MEXICO TO HUDSON BAY
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Edwin & Wendy Cutler
SB090010 Exploring the western North American continent
We left New Bern, NC June 2, 2010 to explore the North American Continent. Ten weeks later on August 14 we arrived home with 13,484 more miles on the Dodge Grand Caravan odometer. Our goal was to explore Mexico, the Western US, and Canada all the way to Churchil on the Hudson Bay
Our Dodge Grand Caravan was a dream. It ran smooth and sat us up high so we could see the country. Beneath the very comfortable bed we stored enough food, including eggs, Nido powdered milk, filtered drinking water, and a small cache of canned sardines (Ed's favorite snack.)
Our first encounter was with the Oil on the Gulf of Mexico coast. We were looking for oil slicks and found workers cleaning up with drill rigs in the distance
Somewhere out there oil is spewing up from a mile below the Gulf of Mexico. We hope they can get it capped soon.
Heading toward Mexico, we got lost in the French section of New Orleans and enjoyed the quaint shops.
We admired the French heritage. Can you see the wrought iron railings on the balconies.
Ed saw a look-alike of his father, who passed away twenty years ago.
Across the Texas plains, we saw rows of electric poles running away over the far horizon (You saw them in the movie Giant.) Our air conditioner stopped working and we drove in 90 degree weather with the windows open to get a breeze hoping to get to Laredo on the Mexican border before nightfall.
AT LAREDO TEXAS WE ENTERED MEXICO
Crossing into mainland Mexico at Loredo was an experience. Can you believe, no one on the U.S. side of the border spoke English and we had to drive around in circles to find an ATM and to get Mexican insurance on the Van.
On 9 June we crossed the Rio Grand into Mexico. At the customs house we had to promise to bring our Van back to the united states.
We left the Mexican city of Laredo and headed out across the desert. We were surprised to see old dry mountains pushed up by the pacific plate eons ago. Between the mountains there are flat desert valleys with an unlimited variety of cacti. An occasional oasis with green agriculture surprised us.
The most prevalent scenes were Cactus Parks. Flowers lovelier that orchids, blooming in the patio. We wondered how many species of cactus are there?
We get to San Miguel
Our friends in San Miguel had emailed us detailed directions (in English) telling us how to drive the 1000 miles to get to their home.
After eleven hours of driving in a country of dry desert and mountain, mixed with small industrial towns we passed through Rodriques, a town with eleven murderous speed bumps. We had a lot to learn about Mexican roads but finally found our friends Nancy and William in San Miguel. They are the couple on the right and are former ship mates on the Regal Empress around South America in 1998. We spent a glorius week with them introducing us to the town and the Mexican culture. We will visit Willy and Steve, the center couple, later in Tucson Arizona where it gets hot, like 104 degrees.
We didn't get anywhere near Juarez, Mexico where the drug lords are fighting a war.
San Miguel sits in a verdant space with many trails to walk
On Saturday we enjoyed Fools Day. The upside down umbrellas are to catch candy tossed by the girl on the truck. Nancy has an artistic eye.
We saw the beautiful work of Mexican artisans Nancy has collected to endear their lovely purple home. We visited them for a week in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
By the way, Nobody smoked in Mexico.
The house is like an art museum. William makes things from wood: bed head boards with inlaid designs, dressers and hutches with drawers and doors. Nancy choses decor, collects artisic plants and local handwork. She encourages the Mexican workers to express their artistic ability. One tossed cement at the outside chimney and shaped it until we were certain a four foot long lizard was clinging to the stucco.
Every doorway and window has an elliptical arch. This bench is composed of hundreds of small stones set in cement.
Walled haciendas in San Miguel reminded us of the protective walls we had seen in Venezuela back in 1985 which often had broken bottles, or iron rods embedded in cement along their tops to keep thieves and marauders from climbing over.
Within the protective walls we found beautiful handcrafted furnishing and wall art, earmarks of luxurious living.
Through the badlands heading for the Pacific
We left our friends in San Miguel and headed west, seeking the Pacific Ocean. We did okay if we drove on the toll roads (Cuoto) but when we ventured onto free-roads we hit speed bumps that broke our motor mounts and let the engine lean forward against the radiator - as far a we know we drove over a 1,000 miles with the engine hanging on for dear life. We kept our eyes open for these hazards, but frequently they caught us unaware. I kept my foot on the brakes as we toured the winding roads up and down mountain ridges.
In Ameca, up in the mountains, we had to have our smoking brake discs milled and the pads on all four wheels replaced. It cost 160 US$.
