Miles, Checkpoints, and First Impressions
Another uneventful but solid day on the road. About 190 miles south. Fuel gauge still working, bike running great. No complaints.

I left Guamúchil and headed toward Culiacán, then cut across through farming country — a lot of lefts and rights, and rights and lefts. Eventually jumped onto the bigger road, paid a few tolls, and made my way into Mazatlán.

Saw a lot of Guardia Nacional and military vehicles along the way — small convoys of three to six trucks rolling up and down the highway north of Mazatlán. Hit a couple of checkpoints too, but it was all smiles and waves through again.

Starting to think it’s some kind of setup to let me get deep into the country before someone actually checks my papers and realizes they’re wrong.

First Impressions of Mazatlán
Rolled into town and first met up with a friend at one of the local RV parks. After catching up for a bit, I went looking for a place to stay. Ended up finding a small, simple hotel right on the main strip near all the big resort zones. Not fancy — just a basic three-star setup — but exactly what I wanted.

The hotel has a gated entrance with good security, and I was able to park the bike safely out front. It has pool chairs for chilling out and is right across the street from the beach. It’s not somewhere I’m going to spend much time indoors anyway, so it works perfectly as a base to explore Mazatlán.

The city itself? Big, flashy, and kind of “All-Inclusive Vegas” energy. Not sure how long I’ll stay — maybe a couple of days, maybe less. I’ll check it out, rest up a bit, and see what it has to offer.

Looking Ahead
Once I leave Mazatlán, it gets more interesting. I plan to head up Highway 40 toward Durango and start hitting some of the places and sights I have been looking forward to for a while.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. For now, it’s enough to say the anxiety is easing off, the bike is solid, and I’m just enjoying the ride and seeing where it takes me.

too much fun and .. AllPartOfTheAdventure