We stopped in Champaign and met daughter Tanya for lunch, then arrived back home by 4:30. The neighbors invited us for dinner and we are absolutely glad we accepted. What a wonderful way to arrive home to our house, our kitties, and good friends and neighbors.
I leave on Tuesday to spend a few weeks helping Shari and Mac as Shari awaits a liver transplant.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Day 6 - On the Road Again
Today was much less eventful. Can you believe that Pete and I still haven't had an argument, a harsh word for all of this trip? Amazing.
We drove and drove and drove and finally stopped somewhere north of Memphis at a Best Western. I went in and checked in while Pete smoked a cigarette. He said there were a couple of tatooed guys in a beat up pickup truck who were eyeing our van. The desk clerk came out to talk to them after I checked in. I saw them offer her a beer (which she refused). As we walked up the stairs. we saw that 1 of the doors had been kicked in. I told Pete that if he wasn't comfortable there, I wasn't either and that I woiuld go back and tell her that we weren't staying. He said fine and I headed downstairs looking as pissed and grouchy as I could. Told her that the husband wanted to drive longer and not stay the night and that the room was fine, but the husband wasn't. So she took it off my VISA and we were headed north once again.
We finally stopped in Marion, IL near SIU to spend the night at about 12:30am. A free breakfast and we were on our way again, headed home for the last day of our journey.
We drove and drove and drove and finally stopped somewhere north of Memphis at a Best Western. I went in and checked in while Pete smoked a cigarette. He said there were a couple of tatooed guys in a beat up pickup truck who were eyeing our van. The desk clerk came out to talk to them after I checked in. I saw them offer her a beer (which she refused). As we walked up the stairs. we saw that 1 of the doors had been kicked in. I told Pete that if he wasn't comfortable there, I wasn't either and that I woiuld go back and tell her that we weren't staying. He said fine and I headed downstairs looking as pissed and grouchy as I could. Told her that the husband wanted to drive longer and not stay the night and that the room was fine, but the husband wasn't. So she took it off my VISA and we were headed north once again.
We finally stopped in Marion, IL near SIU to spend the night at about 12:30am. A free breakfast and we were on our way again, headed home for the last day of our journey.
Day 5 - Are we still in Mexico?
Well, I'd better finish up Day 4 because last night I received an email that my sister Shari was very very ill - ill enough that she might not make it long enough to get a transplant. So Pete and I did lots of praying throughout the night. In the morning, we got up and dressed for our drive to Tampico. I have to say that we were both basketcases in our own ways. Pete was worried for me and I was worried for him because the drive and the worry were so stressful.
We went down to our "breakfast included". There was a buffet line with yellow stuff, red stuff, brown stuff, green stuff, bread, and some fruit. I opted for toast and fruit. Honestly, I was too nervous to even eat. Pete looked at me and said, "We don't have to do this, you know." I replied, "What would happen if we didn't?" To which he replied back, " We just get in our car and drive back home." And you know, with both of us agreeing that this was absolutely the best plan, we checked out and headed north out of Victoria City.
We went down to our "breakfast included". There was a buffet line with yellow stuff, red stuff, brown stuff, green stuff, bread, and some fruit. I opted for toast and fruit. Honestly, I was too nervous to even eat. Pete looked at me and said, "We don't have to do this, you know." I replied, "What would happen if we didn't?" To which he replied back, " We just get in our car and drive back home." And you know, with both of us agreeing that this was absolutely the best plan, we checked out and headed north out of Victoria City.
You know, sometimes God gives you some warnings. He gave us a few touches on the shoulder...our perfect van that was checked and double checked started to have some squeaky brakes and then a little slipping of the transmission. Then getting lost. Finally, God kinda grabbed my by the cheeks and said "Your sister is sick and you're needed. How many other warnings do you want?" It was time to go home.
Beautiful mountains to the west. Same poverty, etc. etc. until we get to Matamoros. And once again we get lost. An old man (probably lived on the street) with crooked and missing teet and half blind with cataracts was riding a bicycle. He pulled over to our car window and said he could help. He said he would take us there. So, with flashers flashing, we followed this old guy on an old bicycle with wobbly tires at about 10 mph through those same scary, crappy streets in Matamoros to the International Bridge. (PS I think this was our big mistake in the first place. I think we went through the wrong bridge.) We gave him 100 pesos to which he replied that he needed 300 more. So we gave him 500 because he was actually a lifesaver. He begged cigarettes off Pete, too. Pete gave him 1, he asked for 3. Such is the way in Mexico. I'm sure that money will provide him with much for the next 2 week or more.
