Calgary to Mexico

Bloganuary 2024 Day 13 Prompt – Think back on your most memorable road trip.

2023 was a year of road trips. Here’s a little taste of the first one:

On February 19, 2023 we left Calgary and headed south. We had no plans other than to get somewhere warm before the forecasted winter storm hit. 

We spent the first night in Cascade, Montana, free camping at the Lions Park Campground and woke up to about 12 inches of wet snow. We continued south to Idaho with brief stops at the Clark Canyon Reservoir, Craters of Moon, Arco and Jerome, where we parked in the Walmart parking lot for the night.

Twin Falls was next and after a short chilly stroll along the ravine we started toward Utah. This is where it got interesting.

The storm caught us, or we caught it. A three hour delay near Tremonton due to an accident on Interstate 84 put us into Salt Lake City right at rush hour during a winter storm warning.

The blowing snow and sleet greatly reduced visibility and the passenger side windshield wiper gave up. The drivers side wiper quickly followed. Luckily we were at an off-ramp and were able to leave the highway. After pulling into gas station we discovered the bushings on both wipers had snapped. A quick Google search showed that there was an O’Rielly Auto Parts a few blocks away and they had the part in stock. We fixed the wipers in the O’Rielly parking lot, it was absolutely freezing.

It still wasn’t safe to be driving so on a recommendation from the O’Rielly clerk we drove a little further along I-15 to Sandy, a city within the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, and ‘camped’ in a mall parking lot. We woke to knee high snow and I was expecting that we’d be stuck until the snow ploughs cleared the parking lot, but the van handled it like a champ and we were once again on our way south.

A few random cold weather photos:

The next stop was Mesquite. We stayed in the Virgin River Casino parking lot for free and won $240.00 playing video poker.

Random photos of Twin Falls, Lake Mead, the Hoover Dam, Kingman, Oatman and Laughlin/Bullhead City. In Laughlin we stayed right on the river at Davis Camp for only $20.00 per night. It is gorgeous, peaceful and quiet.

By February 27th we were in Lake Havasu and camped at the state park, our spot was right on the beachfront. Lake Havasu is absolutely beautiful and we would have stayed longer but the campground was fully booked for a Bluegrass Music Festival and a boat show. We’ll stay longer next time.

We continued south with absolutely no plan, camping for free in the desert and using our solar water bags to shower – Quartzite, Yuma, Mittry Lake.

On March 5 we found Senator Wash – wow!!! We drove into the desert and camped on a ridge overlooking the water. There was no one else around, it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves, and it only cost $15.00.

The next day we went all the way to the Mexican border. We parked at the border crossing ($6.00 to park all day), and walked into Los Algodones, no one asked for our passports or Zoeys paperwork. We had a delicious lunch and wandered around the town for a couple of hours. Although it was quick and easy to enter Mexico, coming back into the USA was a different story. The line-up took over 2 hours and it was hot! We had to show our passports but once again, no one was interested in Zoeys paperwork.

A few more random photos: Senator Wash, Mittry Lake, Lake Havasu State Park. The three photos along the bottom are Los Algodones, you can see that part of the border crossing line up is covered but further back you are standing in the blazing hot sun. There are some benches and if someone needed to sit down their place in line was honoured.

We finally pulled the golf clubs out of the van when we reached the Cocopah RV and Golf Resort. A golf course, outdoor pool and an off-leash area for the pup – what more could we need?

But we hadn’t quite finished going south…next stop Ajo to buy the mandatory vehicle insurance to take the van to Mexico, then an overnight at Gunsite Wash. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) often puts time limits on how long folks can stay in one spot, Gunsite Wash has a limit of 14 days, however some of the rigs looked like they had taken root.

The Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is on the way to the Mexican border crossing and is one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever seen, it’s definitely on our list to re-visit.

March 11 we crossed into Mexico via Lukeville. The border crossing was quick and easy, and once again no one wanted to see Zoeys paperwork. 

Our final stop on this trip was Puerto Penasco AKA Rocky Point AKA Arizona Beach. We had purchased enough vehicle insurance for one week, however we liked Penasco so much we ended up staying for almost three weeks. Our campsite was pretty much on the beach and the town centre was within easy walking distance so the van stayed parked the whole time. We bought 24 hours of vehicle insurance the day before leaving, just enough to have coverage while driving out of Mexico. 

The beach is miles and miles of white sand with very little development compared to places like Puerto Vallarta, Nuevo Vallarta, Cancun or Playa Carmen. If you walk far enough…about 7 kilometers from our campground, you’ll reach Wrecked on the Reef, a beachfront restaurant with an RV park, the food is good and the drinks are cold. In 2013 work was started to build a departure and arrival port for cruise ships into the Sea of Cortez, the result so far is a massive ‘pier’ built of concrete blocks. It’s used now by fishermen and snorkelers and is still unfinished.

A little further along the coast is Bahia La Choya AKA Cholla Bay, a pretty town with some unique houses and excellent views from the higher points.

Before leaving the Penasco area we took a side trip to one of the oyster farms – El Barco Ostionera – we sat outside and ate cooked oysters off the shell. They were delicious!

Random photos of Penasco, La Choya and Campo La Salina (the salt flats just outside Puerto Penasco).

We left Mexico on March 28th and arrived back in Calgary on April 11. 

There are so many photos, memories and stories from this road trip, far too many for just one blog post so it looks like I’ll have to do one, or two, or three, more.

For those of you who are interested the van is a 93 Road Trek Popular 190 on a Dodge chassis. There is a flushing toilet and running water, a fridge, propane cooktop with two burners, a furnace and an air-conditioner. We have a microwave but use it for storage. There is no running hot water or shower. We removed the two passengers seats and built Zoey her own space behind the driver, she wears her harness and is clicked into the seatbelt when we are driving.