Parts were overheated and crystallized. Too much braking on the mountain roads.
The Mechanics kitten supervised the work and was especially concerned that the left front brake disk was properly installed.
After a night in the Hacienda Hotel: the room was immaculate and had a bed, a towel, a bar of soap, a dresser, a sink in a nice vanity, a shower & toilet, and a TV with lots of stations, a lot of the shows were originally in English and were dubbed in Spanish for the locals.
In the morning we drove cautiously. Heading west we found the roads go over one ridge of mountains after another. The passes are all of the order of 4,500 ft between higher peaks; the other side is often twelve miles downhill - be careful with the brakes. Up and down and round and round, seldom a straight stretch of more than a mile. We cross into another high valley where there are pine trees instead of cactus. 6051 ft and down we go: higher mountains ahead. Jackal, a village at 5130 feet.
If you flew over this wild country in a jet you would never get the feel of the terrain and its people that is there for you to enjoy as you drive through.
The Pacific coast in Puerto Vallarta!
Determined to get to the Pacific Ocean, we worked our way west through more bumpy free-roads. We became convinced that the best way is to take the toll Cuoto roads to avoid the shattering bumps. Then the last hill was the last hill and we cruise into Puerto Vallarta. We didn't know where to stay; down a street toward the water we discovered the Hotel Pescador. We register, park the van in a dingy basement and look out our room window at the ocean where, after a nap, we took a swim in the warm water of the Mexican Pacific which is unaffected by the cold Japan current flowing down the coast of Oregon and California and is carried westward by the tradewinds.
In the morning we visited the Puerto Vallarta Marina where sailboats stop to stock before venturing west for 30 days to the Pacific Islands. It appeared that we could sail our Spaceship into the protected harbor.
Crossing from mainland Mexico to Baja California by ferry
We headed north to catch the ferry at Mazatlan and stayed at a Best Western Hotel with a view of the beaches lining the Sea of Cortez. The next day we boarded the ferry (dotted line on the GPS) and crossed the Sea of Cortez in fifteen hours. We didn't know it then, but Mexico is like two countries with two sets of rules. Mainland Mexico has complex entry and departure rules while Baja California is much simpler, more like another U.S. state. When boarding the ferry the customs people should have taken our entry papers and checked us and our van out of mainland Mexico.
Mexico is two countries, Mainland Mexico and Baja California.
The ferry crossing is the dotted line on the chart. A lovely statue outside the main entrance of our hotel.
Views from the Best Western hotel where we stayed.
It was a long wait in the Sun. During the overnight crossing we wandered around on the ferry and slept with the locals on seats in huge coach rooms. There was a problem with the airconditing, but we slept well.
Many trucks were shipping many things from mainland Mexico to Baja California.
After we crossed, Ed looked down at the fishermen on the beach and thought of days sailing in the Caribbean.
Driving south on Baja California to Todos Santos
We headed south on Baja California where we found the roads were better than on the mainland. But the country was mountainous so the roads were still twisty and up and down. I tried to minimize using the brakes by coasting where the view ahead was unobscured.
But what can one do?
The geography of mountains, winding roads and villages was inspiring.
We stayed at a lodge on a beautiful Pacific beach.
Behind us there were mountains with mountains beyond the mountains that comprise the backbone of Baja California.
We get to Cabo San Lucas
In Baja California we drove south to fabled Cabo San Lucas. The highlight of that southern most point was a boat ride around the magnificent rocks with ten foot swells from a tropical storm far to the south that kept us gripping the gunnels for a memorable ride.
The beach was faced with dittoed hotels. We were taken out by a fearless captain.
There were several boats like the one we and our lovely crew mates went abroad in.
The Cabo San Lucas peninsula is an eroded ridge of rocks sticking out into the Pacific. The cave is jokingly advertised as an inexpensive overnight room to rent.
They say swells from storms in the eastern Pacific can be very dangerous to anchored boats in this bay.
Heading north 1000 miles to the USA
Starting north up the coast we swam in the Sea of Cortez and roasted in the deserts. We slept in the Van or stayed in a variety of motels, some for $30 US, some with and without Internet. It was kind of nice being disconnected from the busy world of war and bad news.
Our first look at the beautiful warm Sea of Cortez
Up and down, twisting mountainous roads are hard on the brakes
We found sporadic lines of lava flow; black rocks hurled up by volcanic actions. They are hard and have survived the weather for eons. We slept overnight on the beach at an RV site.
Wendy swam in the Sea of Cortez.
Sunrise looking east over the Sea of Cortez toward mainland Mexico. A resort town where fishing and diving in the Cortez Sea are popular.