So it is off to the US. There are 3 lanes. We were in the middle lane, but the one to the left was moving much more quickly, so Pete moved over to it. The US guard said something to the effect that we had not done the right thing. We thought he meant that we had made a mistake driving into Mexico, but actually we were in the daily commuter lane. He gave us a warning tag and told us to drive over to the building on the left so they could search us. They (I say it was the guy, Pete says it was the girl) told us that Pete's information was in the system, so if he ever drove through the commuter lane again, it would trigger a $5,000.00 fine. Jerk. I knew the into Mexico and out of Mexico in 1 day would be a huge red flag. They opened up all of our doors and made us sit on chairs near the building while they walked around the car. There were a could of officers inside the building and I imagine they were watching us for reactions. So they sent us on our way - back in the US of A where there are traffic signs - lots of them - and no speed bumps - and a whole whole lot less stress.
I called my sister and she said our other sister was better that day. Hallelujah. So we drove on to San Antonio. We checked into the pretty pricy Crowne Plaza downtown. Walked to the River Walk and to Dick's Last Resort restaurant. We love Dick's because it's a place you can visit with people from all over - such a touristy place -and fun. Back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.
Crown Plaza confirmed my theory that the more expensive the hotel, the less likely you are to have breakfast. No free breakfast and $35/day for parking and tips and $9.95/day for internet. Can you believe that? No wonder I didn't blog.
Beautiful mountains to the west. Same poverty, etc. etc. until we get to Matamoros. And once again we get lost. An old man (probably lived on the street) with crooked and missing teet and half blind with cataracts was riding a bicycle. He pulled over to our car window and said he could help. He said he would take us there. So, with flashers flashing, we followed this old guy on an old bicycle with wobbly tires at about 10 mph through those same scary, crappy streets in Matamoros to the International Bridge. (PS I think this was our big mistake in the first place. I think we went through the wrong bridge.) We gave him 100 pesos to which he replied that he needed 300 more. So we gave him 500 because he was actually a lifesaver. He begged cigarettes off Pete, too. Pete gave him 1, he asked for 3. Such is the way in Mexico. I'm sure that money will provide him with much for the next 2 week or more.
So it is off to the US. There are 3 lanes. We were in the middle lane, but the one to the left was moving much more quickly, so Pete moved over to it. The US guard said something to the effect that we had not done the right thing. We thought he meant that we had made a mistake driving into Mexico, but actually we were in the daily commuter lane. He gave us a warning tag and told us to drive over to the building on the left so they could search us. They (I say it was the guy, Pete says it was the girl) told us that Pete's information was in the system, so if he ever drove through the commuter lane again, it would trigger a $5,000.00 fine. Jerk. I knew the into Mexico and out of Mexico in 1 day would be a huge red flag. They opened up all of our doors and made us sit on chairs near the building while they walked around the car. There were a could of officers inside the building and I imagine they were watching us for reactions. So they sent us on our way - back in the US of A where there are traffic signs - lots of them - and no speed bumps - and a whole whole lot less stress.
I called my sister and she said our other sister was better that day. Hallelujah. So we drove on to San Antonio. We checked into the pretty pricy Crowne Plaza downtown. Walked to the River Walk and to Dick's Last Resort restaurant. We love Dick's because it's a place you can visit with people from all over - such a touristy place -and fun. Back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.
Crown Plaza confirmed my theory that the more expensive the hotel, the less likely you are to have breakfast. No free breakfast and $35/day for parking and tips and $9.95/day for internet. Can you believe that? No wonder I didn't blog.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Day 4 - Matamoros
Thought it was over, didn't you?
Did you know that Matamoros has no road signs? No highways signs?
Oh yeah. And I forgot to tell you that MY gps isn't able to download Maps from Mexico even though they are available. It's like holding them out there and sticking your tongue out there at me.
Well, since I had no idea and Matamoros is an absolutely unmarked pit of a city with speed bumps everywhere. And I really mean that. The road we were on had speed bumps 4, 5, 6 times per block. No exaggeration! We stopped at several gas stations, but nobody spoke any english. One guy even told me "this is Mexico". Like I didn't know THAT! So finally I went into a Pemex (gas) station and this was the 3rd or 4th time that nobody spoke english and I started to tear up and a very nice lady and teenage boy (hunk) tried really hard to figure out where I needed to be. (Yes, I had a map. I just wanted to get to the highway.) And finally we figured out aeropuerto. And another guy chimed in and the boy drew me a detailed map (which I am saving). And we got back to the highway and headed south.
Pete was so great. He never once said "where the hell are you taking me?" or even raised his voice. And I just cried. Several times. I was just about this close to a panic attack twice, but I do know how to deep breathe to get out of them.
