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jerezano

Jul 2, 2010, 8:35 AM

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Trip North from Zacatecas city to McAllen-Harlingen, TX

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Trip Zacatecas to McAllen -Harlingen TX, 27 June 2010

Hello all,

First of all the trip was without incident of any kind. No bandits. No unathorized stops. No traffic problems. Easy crossing in 5 minutes.

We left Jerez, Zacatecas (a small city some 30 or 40 miles SW of Zacatecas city at 7:00 AM as usual on Sunday 27 of June. New 4 lane divided highway most of way to Zacatecas city intersection where we arrived 35 minutes later. Then on to Morelos to the Saltillo intersection where we picked up new 4 lane divided highway again all the way to some 20 minutes (at 68 mph cruise control speed) south of Concepción de Oro. By the end of the year it will be all way to CdeO. Just south of CdeO at the military base there is a permanent military checkpoint going North.

From CdeO to the Coahuila frontier (another military checkpoint) 2 lane federal highway but in good condition. At the Coahuila frontier the road changed to 2 wide lanes with wide shoulders (which the state of Coahuila has opted to install rather than 4 lane divided) all the way into Saltillo.

The Periférico LEcheverría around Saltillo is still under construction and we encountered a tedious and confusing but well-marked detour. Then the new cuota ($34p) to the Monterrey periférico ($222p) to the Monterrey-Cadereytra cuota ($38p) and then to the Cadereytra-Reynosa cuota ($192?p). Be careful at the Benito Juarez intersection to drop to 50 km per hour and then 30 kmph at the exit. Benito Juarez cops like to collect mordida there. Also at Cadereytra where the cops use VW bugs.

The C-R cuota is 4 lane divided highway all the way into Reynosa.

Just as you enter Reynosa a little after you pass the exit to Matamoros you will see a small green sign to the new Anzalduas International Bridge to the right and a rather sharp exit going East which eventually curves around to go West to the Anzalduas Bridge to Mission Tx. ($28p) . Limited access, well constructed, new highway and you reach the bridge in 10 minutes, where we found no line and crossed in 5 minutes. Then back to McAllen via Interstate 83 (10 minutes) and on to Harlingen. We arrived in Harlingen at aqbout 3:30 PM for a total distance of about 560 miles and a time of less than 9 hours. This included a 30 minute breakfast stop at Villa de Cos truck stop about an hour and a quarter North of Zacatecas city.

I can no longer recommend the Reynosa-Hidalgo entrance to McAllen which has 14 immigration lanes but usually an hour or so wait in the hot sun to get to the agent.

Despite all the reports of violence in Cadereytra and Reynosa and adjacent areas we had a peaceful and rather boring trip.

Hasta luego, jerezano