Baja Donkeys enjoy the passing tourists
Pacific Coast of Baja California
We drove across the baja, from the sea of cortez to the Pacific Ocean. The Hotel Mission Santa Maria in San Quintin was built from an early Spanish mission. The appointments were artistically well done. They had 200 rooms but we were two of only ten guests. Apparently they have tour groups that charter blocks of rooms on special occasions.
The kitchen produced excellent meals for reasonable prices. The peace and quiet left us wanting to stay there for a week or two.
Beautiful Lobby. We didn't go swimming here because the waters of the Pacific are chilled by the Japan current.
Inspected by Militia
Traveling north, we were sometimes stopped by the Mexican Militia for inspection of perishable foods and whatever guards look for.
There were numerous highway improvement construction sites
NORTH INTO THE U.S. AT TECATE, MEXICO
We crossed into the U.S. at Tecate. We heard there was a two hour wait at Tijuana but there was no waiting line in Tecate. The Juarez drug wars were far away to the east.
Cousin Morton and Maxine in Laguna Beach, California. They have a knack of making us feel welcome.
We enjoyed their home and their Laguna beach.
East into the desert to find Willy and Steve who live in Tucson.
We had to decide to go north up the coast or east to Arizona.
The couple in the middle are Willy and Steve who sailed with us on the Regal Empress around South America in 1998. Later, in 2005, they joined us in Nassau and sailed through the Exuma Cays for five weeks to Georgetown in the Bahamas.
Unbelievable miles of hot, dry desert, irrigated in places by canals that carry water from the Colorado River.
It was 104 degrees in Tucson. The Van air conditioner was not working, but the humidity was so low that perspiration cooled one by evaporation.
They had evaporative air conditioning in the house and shade with no grass in their yard.
A living room that made you feel at home.
The yards were all sand with cactus and didn't need watering.
They took us to an ancient Mission
Did you notice the angel had a knee exposed?
After the Mission, we went to the Arizona-Sonora desert Museum
Cactus and stone bridge in the museum park.
These are not pigs. They are indigent to North America and are vegetarians.
We were ready to head north for the Colorado Canyon when we were fortunate to discover we had a flat tire. The mechanics discovered our engine mounts were broken and the engine was leaning forward against the radiator. When they checked the brakes they found the discs were cracked and once again we replaced the entire braking system. Bless them, they also fixed the air conditioner. As we drove north we were pleased to find our 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan ran like new!
North to Grand Canyon of the Colorado,
We took the train to Grand Canyon.
Cowboys attacked the train!
The track curved through the hills.
THE GRAND CANYON OF THE COLORADO RIVER
We were amazed at the size of the canyon.
We took digital and mental pictures hoping to remember the grandeur of the canyon cut through the mountains by the Colorado River.
We see a trail down to the Colorado River. With the binoculars we could see rapids on the river.
One could look at the view forever.
Can you see the shelf-like trails half way up the sides of those mountains? Right out of Louis LaMour.
Wupatki ruins
We stopped off at the Wupatki Monument
These were deserted mysteriouly
It was rather warm but fascinating
A dust devil in the painted desert of Nevada
The painted desert of Nevada
We looked for the upper Colorado River at Lees Ferry
And we found it.
Wading in the Colorado river
This part of the river feeds the Grand Canyon
A rock formation that looks like a train engine
Zion mountains
The most rugged and picturesque mountains.
Wading upstream in the Virgin River
Some of the mountains look like pancakes that were poured from a hot then tilted up by continental pressure. TEMP707222.jpg Deeper valleys
Other valleys were deep and peaceful.
Crossing the Nevada Basin
Buggies made me think of my Grandfather David Jones
1898 naughty poster and gas pump where we topped off out tanks
Roads across the Nevada (snow in Spanish) basin go on forever. We stayed in Hawthorne where they assured us the NUWC (Nuclear Waste Center) did not contain any nuclear material.
Almost to the Rocky Mountains, the Mono Basin National Park salt water lake has a museum that explains the lake is rain fed with no drain. It is high in the rainy season and low in dry spells. It has it own species of fish, ground rodents, and birds.
We explored Yosemite
Yosemite was so facinating we forgot to take a lot of pictures, but enjoyed a $44 breakfast at the "Club".
We saw more people than wild life.
West to the Pacific and up the Oregon Coast
Oregon Coast is foggy
Wendy thinks about paddling a kayak out into the Pacific.
Fog hangs above the headlands and swells roll in from the Pacific.