By now, neither one of us have eaten all day and I know that I am going to throw up if I eat because I'm such a wreck. Holy cow, I thought I was an adventurer!
So finally we got to the highway and headed for Cuidad Victoria. (Victoria City) The drive was actually nice from there on in for about 3 hours. Horses. Green fields. Mesas and beautiful purple mountains in the distance.
Did you know that Matamoros has no road signs? No highways signs?
Oh yeah. And I forgot to tell you that MY gps isn't able to download Maps from Mexico even though they are available. It's like holding them out there and sticking your tongue out there at me.
Well, since I had no idea and Matamoros is an absolutely unmarked pit of a city with speed bumps everywhere. And I really mean that. The road we were on had speed bumps 4, 5, 6 times per block. No exaggeration! We stopped at several gas stations, but nobody spoke any english. One guy even told me "this is Mexico". Like I didn't know THAT! So finally I went into a Pemex (gas) station and this was the 3rd or 4th time that nobody spoke english and I started to tear up and a very nice lady and teenage boy (hunk) tried really hard to figure out where I needed to be. (Yes, I had a map. I just wanted to get to the highway.) And finally we figured out aeropuerto. And another guy chimed in and the boy drew me a detailed map (which I am saving). And we got back to the highway and headed south.
Pete was so great. He never once said "where the hell are you taking me?" or even raised his voice. And I just cried. Several times. I was just about this close to a panic attack twice, but I do know how to deep breathe to get out of them.
By now, neither one of us have eaten all day and I know that I am going to throw up if I eat because I'm such a wreck. Holy cow, I thought I was an adventurer!
So finally we got to the highway and headed for Cuidad Victoria. (Victoria City) The drive was actually nice from there on in for about 3 hours. Horses. Green fields. Mesas and beautiful purple mountains in the distance.
No need to stress until we look for hotels, which we haven't seen any of for 3 hours. Finally, signs for a Best Western downtown....and a Sheraton. So we checked into BW, ate dinner, strolled around the park at the center of town, watched a soccer match, and went to Las Vegas Karaoke bar for a drink. It was so loud that we couldn't even converse, so we headed back to the room to relax and give me some time to catch up on this blog. Can hardly wait for tomorrow!
Day 4 - Crossing into Mexico
OR who the hell planned THIS trip?
First off, Elaine and Phil, you are not driving to Mexico. Nor do I know anyone else who is driving to Mexico.
Slept too late and missed the breakfast. Not a good start.
We were going to cross at Los Indios. Easier, they said. Nobody had even heard at Los Indios. So we ended up crossing at the International Bridge. We were actually headed for the Brownsville-Metamoros bridge, but ended up at the International Bridge. Now, try to keep up here.
Crossed over.
Parked.
Went inside.
They sent us to the Tourist Visa counter, where we wait for 10 minutes. Nobody else was in line.
Finally, she came out and handed us the forms and told us to go over to the counter and fill them out and get back in line. Now, I have filled out forms like this many times when I flew to Mexico. However, they always had the boxes labeled in Spanish and English. So I/we filled out as many boxes as we could. We went back and waited in the non-line for about 10 minutes again. She helped us (not happily) finish filling them out.
She then sent us to the vehicle registration window. Sorry, she said. No power. We could go back across the bridge or somewhere else down the road and 2 turns to the right to the International Bridge. Holy crap. I thought we were at the International Bridge. No wonder there are absolutely no Americans here. Uh oh.
So we decided we would handle the customs declaration. Now, this customs official (cute girl) was as helpful as could be. She loved my spreadsheet. Finally I got something right. I love Excel. She apologized for making us pay $167.00 in taxes. I was gonna be happy with anything under $250. She just took my grand total from my Excel sheet and charged us the 13% tax.
Now, we head to the money changer because the bank won't take pecos and we don't know whether our hotel will take pecos or not.
Then to the bank to pay our tax in pecos.
Back to the vehicle registration window just in case the power is back on. Lucky lucky us. We have copies of our registration, etc., but need 1 set of copies, so she sends us with the guy in red back to the store next to the bank for 1 copy.
Then back to the now line for the vehicle registration.
Then we have to go back next to the money changer to buy mexican insurance.
First off, Elaine and Phil, you are not driving to Mexico. Nor do I know anyone else who is driving to Mexico.
Slept too late and missed the breakfast. Not a good start.
We were going to cross at Los Indios. Easier, they said. Nobody had even heard at Los Indios. So we ended up crossing at the International Bridge. We were actually headed for the Brownsville-Metamoros bridge, but ended up at the International Bridge. Now, try to keep up here.
