The End of the Road Back To Mexico

Our journey is over. We accomplished what we set out to do. We sold our Washington possessions and drove a small car to Mexico. We have reached the end of the road.

We are now living in Mexico. The world around us is full of volcanoes, sun, and tacos. The culture is different, and the language is difficult. There will be challenges ahead for sure. But we are excited to be here.

Thank you for following our journey here.

Click here to read from the beginning
Click here to read from when we started the journey

First Day Home

The first day home was an exciting day for us. The previous tenants left a lot of things in the house. Some things we purchased from them, but some things they just left here. This was very helpful.

Unpacking the Trunk
As soon as we arrived, we started taking everything out of the trunk and placing it between the TV and the couch that we purchased from the previous tenants.

The pile began to grow. How did we pack so much in that small trunk?

Hey, our sombrero found a buddy to hang out with, or rather to hang on the wall with. No wonder it was determined as us to make it to Mexico. It all makes sense now!

We were so tired of seeing clutter and stuff. Our life in Washington for the past couple of months was just going through stuff, selling stuff, throwing away stuff. Now we were facing a new situation - throwing away some of the previous tenants stuff, and putting away our stuff. Stuff, stuff, stuff....

Backyard
We'll give you a whirlwind tour of the house.

This is definitely not an American backyard. We have a small strip of grass surrounded by a tall brick wall characteristic of Mexico homes. The backyard gets a lot of sun and is a peaceful place to just mellow out. I want to put a hammock up one of these days.

Around the corner in the yard we have a place for the washer and dryer as well as some storage for outside stuff.

Kitchen
Near the backyard is the kitchen.

There are a couple of sliding glass doors that we keep open nearly all the time. If there is sun, these doors stay open. It creates an atmosphere as if you are half outside and half inside.

There are no heaters installed in the entire house. There are also no air conditioning units. You don't need either one for most the year! The weather remains mild enough. This also helps with the electricity bill. There are also very few bugs so there are no screens on the sliding glass doors.

Let's see what is upstairs...

Here is a picture of the bedroom. We have one whole wall of closet space. This was a big change for us and we don't even know what to do with it all...

And below you can see a part of the spare bedroom.

Ok, back to more happenings on the first day back...

Store Run
We realized that we had no groceries, so we decided to walk a few blocks and go to the store.

Here we are at the Bodega Aurrera.

We had to purchase unusual things that you don't normally purchase. Like a plastic container for spoons, forks, and knives.

Notice the pigs head crowning this attractive meat display?

Time to get back home. The weather was very unusual.

We stopped at a local taco place to pick up some quick, cheap dinner to go. We can get enough tacos for both of us for about $6.00.

After that we continued home with our tacos and groceries.

Celebrations
We arrived in our new home exactly on the date of our wedding anniversary.

We didn't feel like going anywhere. We didn't feel like eating out. We just felt like finally being "home". We ate our tacos and celebrated with a tiny Mexican cake. It felt right. It was perfect.

The Road Home

We woke up excited to hit the road and make it to our final destination today. It's hard to believe that if all goes well we will finish the journey today.

Driving
I must say, driving in Mexico is quite different. I've compiled a list of things you gotta watch out for.

• Potholes. Sometimes extremely large potholes.
• Other cars passing you going 100+ MPH
• Other cars you are passing going 20- MPH
• Police that want to pull you over and ask for money.
• Cars going the opposite way directly in front of you in your lane.
• Signs that look important but that are in Spanish. You gotta watch for these signs, but then scratch your head, shrug and keep driving. What else can you do?

Basically there are not too many strictly observed laws here. People sort of drive a little crazy. This can cause someone from the United States to go a little nuts. On the other hand, if you just embrace the chaos, it is a bit liberating and fun. Throw the Drivers Ed handbook out the window and simply be alert and look out for yourself.

But it definitely took me awhile to get to that point of comfort.

