This turned out to be 12 boxes and about 400 lb. of Zincs, varnish and other assorted things.
The first day I made it all the way to Nogales, Arizona, just accross from the Mexican border. I stayed in a cheap hotel next to a Mexican auto insurance office, where I got my policy.
The next morning I crossed the border and did the usual stop at Km. 21 where I got my car import permit and tourist visa. For some reason I failed to declare the US $3000.oo worth of parts I had aboard. DUH!!!
Mexico has great toll roads. Almost as good as the California "freeways". There are just a lot of toll booths along the way, but it's a lot better than taking the back roads through every little town. After a another day of driving ( you don;t want to drive at night, as cattle can wander onto the highways) I stopped in Los Moiches for the night.
Bright and early next day I set off again heading south only to be pulled over at another toll booth by the local "revenue agents" or customs officials. They happened to see all the boxes in my car and began to tear everything open for a look. They found the reciept for Rick's supplies and I had no proper import permit for all that stuff. NOTE: I DO have an import permit (for 10 years) for misc. stuff for MY boat, but NOT for as much as I was carrying. After they suggested I return to Nogales, Mx to obtain the proper permit, we agreed that 1300 Peso's would smooth the way south for me if I paid them directly.
SO, I paid the bite and took off. Bad news was I paid them almost all the Peso's I had on hand and I had several more toll booth's to cross before Mazatlan.
I scrounged every peso coin I had in the car till I ran out. Then switched to US dollars (which they are NOT supposed to accept) to finish my trip south. It was a bit stressful, but I made it that afternoon...WHEW!!
I don;t have any pictures of my drive south and I'm waiting for some folks to Email me ones of my adventures since I returned. I'm working on that now........
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