A month to the mainland

Whenever people asked us about our route plans for this trip, we always started by saying, “We’re going to drive down Baja to La Paz and then take the ferry over to Mazatlán.” That was as far as we had planned. We didn’t know how long it would take us or where we would go from Mazatlán, but now we know.

I’d been looking forward to the ferry ride forever, since I’m a big transportation geek and I love all forms of transportation, from feet to ferry. We’d been concerned about taking Milo on the ferry, though, because of some bad things I read about taking dogs on the passenger line, Baja Ferry. I read that the dogs are caged and not given food or water and put next to refrigerator trucks that run their engines the whole 18-hour ride. But who could do that to this little guy?

We heard that we could just sleep in our car with our dog if we take the TMC cargo ferry instead. I got even more excited about this, since one of my many silly dreams has been to take a cargo ship across the Atlantic. This is as close as I’ll get for now.

I loved the ferry. It is mostly used by truckers and goes from La Paz to Mazatlán four days a week. It ended up being an all-day affair for us, getting the permits and getting on board and getting loaded. They told us that it was full, but that since we were small, they could probably squeeze us in. I was fascinated by the whole loading process, maneuvering all the big trucks. They did indeed squeeze us in, among all the big boys.

It took Milo a little while to get his sea legs. He could get up the steep, open steps that led from the deck to deck, but not down, so we had to carry him down.

This was definitely not a passenger-oriented ferry. There was no safety explanation, no directions, just a pair of meal tickets and off we went. I was surprised at how many families there were on board, and even a handful of guys who walked on without a vehicle at all, just their backpacks. A lot of people slept on the open deck at night.

I was surprised to like Mazatlán so much, especially coming after a long ride, but I loved it. There’s a bustling old-timey downtown, and the buildings are all painted in beautiful colors. We scored a cheap rooftop room for the night so the boys could run around and play.

In the morning, we took a longer-than-we-thought detour to Teacapán, where we happened into a big municipal event and I ate a gigantic plate of pretty much raw shrimp. I didn’t get sick but I don’t think I’ll be eating shrimp for a long time. I love how so many people wear cowboy hats here.

After leaving Teacapán and the state of Sinaloa, we spent the night in Tepic, the inland capital of the state of Nayarit. It was cooler there, climate-wise. Coming from Baja, the mainland looks so green and lush that it feels like we’re in a rain forest.

Late yesterday afternoon we booked it from Punta de Mita, where we met up with some friends to hand off some car parts, through Puerto Vallarta and south on the long and winding road to Barra de Navidad.

We’ve scored an awesome house here for a few days. We’ve been moving pretty fast for the past few months, especially compared with some of the friends we’ve made on the road–but it doesn’t really feel like it. Still, it feels good to settle into a place–intentionally. The last time we stayed in a place for 5 days (La Paz) wasn’t really of our doing.

In the interest of keeping this short, I’m posting a dozen more photos from the past week on my neglected website, limpire.

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