Brian’s Microblog

March 07, 2026

We got up early and had a huge breakfast at the Best Western.

We got on the road a few minutes after eight and headed north. It was cool, around 55 degrees, and slowly warmed to the low sixties. We took the toll roads to save some time. It slowly got windier the closer we got to Juarez. There is a lot of sagebrush and rocks, but also some agriculture, including a lot of pecan trees.

There was a military checkpoint where we had to stop and a guy went through our luggage. The sign looks like a computer translation of the Spanish equivalent.

We completed our temporary vehicle import permits and terminated our tourist permit and got exit stamps on our passports at a low-traffic customs station on the outskirts of Juarez. Then we skirted Juarez and headed back to the Santa Teresa border station where we entered Mexico. Unfortunately the line was really long. We spent two hours slowly creeping to the U.S. entry station.

From there it was less than an hour to Ross and Maryanne’s house. It took about an hour and a half to get the bikes loaded up and sort out what would stay in the truck and what Gustavo would fly home with. Then we drove a short distance to Gary and Shannon’s house to pick up a gas tank needing transport to Portland for our friend Tony. Catching up with them took a while - eventually said our farewells and found a place to eat dinner and got on the road to Albuquerque, where the motorcycle adventure part of this trip ends.

This trip was a really fun ride and adventure. We saw a lot of neat stuff, ate great food, and found excellent curvy roads, but we could wish for better pavement on many of the roads.