Earl L. wrote:
Mike,
Well, I got to feeling a little adventurous this weekend and went
to Rocky Point. I took I-8 from SD to Yuma, crossed in San Luis
and took MR2 over to Sonoita and then south from there. I still
can't decide which route is better. The MR2 route was about
110-120 miles shorter than the Yuma-Gila Bend-Ajo-Sonoita run
(which I took on the return trip). The Mexican road was in fairly
good condition. I was able to go 50-60 mph almost the entire way.
There were a couple of sections of road that were in rough shape
(had to slow down to 40).
The only thing that really slowed me down were the checkpoints. There was a check point just outside of San Luis RC where I was asked if I had any fruit. The next checkpoint was a military checkpoint about 15 miles past the first. There, some army guys who didn't speak any English holding machine guns, stopped us and inspected the vehicle (presumably for firearms). About 20 miles farther down the road, we ran into another military checkpoint. We didn't actually have to stop, but we did end up slowing down almost to a stop.
Most of MR2 was in good enough shape for driving fast. It seems to be mostly a commercial (trucking) route. I will say that the truck traffic we encountered was much more courteous than I would have expected. The highway is one lane in each direction with no shoulder and a 5-10 foot drop on either side of the road. Whenever we came up close on a truck, the trucker would signal with his left turn signal when it was clear to pass. Then, when I passed, the truckers would always slow down so I had more than enough room to get back on the right side of the road. It was very different from the lack of courtesy you usually find on the American side.
All in all, it took about 2.5 hours to go from San Luis to Sonoita (30 minutes of which was spent getting through the small town of San Luis---lots of traffic lights). The road is not very scenic. Unfortunately, there is a substantial amount of litter on the roadside almost the entire way. Facilities are sparse and there are only a couple rest areas (just outhouses, really) along the entire drive.
In contrast, the road from Sonoita to Gila Bend was of almost exactly the same quality of MR2 (which isn't to say that MR2 was bad). It did take me about an hour longer to get to Yuma by that route however, because MR2 was mostly flat so there were many opportunities to pass slower vehicles, while the Sonoita-Gila Bend route was was hilly and curvy in some spots. Sometimes, I wouldn't get an opportunity to pass for several miles which really slowed it down.
In summary, the road on the American side definitely gets the edge in quality. However, I think MR2 is shorter and faster (despite the checkpoints and inferior quality). I would throw in a caveat though... if you don't like having machine guns pointed at you and people poking through all your luggage and asking you questions in Spanish---you should stay on the American side as long as possible. I hope this helps out with your travel guide. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.
Thanks,
Earl
PS...Rocky Point was great! Pretty darn
hot though. But the water
was absolutely spectacular where I stayed!