Crossed over.
Parked.
Went inside.
They sent us to the Tourist Visa counter, where we wait for 10 minutes. Nobody else was in line.
Finally, she came out and handed us the forms and told us to go over to the counter and fill them out and get back in line. Now, I have filled out forms like this many times when I flew to Mexico. However, they always had the boxes labeled in Spanish and English. So I/we filled out as many boxes as we could. We went back and waited in the non-line for about 10 minutes again. She helped us (not happily) finish filling them out.
She then sent us to the vehicle registration window. Sorry, she said. No power. We could go back across the bridge or somewhere else down the road and 2 turns to the right to the International Bridge. Holy crap. I thought we were at the International Bridge. No wonder there are absolutely no Americans here. Uh oh.
So we decided we would handle the customs declaration. Now, this customs official (cute girl) was as helpful as could be. She loved my spreadsheet. Finally I got something right. I love Excel. She apologized for making us pay $167.00 in taxes. I was gonna be happy with anything under $250. She just took my grand total from my Excel sheet and charged us the 13% tax.
Now, we head to the money changer because the bank won't take pecos and we don't know whether our hotel will take pecos or not.
Then to the bank to pay our tax in pecos.
Back to the vehicle registration window just in case the power is back on. Lucky lucky us. We have copies of our registration, etc., but need 1 set of copies, so she sends us with the guy in red back to the store next to the bank for 1 copy.
Then back to the now line for the vehicle registration.
Then we have to go back next to the money changer to buy mexican insurance.
Day 3 - How far is it to Harlingen?
We're not so in love with our GPS girl. Every time we stopped for the bathroom or to eat, she kept changing the time we'd arrive. From 8:00 to nearly 11:00. So we were TIRED when we arrived late. And a little on the grouchy side, too. Plus she kept routing us around these turns and u turns and luckily we finally saw the hotel and ignored her.
Ever had a whataburger? It's pretty cool. Choose your meat, choose your bread, choose your toppings. Yum, actually!
Checked in to the hotel and they gave us the next to the farthest room away from the front. Have no clue what the guy next door was doing. First I thought he was taking a splashy bath. Then decided he must have set up a washing machine there because the water swished up and down every 15 seconds. Lucky we were so tired.
Ever had a whataburger? It's pretty cool. Choose your meat, choose your bread, choose your toppings. Yum, actually!
Checked in to the hotel and they gave us the next to the farthest room away from the front. Have no clue what the guy next door was doing. First I thought he was taking a splashy bath. Then decided he must have set up a washing machine there because the water swished up and down every 15 seconds. Lucky we were so tired.
Day 2 - Little Rock
We retraced our steps from Tunica to Memphis and our GPS girl guided us safely to Erma and Tom's house in Little Rock. We visited Tom at his car lot.....and talked and talked and had a great time sharing family information. We had a great, down home, homemade dinner. Gotta have that recipe for chicken casserole. And once again had a great sleep on incredibly soft sheets.
We awoke to the smell of bacon and eggs and had a filling breakfast before heading on the road.
We awoke to the smell of bacon and eggs and had a filling breakfast before heading on the road.
Day 1 - And we're Off!
Never one to get up early, we strolled out of Wheaton around 9:30am, headed for St. Louis to see Claire and baby Izzy. A phone call about an hour into the trip told us that Claire and Izzy weren't available after all, so our GPS girl won out and we headed down the back roads to I-57. I was so sure that I-55 took us to Memphis and Pete was sure that I-57 was the way. Turns out we were both right, but MY way would've taken us way out of our way. (This should have served as our early warning that Lady Luck wasn't traveling with us on THIS vacation.) It was a long drive to Tunica, MS. We arrived about 10ish.
We registered at the Hollywood Casino and headed down to the Penny slots. I busted after a few bucks, but Pete was pretty lucky. We should've remembered to quit when we were ahead. Oh well. Easy come, easy go. Our bed was in the top 2 most comfortable beds we've ever slept in. Nighty night.
We registered at the Hollywood Casino and headed down to the Penny slots. I busted after a few bucks, but Pete was pretty lucky. We should've remembered to quit when we were ahead. Oh well. Easy come, easy go. Our bed was in the top 2 most comfortable beds we've ever slept in. Nighty night.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Getting Ready
Well, we bought a palapa on the beach in January. We just knew it was the place for us when we visited in January. Everything about the location seemed "just right". We felt like we were at home. Everyone else (except me) expected me to move to Mexico when I retired. I hate these midwestern winters! So, one Palapa is now off the market.
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