About coming back

I think it is probably very easy to come back to the US by car.
If you fly, don't I-94 when you leave the US. For H-1b, bring the I-797 with you. (For F-1, I guess you need to bring I-20). You even need to show that at the Mexico airport before boarding.
For myself, I have an expired student visa on my passport and I am on H-1b now (but no H-1b visa stamp). I got questioned at Newark airport but eventually they had to let me go (or I should rather say let me in).