The South Riding RV Travels

505

02nd May 2009 - El Fuerte to Culiacan, Sinaloa, México Sinaloa

The campsite at Hotel Buganvillas only had electric but that was all we needed while we were away. It was more like a motel than a hotel with all the rooms opening onto the outside. It looked very attractive lit up at night. But it was still empty - again, no tourists.
No RVers either so we had the place to ourselves. The shade was useful in the midday sun (and the morning and evening sun!)
But we were moving on and heading south. Back to the main Mex 15 (but bypassing one of the tollbooths). The central reservation looked quite attractive planted with agave.
Then we realised that there were fields and fields of it too. It is quite a major crop since that is what they make tequila from.
We are starting to see more palms too. A sign that we are now below the Tropic of Cancer (but we won't get to the equator).
There are other trees planted in the central reservation although we're not sure what these are. However they are of sufficient worth for them to be regularly watered. They use a flood irrigation system and fill the hollow in which they are planted with water.
Mexico is a very religious country and above every tiny town there is usually a statue of the Madonna looking out over the town.
We almost missed this statue but you can do wonderful things with a computer. It looks a bit like the real life ploughing with horses we saw on the way back from Copper Canyon.
But we are back into serious farming country and the harvest is in full swing. I think the yellow machines here are McCormick, and they are harvesting corn (maize).
But green is definitely John Deere. Getting stuck behind one of these behemoths certainly slows you down. Fortunately they are rarely travelling far on the roads.
These oddly shaped towers might look like brick kilns  but they usually are found in the grounds of modern grain storage plants and apparently were used for corn. Either way I don't think they were still in use.
Although there are millions of cars in Mexico, many people still travel by bus. Waiting for the bus here requires shade and this neat design is commonplace in this state. The bus is very typical too.
Also common are ex school buses although they usually give them a coat of paint. Maybe this was a 'new to them' one.
Yes well!!! We've seen a few of these on our travels over the years but this is in one of the less likely places. It is actually built on top of a new motel at a place I can't even remember the name of, but it was some small town on Mex 15 approaching Culiacan. Mexico appears to be investing heavily in new tourist facilities and we have seen some weird and wonderful designs along the way. We were travelling on the 15 free rather than the toll road because the tolls on this section are very high. There are notices on the free road that this is not a high speed route. They are not joking!