Waco to Saltillo

We intended to leave Waco at 8, but ended up leaving around 8:30 instead. Our estimation of how much stuff our Mazda Tribute would hold was a little off, we had to really stuff the stuff in.
After stopping at the ATM and topping off the gas, off we went. Our first stop was on the south side of San Antonio for gas. We could easily been in Mexico already we got to the gas station on Flores Ave. On one side of the gas station was a taco truck, on the other side was a little flea market. The bathroom had the ambiance of the one at Ernesto’s. The gas price was surprisingly low. It was just north of Crossroads Mall.
The plan called for us to cross the border at Colombia Solidarity Bridge. There is a toll road ($2) from I35 to the bridge. The exit form I35 is at mile 24. The hours the toll booth is open are 6 a.m. – 10 p.m. At night, only prepaid cards are accepted. If you take that cut-off, you completely skirt around Laredo/ Nuevo Laredo. Just as we got on the Camino Colombia Tollway, one of the ropes on our roof rack came loose, so we stopped to fix that.
After crossing the bridge, you go to the customs red/green light. We got green and went to the parking lot. We were greeted at the door by the immigration official. He stamped our FM3s for our first entry into Mexico. Because we didn’t turn in our FMTs last trip and the Austin consulate didn’t take them, we had our old FMTs stuck in the back of or passports. After answering questions as to why they weren’t turned in (we said they didn’t take them), we were good to go. The official looked at our car permit and said we needed a new one. We had been told that as long as our immigration status was good, so was our car permit. Te official explanation as to why we had to get a new one was that since we left Mexico and were re-entering on an expired permit, we needed to get a new one. Apparently, according to them, as long as we reman in Mexico the permit is good. There really was no arguing with them, when we said the consulate told us we don’t need a new one, they said the consulate was wrong. So we canceled the old permit and got a new one. This all took a little longer than we planned, but actually went very quickly.
After getting our permit, we stopped at the Pemex. It used to be that you wanted to fill up in the US, now gas is cheaper in Mexico. We paid 6.12 pesos/liter for the green.
Once you leave the customs/immigration building and get to the end of that road, you turn left and head toward Monterrey. The turns are well marked. There is a second checkpoint where you get the red or green light. Again, we got green. But as we approached the checkpoint and went over a speedbump, the things in the car shifted and started falling on the dogs. Right after the checkpoint we stopped at the Pemex to repack. We had one other small load shift incident on the road to Monterrey.
Instead of turning south on the Matehuala cuota, we headed toward Saltillo where we had a reservation at Holiday Inn. I made the reservation on line and the website said they accet pets. The rate of $63 plus tax includes a continental breakfast. We got settled in our room and decided to just eat at the hotel restaurant. Harold had a pork and apple entrée and I had spinach-stuffed chicken breast Both came with rice, potatoes and vegetables. Each of us had a limonada as well. The food was very good and our bill including tip was 148 pesos.
After dinner we watched Desperate Housewives on TV, walked the dogs and then were ready for bed. I was going to check my email but the network was down. There was a short thunderstorm while we were watching TV. It was a pretty long day and we were too tired to go out and look around any.
While we were in the lobby before dinner, Harold was talking to a woman who noticed his Puerto Vallarta Tshirt. She and her husband were also driving to Puerto Vallarta. Her anme is Kathy and she is a wedding planner. We really weren’t surprised to find out that she knows Brenda.