May 5, Safford, AZ to Agua Prieta, Mexico - 184 Miles

The Short Arizona Ride, and

"The Day from Hell in Crossing the Mexico Border"

We started out the day planning to ride from Safford, AZ, to Douglas, AZ, where there is a border crossing between the U.S. and Mexico, and then on down the western part of Mexico to Hermosillo Mexico.  It was to be a medium length day, 340 miles, and take into account getting the proper permit paperwork to get ourselves and the motorcycles into Mexico.  Deane had done the permit routine a year ago at Juarez, Mexico, and it took about an hour.

So, the ride from Safford to Douglas, AZ was pleasant, riding in the upper part of the Sonoran Desert.  Lots of dry, rugged mountains at first, giving onto a very broad plain and then onto surprising large sprinkler-irrigated fields in lower Arizona.  All in all, very pleasant.

We had lunch in Douglas, and then went across the border.  Crossing the border here dumps you in Agua Prieta, Mexico, and this town seems to have no organization of streets or directions.  After a little searching, we did stop and exchange Dollars to Pesos.  Then, because we understood that the general set-up of the Mexico border authorities was to have their office a few miles inland, we started to ride south on the highway to Hermosillo, anticipating doing the permit work.  After we rode about 20 miles, we found that while they were building a new building for this, the old building was the proper place for the permits, and it was back in town, right at the border crossing.  So, 20 miles back to that office.

That was the start of "The Day from Hell in Crossing the Mexico Border".

Alex and I had gone to the Mexican Consulate in Albuquerque to get the first piece of paper permit filled out, and that started things all right.  Then we stood in  line for an hour waiting for the one key border official on duty, only to find that we had to go down the block and pay a $21 tourist entry fee to a Mexican bank before any more paper work could be done.  A trip to the hole-in-the wall bank with one surly employee took care of the entry fee and the first stamp on the entry paper.  Then back to stand in line for another hour or more while the one key official served other people, with a complex and time-consuming process which only he could do. 

He searched for any Mexican record items on Alex first, and got Alex cleared.  Then, when he searched for any record items on Deane, he found that Deane had taken a different motorcycle (his ST1100) into Mexico last year, which was true, but his computer information did not show that Deane had taken the motorcycle OUT of Mexico.  BIG problem !!! - Can't let Deane into Mexico on a different motorcycle until the first one can be declared as coming OUT of Mexico!  AND, the proof must the Mexican border-issued receipt for going out of the country last year!

They didn't explain, but we found out later that there are people who take motorcycles, dune-buggies, water craft, etc. across the border legally, but then sell them on the black market - so they never show up as going out of Mexico. 

Well, yes, Deane did get a receipt, at the time that a BORDER OFFICIAL took the permit back for each of the 5 motorcycles in the group last year, upon leaving.  The Border Official's job was to get this entered into the computer, and clear all bikes.  Clearly, he did not do it.  But, that wasn't good enough. - It was Deane's responsibility to prove, a year later, by the receipt he did not have with him on that day, that the bike cleared Mexico!

Well, the upshot of all this was that it took seven and one-half hours to get Deane cleared to take his Gold Wing into the interior of Mexico !!!

Phone calls to Diane, and her FAX's of documents, including registration back in New Mexico, of the previous motorcycle, didn't do the trick (after hours of waiting, naturally).  Then, with Alex's negotiating with them, they almost let me in, but told us that I had to have a different set of identification, rather than my passport I had used up to this time.  (I didn't have my birth certificate, and who carries their Voter Registration Card?)  

So, they sent us to find a Notary Public on the U.S. side, Douglas, to have him notarize a statement of who I was, for them to use.  What they really wanted was some piece of paper for their records, but which would not pull up the suspect motorcycle record.  Then, they would be covered by paper, and have complied with their procedures.  (Oh Yes, the problem will still be there the next time Deane wants to go into Mexico!!)

In the end, we satisfied them, but we were exhausted after seven and one half hours of running and waiting.

Having missed our possibility to ride on to Hermosillo, a good dinner at a good Agua Prieta motel and restaurant, along with a couple of good Mexican DosXX beers, mellowed us to the point of planning the next day's recovery.  We would have to skip Hermosillo, and try to catch up with our schedule at the next planned stop, Creel, Mexico.

So, we ended the day with the new plan.

Back to Mexico Homepage

Back to Trip Index

Next day