2,000MXN (about 170CAD)

Total: 500CAD. This is exactly what it cost me to go north in the spring!

My hotel costs were:

In the US: 463.35USD/66.19USD per night (about 610CAD/87.14CAD per night)

In MX: 1,200MXN/600MXN per night (about 102CAD/51CAD per night)

Total: 712CAD or 79CAD per night

My tolls in MX were:

About 445MXN, or about 38CAD.

Total in CAD to travel south: 1,250CAD

(I don’t count in food because I have to eat regardless of where I am so I don’t separate meals out from groceries.)

Of course, if I had less of a gas guzzler, the fuel costs could be reduced substantially. But my beloved gas guzzler will not be replaced until I know whether or not I’m moving permanently to Mexico. Anyway, she pays for her gluttony by being such a comfortable and reliable ride!

A flight to Maz round trip is about the same cost, but considering the hassle to get to the airport in Regina, the lost night of sleep because of the super short layover in Calgary, not being able to bring everything I need, and the fact that I love driving and took this as being a bit of a vacation, I am super glad that I don’t make decisions based strictly on my bottom line.