We woke up, threw on clothes, brushed our teeth, loaded the dogs, and beat feet out of the Villa Posado. When we opened the garage door, a door on the far side of the garage popped open, so I guess that's how they know you're gone and it's time to come clean the room.

We gassed up at the Pemex and set out to find the highway out of town. And got lost. We have GOT to get better maps. But, it was only for a half hour this time. We actually got the most help from the rudimentary Mexico map on the GPS. If anyone knows of a good map of Mexico for the GPS, please let me know.

We've heard plenty of cautionary tales about crossing El Espinoza Del Diablo, the mountain pass between Durango and Mazatlan. I have to tell you, its not that bad. I can see where it might be intimidating for someone who has never driven in the mountains, but if you have, its really no different than any other two-lane mountain highway. We went into the drive knowing it was going to take us six or seven hours and just took it slow. Heck, we're on vacation. We're in no hurry.

The road is well maintained and there are cautionary signs marking most hazards. Of course they are in Spanish. We got around this by keeping the electronic translator handy. Any time a new sign popped up, I, as the copilot, just typed in the unknown words. It worked pretty well. If you don't have a copilot or a translator, a pretty good rule of thumb is if you see a sign, slow down.

Pull outs are frequent, so you can easily stop anytime you want. There are many gas stations and bathrooms along the route, and food is plentiful. There is at least one restaurant in every village and some food stands in the emptier stretches.

There were big trucks and buses on the road with us. We found them to be driven by competent, courteous drivers who were familiar with the road. When there was room, the trucks often pulled off the road briefly to allow any accumulated cars behind them to pass. There are some curves so tight that a truck needs ALL of the road to make it around. This can cause problems or freak you out if you come upon a truck in your lane suddenly, but on the parts of the road that were that curvy we weren't going that fast anyway.

The other cars on the road are a different story. They drove in a manner that can only indicate intimate familiarity with the road or insanity, I don't know which. The cars around us passed in blind curves, tailgated, and drove fast, fast, fast. Chuck took his cue from the truck drivers. Whenever a few impatient cars would accumulate behind us, he would pull off onto one of the frequent pull outs and let them all pass.

I'm not trying to say there aren't any natural hazards, or the stress factor is all other drivers. We came across livestock in the middle of the road more than once. When you get to the top and down the Mazatlan side, there are frequent rock slides, so you have to dodge small boulders in your lane. The grade in many places is considerable. Toward the end, we passed a sign that read: precaucion vado 200m. Chuck asked, “What in the heck is a vado?” I grabbed the translator and typed in the word. I got the answer just as Chuck rounded the curve and saw the answer. Its a river flowing over the road. We had to cross about 50 feet of semi-swift moving water. We encountered topes [4] of every kind in every village we passed through. Enterprising youths stand on the topes as the perfect spot to sell you stuff, since you have to practically stop. I know they do this all the time and know exactly what they are doing, but it still freaks me out. They are SO close to the car, I'm afraid I'm going to hit one of them.

So with all this stuff to watch out for, why in the heck did we drive this route? Two reasons. First, it's the only pass through the mountains for many, many miles north and south. It was this or cross the border in Arizona, and I really couldn't bear to drive through New Mexico again. Second, the scenery is totally worth it.

Every inch of the drive is breathtaking. Lush, green vistas stretch on for impossible distances. Amazing rock formations rise around you. Mountain tops disappear into the clouds. We drove through emerald valleys heaped with wildflowers of every color. Lovely plants I didn't even know existed grow wild along the road and out of the rocks. There are small waterfalls cascading down the rocks (which I'm guessing is a hint to the rock slides). I remembered to take a few pictures [5], but I was mostly enthralled. I'll try and get a few more on the way back.

The whole drive isn't one big hazard. When you get higher into the mountains, there are many pretty straight stretches with plenty of land on both sides of the road. The extreme grades that require first gear are only a small percentage of the route. Don't let the stories scare you. We are so glad we traversed El Espinoza Del Diablo.