MeXscape

So far, these posts have all been from my wife, but now I’m going to jump in occasionally and offer my thoughts. It just amazes me how little accurate information is available. Mexico is so close, but no one really knows anything about it. I keep having the same conversation with people when I tell them I’m going to Mexico. They start with something to the effect of “be careful”, “You’re going to get robbed”, or “Watch out for bandits”. We talk a little more, then they exclaim, “YOU’RE DRIVING!! Its so dangerous, you shouldn’t drive in Mexico”, etc.

We just got back from a really great trip to see my Grandmother in California. 1600 miles in two days – twice. There and back. That was a little hard on us, but I was really afraid of how the dogs were going take it. That's right. The dogs. 1600 miles in two days with both dogs in my Dodge Stratus. Yes, we are nuts.

Coordinating going to the passport office together wasn't going to happen, so I went the office at the nearby sub courthouse and Chuck went to the office downtown during his lunch hour. We both planned to go on a Friday, but when I showed up at the sub courthouse, no one was in the passport office. They only open that office on Mondays and Wednesdays, which I would have known had I bothered to read the additional information available on the passport office location search site.

We know that you can get your FMT and Temporary Car Permit at the border, but we wanted to get ours ahead of time. It has been described as couple hour procedure, and we are going to have the dogs with us. That means Chuck goes in and gets his FMT and the car permit while I wait in the car with the dogs. Then when he comes back, I go get my FMT. Ugh.

We screwed up our courage and went to Dallas today. We battled Kamikaze drivers, choking smog, and a growing sense of surreality, but for once no one was murdered while we were there, and we made it out alive. Alive, but without visas.

A series of crises kept delaying our departure, but we finally made it on the road at 2:30 pm. Two people, two dogs, and a ton of stuff in (and on) a Ford Explorer – Mazatlan or Bust!

We got up at 7:00 am, got dressed, and loaded the car. That took forever. We were finally on the road at 10:45. If we could just skip the unloading and loading of the car, we could spend 5 more hours each day on the road, enjoy more stops, or get a heck of a lot more sleep.

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 finally made it out of the mountains and back onto fairly flat road. We rejoiced for about 5 minutes, then we were stopped at another road block. We weren't expecting this one. We slowed as we drove over the vibradores. There was a semi truck to our right. An agent crossed in front of us holding what looked like a very large motorized flame thrower. Huh? He revved it up. It began spewing a huge cloud of smoke. The agent fogged the entire semi trailer and axles with something acrid and choking. I immediately rolled up all the windows and turned off the A/C.

So far, we have been unable to get water. Okay, we've gone to the store and gotten gallon jugs of water, but we can't seem to catch the water truck. There are many goods and services here that are acquired by catching the right truck (or cart) driving down the street. The propane truck cruises down our street several times a day playing the “gas, gas, gas” song over the loudspeaker. If you need your propane tank filled, you just go outside and wave when you hear him. Likewise, the guys pushing the carts yell what they are selling and you go outside to buy. Theoretically, the same is true for water.