This is the route we take from Laredo, Texas to Puerto Morelos, Mexico. Pulling a 25′ travel trailer it takes us about 40 hours behind the wheel. Our average speed is about 70km/hour or 44 miles/hour. In the USA we easily roll 100km/hour. The difference between driving in Mexico and the USA is the road quality and those unexpected delays that you are bound to come across.
We recently crossed from the USA into Mexico at the Colombia Solidarity International Bridge. This crossing is a bit out of the way, but Bridge 2 in downtown Laredo is a bit tight for RV’s and the permit process is easier at Colombia. The Colombia crossing is 26 miles to the west of downtown, off of a toll road (if you are coming from the north). There are no toll booths on this road. We have used it twice and happily waited for the state of Texas to charge us. They never have.
This year we stayed at Vaquero Village & RV Park, just off of the I-35 and Highway 285 the night before we crossed. We had never heard of this place, but it worked our very well as a jumping off point for crossing at Colombia. The owner is a very nice Mexican who couldn’t understand why we would want to cross the border. This place has good Wi-Fi if you park at the back of the campground near the office. One tip make sure you get gas before you leave the I-35.
There is a toll to cross the Solidarity International Bridge, it can be paid in pesos or dollars. Once you cross the bridge you are at the Mexican border. Keep to your left and go through the gates where you will get a red light or a green light. We suspect this is done on weight as we are heavy and usually get a red light. It doesn’t seem to matter, which colour we get, they always stop us. This year to our surprise, after getting a red light, they sent us to the x-ray machine. This crossing now has a new vehicle x-ray, large enough to fit our truck and trailer into easily. Once you drive into the x-ray you are asked to to remove any pets and yourselves from the vehicle and stand behind a cement wall under a shade cover while they scan the vehicle. This takes about 5 minutes.
Once you are cleared to go, you can move on to getting your visa and car permit. The entire adventure took us about 40 minutes. The 25km check point that was always a big hassle seems to have been made redundant for Aduana. They only checked our immigration papers and waved us on. Then it was off to Saltillo.
