Desvío usually means:
In travel or road situations, it often refers to a route that leaves the main path.
Also note the accent mark:
That written accent shows the stress pattern.
Use antes de when it is followed by a noun or noun phrase:
Use antes by itself when nothing follows, or when the rest is implied:
You also use antes de before an infinitive:
So here de is required because la pendiente comes after it.
In this sentence, pendiente most likely means:
It can refer to a stretch of road or terrain that goes uphill or downhill.
Be careful: pendiente can also mean other things in Spanish depending on context, such as:
But here, because of the road/travel context, it clearly refers to a slope/incline.
Because here pendiente is being used as a noun.
Spanish adjectives can sometimes also function as nouns, depending on context. In this sentence, la pendiente is a thing: the slope.
So:
The article la helps show that it is being used as a noun here.
A simple approximation is:
The stress falls on ví because of the written accent: desvío.
Also, the i and o are pronounced in separate syllables:
That is important. It is not pronounced as one blended sound.
Possibly, depending on the context.
Literal structure:
But natural English might vary:
The best English version depends on what desvío refers to in the situation: a detour, a side road, or a turnoff.
Yes. Here it most naturally refers to location/order along a route, not just time.
It means something like:
Spanish antes de can describe both:
In this sentence, because it is about a route, the idea is spatial.
Grammatically yes, but for Latin America, tomamos is usually the safer and more widely appropriate choice.
Why? Because coger has regional differences:
So for learners aiming at Latin American Spanish, tomar is a much better option here.