Cool camping on the Oregon Coast
Happy Wendy
Redwood forest
Our Van in the famous tree
We hope the huge trees will continue to be protected.
Tree rings in an eight foot butt.
Wendy wanted to camp in a hollow tree. The Cunningham swing bridge hidden in the forest.
Camping in Mount Rainier
Majestic Mount Rainier.
We slept in our van in the Mountain Lion campsite.
To Spokane and Missoula to see daughters
Washington, Idaho, and Montana are beautiful but varied states.
Our daughters in the far Northwest, USA
Valerie's family
Cori and Chris Eaton and her horses
We stayed with Julia and Chris Nygren in their cabin on Holland Lake.
Missoula has a strong community spirit. Our Van with camping gear on the bed.
INTO CANADA
Crossing Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada's prairie midsection
Canada has worked to utilize its rivers to produce power.
Saskatchewan and Manitoba have endless plains of agriculture.
Forest train tooted at us. The Swan Lake museum led you to believe the mining stories.
This gear dug and hoisted and ground the stuff for the gold.
Ed saw the pontoon plane and thought of "North of New York." He loved the Swan Lake town, and the Pisew Falls.
On to Gillam - the end of the road.
From Thompson (the end of paved roads) we drove a questionable dirt road into the hinterlands to get to Gillam. For 130 miles, we met one pickup coming the other way and the driver said the road was in pretty good shape. Can you image driving for 130 miles without seeing a house and only one pickup truck? In the Spring he said there are potholes that you could hide a Volkswagen in.
We saw no houses the entire 130 mile drive.
Gillam Station as far as you can get by any kind of road. At Gillam we drove to the end of the road and saw dams on the Mighty Nelson River. Canada is or will soon be 80% hydroelectric.
Sundance is on the map, but the town was abandoned 30 years ago. We didn't attempt the eroded road.
We took a tour of the Kettle Dam, and the town garbage site.
Finally we get to Churchill on Hudson Bay
We boarded the train in Gillam and slept for eleven hours to go 170 miles to Churchill on the Hudson Bay.
Eleven hours by train to Churchill
One can walk around Churchill but be ready to run from bears
The Provincial Ministers were having a meeting with the Indians
Ed was on the next morning news shaking hands with a PM
It was rainy and cold, everyone gave us rides. We wore long underwear, but meet a lot of people walking in the rain. Bed and Breakfast (beware price is per person)
Newfoundland dogs loved the weather.
We finally found a pickup truck to rent and drove onto every road we could find from end to end. We climbed a lookout tower with protective Bear bars so one would be safe inside, if one didn't starve before help arrived. Out in the hinterlands, ten or fifteen miles out of town, we felt the lure of lonely places with trees, ponds, ducks and geese.
We were fortunate to see a Polar with her two cubs. Sitting safetly in the pickup, we took pictures with Hudson Bay in the background.
Polar bears are BIG! Miles and miles of marshlands.
In our wanderings, Wendy inspected a crashed plane. At Shelly Point the guard had a slug-loaded shotgun which he said was the only thing for Polar Bears - he hoped. He said the bears could swim across the Churchill River in 15 minutes - so be ready to seek cover. We wanted see the Beluga Whales that come in to the warm waters of the Churchill River from the cold Hudson Bay, but the the wind was blowing 25 mph and the waves too high for the small tour boat. We did see some Tundra Buggies with big tires and were glad we had the pickup and could explore unapproved places.
The train ride south to Gillam was made unpleasant by a bully conductor who had a crew who were afraid to take our requests for better seating. Many passengers were insulted and annoyed. We found our Van safe and unmolested in Gillam.
We drove back down the 130 mile dirt road to Thompson and headed south toward Winnipeg. A Black bear crossed the road as we headed for Winnipeg.
We head south to get back into the United States
GPS map Winnepeg south into the United States
The first thing we noticed was a huge increase in traffic. Overnight, parked at a truck stop outside Fargo, North Dakota, we saw as many as ten trucks entering one after the other. Must have been well over 100 planning to rest overnight.
We stayed overnight at Souix Falls Iowa. Ah, Iowa, with beautiful hills and corn fields and soybeans. The North Racoon River was flooded with water standing in fields. We camped (in our van) at Ledgers State Park with deep ravines, so no fear of flooding our campsite.
We drove to Story county court house searching for my mother, Zeta Cora Jones birth certificate. She was not born in Story county. While driving around, we happen to see a Walmart store, but didn't stop. 
There was more flooding in Iowa on our way to visit daughter Elizabeth in Des Moines. On the morning news we saw pictures of the Walmart store with water half up its doors. I think we narrowly missed getting flooded.
