PuroPelicano
Guest
I had been thinking about going to Puerto Penasco for a year or so, but don’t like long car rides. However, we had business in Phoenix last month, so I decided we should continue on and check the place out. We are in our mid 60’s and my husband is Mexican, so we know a few places in Mexico and I have been going there now for 40 years. My expectations were not very high what with COVID issues, and the fact that physically I am not very mobile. Our first decision was where we would stay; I wanted to bring my 13 year old puggle with me as she is too old and fragile for the kennel now, so my choices were cut drastically. Only one or two hotels allow dogs, and one condo complex, but that complex was too large and had too much walking distance to the sea/beach for me to manage. We did not want to get ourselves into a situation where we were isolated either, since safety is a prime concern. After much research, I ended up renting a beach townhouse called Mar y Sol at El Mirador for 4 days through VRBO. After I paid, the property manager sent me the lock box code via email and directions to the property.
We drove down on a Saturday from Phoenix in our 2010 pickup truck with Nevada plates and a tonneau top, so nobody could see what was in the bed. The dog rode in the back of the crew cab in her doggie sling, which is like a hammock which stretches across the jump seats. Traffic was light, the weather was nice, and it was a quite interesting drive. We stopped for gas at the Ajo Shell station; I want to give a shout out to them, they had clean bathrooms, groceries, ice, water, propane and a car wash.
We approached the border at about 2 pm. I had read a lot of this blog to prepare for the trip, so I was expecting a big to-do. There was only one lane open to enter Mexico, and the border agent asked where we were going and what we had in the back of the truck. My husband asked the agent if he wanted to us to open the back and he said yes. My husband got out, opened the back, the guy took a quick look (the dog’s kennel was right in front) and waved us on. I had downloaded a tourist card for myself, and had my dog’s papers, but he never saw the dog or gave us an opportunity to present any other papers. I heard there was a place (the SENESICA office) to present your dog for clearance (as there is in airports) but I didn’t see it and my husband just said, we’re driving through, let’s not ask for trouble. So the dog and I entered as undocumented aliens (husband is still a citizen of Mexico, and we have never heard of the Mexican government giving a Mexican citizen’s alien spouse a problem, so we were not too worried).
Mindful of the Sonoyta speed traps this blog has told us about, we crept along at about 23 miles per hour through town, husband driving. We came to a wide spot in the road with a stop sign, and with puppies, vegetables, and other items for sale strewn about the roadside. We pulled to a full stop at the stop sign, and a cop in a tee shirt with “POLICIA” and a star on it was standing there. He tapped on my window, and I unrolled it and chirpily said “buenos dias.” The cop asked us in English, “Do you speak Spanish?” My husband said in English, “yess, a leetle.” The cop looked a little confused and then said in Spanish, “you need to obey our laws and stop when there is a stop sign.” My husband replied in English, “I am stopped.” The cop looked a little shocked, seemingly had nothing more to say and waved us on. We laughed but though that was really pretty shady; he obviously knew we were the wrong people to pick on, because we would have wasted his entire day with bullshit and the dog and I would have been stricken with geriatric medical emergency theatrics to ruin his day. So we continued on, at a snail’s pace, and noticed a few beat up Sonoyta cop cars not-so-cleverly hidden, lying in wait for victims confused by the kilometer speed signs. I must agree with other posters here that a dash cam, even a non-working one, would be a helpful tool to keep these cops in check. But most importantly, FOLLOW THE RULES and don’t give them the opportunity. We saw them hiding on the way back, too.
We drove down on a Saturday from Phoenix in our 2010 pickup truck with Nevada plates and a tonneau top, so nobody could see what was in the bed. The dog rode in the back of the crew cab in her doggie sling, which is like a hammock which stretches across the jump seats. Traffic was light, the weather was nice, and it was a quite interesting drive. We stopped for gas at the Ajo Shell station; I want to give a shout out to them, they had clean bathrooms, groceries, ice, water, propane and a car wash.
We approached the border at about 2 pm. I had read a lot of this blog to prepare for the trip, so I was expecting a big to-do. There was only one lane open to enter Mexico, and the border agent asked where we were going and what we had in the back of the truck. My husband asked the agent if he wanted to us to open the back and he said yes. My husband got out, opened the back, the guy took a quick look (the dog’s kennel was right in front) and waved us on. I had downloaded a tourist card for myself, and had my dog’s papers, but he never saw the dog or gave us an opportunity to present any other papers. I heard there was a place (the SENESICA office) to present your dog for clearance (as there is in airports) but I didn’t see it and my husband just said, we’re driving through, let’s not ask for trouble. So the dog and I entered as undocumented aliens (husband is still a citizen of Mexico, and we have never heard of the Mexican government giving a Mexican citizen’s alien spouse a problem, so we were not too worried).
Mindful of the Sonoyta speed traps this blog has told us about, we crept along at about 23 miles per hour through town, husband driving. We came to a wide spot in the road with a stop sign, and with puppies, vegetables, and other items for sale strewn about the roadside. We pulled to a full stop at the stop sign, and a cop in a tee shirt with “POLICIA” and a star on it was standing there. He tapped on my window, and I unrolled it and chirpily said “buenos dias.” The cop asked us in English, “Do you speak Spanish?” My husband said in English, “yess, a leetle.” The cop looked a little confused and then said in Spanish, “you need to obey our laws and stop when there is a stop sign.” My husband replied in English, “I am stopped.” The cop looked a little shocked, seemingly had nothing more to say and waved us on. We laughed but though that was really pretty shady; he obviously knew we were the wrong people to pick on, because we would have wasted his entire day with bullshit and the dog and I would have been stricken with geriatric medical emergency theatrics to ruin his day. So we continued on, at a snail’s pace, and noticed a few beat up Sonoyta cop cars not-so-cleverly hidden, lying in wait for victims confused by the kilometer speed signs. I must agree with other posters here that a dash cam, even a non-working one, would be a helpful tool to keep these cops in check. But most importantly, FOLLOW THE RULES and don’t give them the opportunity. We saw them hiding on the way back, too.
