ACROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE

Yesterday was our longest driving day ever: 365 miles from San Carlos, Sonora, MX to Bisbee, Arizona, USA, 7 hours and 26 minutes of driving. It was planned - we left San Carlos very early (for us) and kept the pedal to the metal. We wanted to cross the border no later than 2 pm, believing that the crowd would be smaller.

We got a huge surprise at the border. Last year, at this same crossing, three of the six lanes held northbound traffic (very heavy), and the other three lanes held southbound traffic (very light). At that time, we drove northbound in a southbound traffic lane to maneuver past the crush of trucks waiting to cross the border. It was nerve-racking, and neither of us looked forward to a repeat.

Big change this year: the southbound lane had been changed to northbound, for autos (which, amazingly, includes us, regardless of size, since we are not a commercial vehicle). For you readers still in Mexico, you can see this lane in the photo - it is the one we are in. We cruised on down the big hill to the border station, staying the in the far left lane the entire time. From the time we hit the end of the line until the time the agricultural inspector exited the motorhome and we were on our way was barely 30 minutes. Fantastic! I'm not sure whether it is their new setup, or that fact that we hit the border at 1 pm (opposed to 4:30 pm last year), but it was SO MUCH easier.

We took Hwy 82 out of Nogales, through Patagonia (were we stopped for lunch at the Home Plate Restaurant) , hung a right through Sierra Vista, and were in our site in at Queen Mine RV Park in Bisbee by late afternoon. Our friends Jan and Barry Kessler are here, and made us a delicious South Beach dinner. We've got the phones turned back on, one phone call got the TV satellite working, and the computer/internet aircard is running... yes, we are back in the US of A.