Passing the Weekend in a Border Town

Saturday morning we left Tucson and headed south again to Nogales. We planned to pick up a few things there and then cross the border into Mexico, but it turned out not to be. The work that was done in Tucson may have helped but it hasn't completely solved the problem. Mohita is still stalling and refusing to start when she's overheated. We couldn't get her started after we stopped to buy water. So Harry's tracked down another mechanic here in Nogales to see if we can sort this out. It may be something as simple as a malfunctioning choke but we need to be confident that we won't get stranded on a narrow Mexican road in a dangerous spot.

We have an appointment with the mechanics for Monday morning (a ocho en punto)...and until then we're here in Nogales. We checked into the Motel 6 to clean up, do laundry, and sleep in a real bed for a change while we wait. So here we are in a border town, just about as far south as we can be in the west without being in Mexico. We can see the hills across the border and there are signs of Mexican life everywhere. Lots of Mexican restaurants and signs in Spanish. Rattletrap buses run up and down the main street with white letters painted on the front windshield for “Walmart” and “Ross” stores. Our guess is that these buses pick up people who walk across the border and ferry them to the big American stores to do their shopping. We see lots of cars and trucks with plates from Sonora and Oaxaca and Spanish is spoken everywhere.

It's a big contrast from the little town of Tubac, about 40 miles north, where there are architect designed homes, upscale coffee shops, furniture stores and art galleries. (I don't need to tell you which photo is which, do I?) We thought we'd be able to find a coffee shop with wireless internet here but there seems to be nothing of the sort. This morning we walked all the way into town and the only suggestion people had about internet access was the library—which turned to be closed. Finally, a fellow told us that if you stand outside the Motel Americana you can get wireless in their parking lot. So that's how this is being sent.