The Drive
The scenery was gradually changing around us. Less desert and cactus, more green and farmland. We were enjoying our drive through Mexico more and more.

Along with shepherds, we would occasionally spot a farmer with his cattle. (You might need to click into this picture)

We spotted a truck full of the raw materials needed for carnitas.

And we would occasionally stop and make the payment on toll roads. We tried our best to stay on toll roads because they were the safest.

Puebla!
We couldn't believe our eyes when we started seeing signs for Puebla! That is where we will be living. We knew we were close.

Soon more signs were popping up. Almost there!

We were only ten minutes from home now. We were excited!

Police
Our hearts sank as we turned a corner and ran smack into a police checkpoint. There were about 10 police cars pulling people over. We did not have any problems with police the entire time, and now, only ten minutes away from our destination...police!

I rolled the window down. He spoke something in Spanish and examined my sticker permit.

I used the well-rehearsed..."No comprendo Espanol" (I don't understand Spanish)

He smiled, gave the car a pat, and motioned for us to continue. *sigh*

The Neighborhood
We were finally starting to recognize things from our initial 2.5 month stay in May-July. We recognized our neighborhood!

We were on our off-ramp to our neighborhood! We know this place!

Here is the commercial corner just a few blocks from our house!

Here is the road to the residential area where we live. Notice the potholes? We arrived at the end of the rainy season and the rain has definitely left it's signature here.

The large iron gate swung open, revealing the housing development in which we live. We are renting one of the homes in this condominium-style community. We purchased some of the previous tenants furniture, but the place has been uninhabited since late August. We wondered what kind of shape it was in.

After thousands of miles, we finally parked the car in front of...home.

We locate the key. Will it work? Yep? We were home.

Conclusion
We have reached the end of a huge undertaking. Within two months we sold most of our stuff, left everything comfortable and predictable, and drove across two countries and thousands of miles to reach our new home. We made it safe and sound. It couldn't have gone better, and it couldn't have been more enjoyable.

Truly an unforgettable adventure.

We have had a few requests for pictures of the inside of our house. We will post one more story of our first day back, what we did that day, plus more pictures of our home.

The Road Through Mexico

Morning
We woke this morning after a night without incident. Last night was a night of too much worry. In the past I have been an advocate of exposing the fear factor that tends to grip many United States citizens. With too much news, too many stories, some allow fear and worry to paralyze a perfectly safe opportunity. Before allowing fear to dominate, look at the statistics, examine the facts. Burst the bubble of fear and worry.

That was my soapbox. Last night it all fell apart.

But today I was feeling better. We will make it across the border today. We may have problems, but we will survive and we will get home. Will it be a completely smooth journey? Probably not. Do I fear problems. No, not today. The sooner we know what we face, the sooner we know what we are up against. Rather than cower in worry, face the day. Let's get started.

Crossing the Border
The border to Mexico was suddenly in front of us. I was expecting some sort of long line, some sort of exaggerated farewell process from the United States. But before we knew what was happening, we were driving into Mexico.

Soon we had a decision to make. We were being directed into one of two lines. If we had things to declare go to the right, if we had nothing to declare go to the left. To declare...or not to declare?

This was a decision that we anguished over until this moment was before us. We tried to research this, but it was very vague. Do we have anything to declare? After all, we have a wide variety of stuff. Everything from kitchen things to clothes to electronics. Two laptops, a monitor, a printer. Should we declare?

We decided to drive in the line to declare....

Confusion
We were in a short line and it was soon time for the border officials to question us. I rolled down my window and our ears were filled with a bunch of unintelligible Spanish. This wasn't going anywhere. Soon we were asked to pull over in a special area.

I tried my best to explain that what we had in the car was all our stuff to live in Mexico. They didn't understand. They soon left. We waited with a couple armed guards.

They came back with a man that spoke a little bit of English, but not much. We tried to communicate with him. I explained that we were moving to Mexico. We have a trunk full of our personal possessions, and we were not sure if we had anything to declare or not so we drove into the Declare line just in case we did. We hoped he understood. He listened and left. We waited with our old acquaintances - a couple of armed guards.

