It’s not where, but who...

We loaded up the suburban last night - we are driving a 2004 with 210,000 miles on it! The roof rack has our camping chairs, sleeping bags, sleeping pads and tent. In the trunk we have a large bin with the cooking stove, cups/plates/silverware, bin to wash dishes, dry food and other kitchen necessities. We packed a bin with games for the beach, hammocks, and other random camping needs (I have a whole list!) we packed a cooler with some prepared foods, etc.. I packed each kid with a little day bag  that has binders with age appropriate worksheets and fun pages. In the front seat I have wrapped gifts (books) and other activities to pull out at random. If you give kids all their options at once you will undoubtably find them bored- but pull things out at random and voila! Happy kids! The drive to the hotel was uneventful. The kids listened to music and we started Coco the audiobook. They fell asleep by 8. We pulled into the hotel around 10 pm. Unfortunately the woman working didn’t know how to use the computer well and she put us in a handicap accessible room - which doesn’t matter to us- but it didn’t have black out curtains and it had a security light pouring in. It gave us the illusion that it was day all night long. Lily was wandering around the room in the middle of the night thinking it was day and I woke up at 3:30 thinking the same. The boys woke up at 5 and I made them cuddle until 6. There was a delicious continental breakfast for the kids. The boys and I played Dragonwood while we waited for David and Lily to join us. The woman in charge of breakfast was extremely kind and told me she has worked in that hotel for 14 years. There is a loyalty in certain places that is admirable.

The border crossing was only about 10 minutes from the hotel- we exchanged money and bought a soccer and football for the kids. And off we went!

For this particular trip we had to get the passports and special tourist visas called FMM paperwork. Immediately after crossing the border we went to the immigration office to get the paperwork stamped (I had it filled out and paid for prior to leaving). Upon entering the building we were told there wasn’t anyone working and should go around the bend to the other location... I checked with a couple other people to verify this information- including a security guard with a giant gun who said, “Are you sure you need a stamp?” To which I responded, “No se. Dígame ud.”

We drove around the bend but it’s all a very confusing area because we didn’t want to end up going back in line to the US.  After some confusion David parked and I jumped out asking a woman with a vest- she took me down a road that said: no pedestrian. No trespassing. I thanked her and went in the building. The man standing there took all 5 passports and paperwork and spent about 10 minutes processing and stamping. He said, “You came  from down there?” Referring to where we crossed around the bed. “Yes, I said. “Ah, yes, my buddy works there but since it’s so slow he came up here to get food. He’s back down there now.” “Of course.” I laughed. After he processed our paperwork I proceeded out the door and ran back to the car- arms in the air- smile on my face! We are in!

As we drove out of Mexicali David looked at me and said, “In Mexico it’s not about finding the right place- but it’s about finding the right person. In the US you just need the right place- but in Mexico it’s always about finding the right person.”

So off we go- in search of beautiful places and connecting with the right people!