We crossed the border into Mexico at Douglas, Arizona. The border crossing was easy, we had to temporarily import our motorcycles into Mexico and buy insurance but aren't exactly sure what it covers. We met two guys on their way to the travelers meeting in Creel. We met up with them again later that evening in Nuevo Casas Grande, a town about 150 miles south of the border. There are many fair-skinned, light-haired, Mormon and Mennonite farmers in the area and we felt like we were in the USA midwest at times. The roads we traveled were two-laned highways with no shoulder but in good condition with little traffic.

Creel was our next destination. It is the center of commerce for the Copper Canyon region and we shared the streets with the Tarahumara Indians; the women dressed in full colorful skirts. We attended another Horizons Unlimited Travelers Meeting and Deb was excited to have a few women to hang out with. She met Priscilla from Texas who has been riding for 30 years and prefers dirt to pavement; Joanie from Oklahoma is a former flat track racer and hill climber and also an experienced dirt rider; Elsa from Colorado, a retired school teacher has 100,000 miles under her belt and Julie from Australia who prefers riding pillon on her husbands bike and has spent several months in Mexico on previous trips. One day, Deb, Priscilla and Elsa took an off-road course along with about 10 guys and had a great time.

After several days in Creel we headed for Hildago del Parral. The road south carved its way through the canyons and came out on a high desert plain.

We rode with two other guys on around-the-world trips, Alan from California who looks like Phil Collins and Miah from Durango, Colorado who looks like Chuck Norris. At one point we were hailed on and then it rained. We had a late start from Creel and arrived in Parral just as it got dark. We spent some time studying our guidebooks and trying to decide where to stay when we finally decided to just go to the nearest motel and pay more than we had hoped.

We repeated the same thing the next day. We had a late start from Parral, got rained on and arrived in Durango just as it began to get dark. We tried to find a hotel listed in our guidebook but didn't have any luck so we parked the bikes, Deb stayed with them while Dave took off on foot to find a hotel. He returned an hour later with a bellhop who waited on the corner for us while we rode around the block and then followed him as he ran down the sidewalk until we arrived the parking lot down the street from the hotel. After we checked in, just as we were leaving to get dinner, Alan and Miah turned up at the same hotel. We had dinner together and then went out to a Mariachi bar. The next morning, we had breakfast with two other travelers we met in Creel, John and Dan from British Columbia, who were on their way to Panama.

Zacatecas was our next destination. It is a beautiful 450 year-old, colonial city with narrow, hilly, cobblestone streets. We parked our motorcycles and hunted for the hostal where we had planned to meet Grant and Julie, the couple from Australia. We walked around for quite awhile then finally hired a taxi to take us there. When we pulled up in front, they were standing there. The owner's brother took us back to find our motorcycles and we had a terrible time finding them in the twisting, confusing streets that were designed for burros and pedetrians.

Southern Mexico and Guatemala have been devistated by a hurricane with many bridges and roads destroyed and little availability of gasoline and at this time we can't get through to Central America. We decided to spend more time in Zacatecas. The four of us rented a two-bedroom apartment for the week and are taking five hours of Spanish lessons a day. We have three hours of grammar and vocabulary, one hour of history and singing and a one hour walking tour of the city each day.

We are really enjoying ourselves in Mexico and find the Mexican people to be extremely friendly and helpful.