On to Waterloo where Ed lived from 1932 to 1938.
Back in 2004, we visited Vanita and Elmer in Waterloo, Iowa and surprised them by dropping in unannounced. Vanita was named after cousin Morton's mother.
The Lafayette school where Ed started Kindergarten in 1934, and the house he lived in 1936 during the depression years. We drove a 1928 Chevy sedan from Waterloo Iowa to Maryland in 1938 to take brother Vern to John's Hopkins in Baltimore Maryland. We were towing a trailer with all our life savings and had to put water in the radiator three times on the way up on route 40, an Appalachian mountain road.
Heading home to New Bern.
We drove across Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, followed the Ohio River, and crossed into Kentucky.
Route 52 follows the Ohio River
West Virginia shows sign of poverty
Up into the clouds to cross Skyline Drive
visibility 15 feet, 20 mile traffic jamb heading west
Home, everything okay, but it had been so dry the grass didn't need cutting and there were no mosquitoes.
Daily log of our summer 2010 trip
2 June Home to So. Car. park: Sleep outside gate
3 June So. Car. St Park on Savannah R.
4 June Days Inn, Evergreen, AL
5 June thru New Orleans to RV Camp New Iberia
6 June thru Texas to park on beach on Mustang Is.
7 June Days Inn, Laredo Tx.
8 June get ready for Mexico, Hilton Hotel, Laredo, MX
9 June William and Nancy
10 June William and Nancy
11 June William and Nancy
12 June William and Nancy
13 June William and Nancy
14 June William and Nancy
15 June brakes fail AC fails Ameca, MX
16 June Hotel El Pescador, Puerto Vallarta, MX swim
17 June Best Western, Mazatlan, MX
18 June Ferry to Las Pas
19 June San Pedrito Surf Hotel, Todos Santos, Baja, MX swim
20 June drive to Cabo, El Tesoro Hotel, Cd Constitution
21 June Sammy Car trans leak, to Beach on Sea of Cortez
22 June Hotel Mission Santa Maria, Pacific O., San Quintin
23 June Hotel Mission Santa Maria ocean to cold to swim
24 June cross US border to Morton & Maxine's
25 June Morton & Maxine's
26 June Morton & Maxine's
27 June Morton & Maxine's
28 June Across desert, no AC to Steve & Willy's
29 June Fix van: motor mounts, brakes, AC
30 June Xan Xavier Church Mission
1 July Desert museum and zoo
2 July Finally get rid of Mexico car decal
3 July Phoenix
4 July Grand Canyon by car, Kaibab Campground
5 July Grand Canyon by train
6 July Kaibab CG to Wutapki, painted desert, Lees, Zion
7 July Zion to Cedar City motel
8 July pass NUWC(nuclear?)Sand&Sage Lodge,Hawthorne NV
9 July Yosemite
10 July Sonoma Co. Regional Park, Bodega Bay, CA
11 July drive thru tree to Rockerfeller Forest, CA
12 July Sea Crest Motel, Port Orford, OR
13 July Trans. problems, driving ticket, Tillicum Beach
14 July Fix trans., Chinook,WA RVpark work in cannery
15 July Columbia R. mouth to Mt Rainier, camp Mountain Lion
16 July Valerie
17 July Valerie
18 July Valerie
19 July Valerie
20 July Cori meet Chris Eaton
21 July Cori
22 July Julie Missoula
23 July Julie
24 July Julie cabin
25 July Julie cabin
26 July Julie cabin
27 July Julie Missoula
28 July Julie to GreatFalls to Ft Benton RV park, MT
29 July Enter Canada Pr. Albert NP, SK
30 July Hudson Bay City to Swan Lake to The Pas motel
31 July Moving van lot, Thompson, MA
1 Aug Gillam to sand gravel for night
2 Aug train to Churchil
3 Aug Churchill find B&B, go to dinner w/provencial gov
4 Aug Rental truck, see polar bears, weir,
5 Aug drive to fort(shotguns), polar bears, Environment Center,train to Gillam, bully conductor
6 Aug bears at dump, bear across road, big birds,
Watchorn Prov Park
7 Aug Enter USA, Flying J Fargo, ND
8 Aug Days Inn Sioux Falls, SD
9 Aug Ledges SP
10 Aug Story Co Court House to Elizabeth
11 Aug Gladys Cutler (Floyd's widow) to Waterloo & Vanita
12 Aug Morain View SP
13 Aug Chilo Lock&Dam,Ohio R to Calawaylingo SF, WV
14 Aug Home