Soon a team of officials were again at our car. A woman asked to open our trunk. In broken English she revealed their intentions. They would like to do an inspection. That was not what we wanted to hear.

Inspection
They slowly removed about five boxes out of the trunk and set them on the ground. They looked in the boxes and looked in trunk. They asked to look in the back seat. We were not going to refuse. At this point we were worried. Did we have anything that we shouldn't be bringing? Will they take anything from us? They stopped their search abruptly and left. We waited with a couple of armed guards.

They returned. We were relieved to hear a short but sweet word in English. "Go". We were handed a thick booklet on Mexico. "When you learn Spanish, please read this." Well, ok.

Breathing a sigh of relief, we drove off.

Lost
We still needed a visa and vehicle permit. What we had learned while being coached is that we had to drive around and find another building. We drove but were lost. We were starting to become surrounded with streets full of pedestrians. I was starting to relax. We were back in Mexico among people who were friendly and helpful. I forgot this factor.

I would roll down my window and ask for directions the best I could. People would point and smile and talk. I was remembering how much I liked this place.

We finally found the right building.

We were shuffled from line to line. We had to fill out forms. A young boy and an older woman watched us write every pen-stroke on every form. If we paused they would eagerly try to explain what the next field was asking us to write. We thanked them for their help, but secretly we were thanking them for reminding us how friendly and helpful Mexico can be.

We went through the importation process for our car. I received a sticker. Now the problem was, where do I put the sticker on the car?

It was evidently very easy to see what my problem was, because two different groups of people were eager to run up and show me how to put my sticker on the car. I love this place.

With a sigh of relief we were soon driving in Mexico. We were through with the border. We did it! And with very little problems so far!

The North
We were soon leaving the security of the border town, and quickly driving into our next big problem - Northern Mexico.

We drove for a long time. The roads were long and lonely. It was an eerie feeling to know we were alone in Northern Mexico. We felt very vulnerable.

We were determined not to stop at all in any towns until we got through the north. We filled up the gas tank in Texas before we crossed the border, so we could drive for a good 300+ miles before needing to fill up the tank.

We also picked up some food in Texas. And we have not drank any water all day so that we would not need to use the restroom. Our goal was to drive and drive and never stop for as long as possible. Here is a picture of our breakfast and lunch for the day.

We drove and drove. We tried not to attract any attention. We never got out to take pictures or even to put the camera outside the window. All pictures were taken discreetly from inside the car.

Sheep
We would pass interesting sites on the road like shepherds with their sheep.

Statue
We spotted a big statue on this hill. Few people get a large statue of themselves on a hill. We wondered who this historical character was.

Oasis
We were soon leaving the north behind us. After driving and driving, we found the perfect place to stop. It was a very nice area. It felt good to get out here.

It even had a Subway! Oh wait, no I guess I'm wrong. But it had a SANDway. Close enough....

Hotel
It was getting dark soon. We had to find a place to sleep. We were pre-prepared with the names of a few hotels in a few different cities that we could stay at. We drove to one of these.

This place was awesome. What a great place to stay at the end of a very uncertain and difficult day.

It felt good to be here. We made it across the border. We drove through northern Mexico. Now we are ending the day at a nice hotel and we are paying less money than most of the US hotels we stayed at.

Looking back on the day, I have no stories of problems really. All of our preparation, planning, and precautions paid off. We followed the route and did not get lost. There was a lot of confusion and worry at the border, but ultimately the two of us made it safe and sound.

We are now in a country where people are polite, friendly, helpful and smiling. The tension is melting and we are once again remembering all the things we love about Mexico.

We are seven or eight hours from our final destination. Tomorrow is our final day of driving and hopefully we will stop staying at hotels and finally park the car and walk through the doors of what I guess is....home.