Crossing into Mexico

January 5th was the big day to cross the border into Mexico. We have until January 9th to get to our condo in Puerto Escondido. We left San Antonio and drove to Laredo. After a few GPS mishaps we crossed the border with the intention of getting our vehicle permit and tourist visas. In the end it turned out ok but it was stressful. There were no lines and we had all our documents in order but it was still stressful. We decided to continue on and drive to Monterrey to get a jump on our trip. We don't have a chip for Mexico in our car's navigation system (that's another story) so it was back to maps and Trip-Tiks. Wow have we become dependent on the GPS! When we arrived in Monterrey we decided to get off the highway and find a hotel. We asked a local fellow if he could suggest a place. He suggested we follow him and he would show us the hotel area that was pretty far away. Unfortunately it was rush hour and traffic was bad. Tom did a great job of keeping up and avoiding collisions. The fellow went out of his way to direct us to a Holiday Inn. We tried to thank him by giving him 20 pesos but he refused and was happy to help us out. We checked in and then had dinner at the hotel. I wasn't expecting much but I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the meal- white fish cooked with vegetables in an aluminum foil packet. It was served with rice and grilled vegetables cooked just right. We chatted with a fellow who lived in Mexico City and was in Monterrey on business. He was very friendly and shared a lot of interesting stories. It turned out to be a good ending to a long day.
We plotted out our drive for the next day and was able to use the business center at the hotel to print our google map directions to San Luis Potosi. Actual signs and those on Google maps don't always agree. So again we made a few wrong decisions but in the end we arrived at our destination by about 4:30. We had stopped at a tourist center along the way and they suggested we stay at another Holiday Inn. This one is beautiful - very modern and comfortable . It has a pool as well and we went for a very relaxing swim before we had dinner. It was great! We went to dinner at the restaurant next door as this Holiday Inn didn't have a restaurant. And again we were pleasantly surprised with our meals.