Brownsville!!!

I’m in Brownsville TX!!! The ride today was nowhere as adventurous as yesterday and Mexico has done a lot of road work since Kevin and I started driving me down to Belize In January. They were a lot better and a lot smoother. I did have my car search at another military checkpoint though. And when I got the U.S. border I pulled into the “Century” lane. I didn’t realize it when I pulled in and as soon as I did I knew I was in trouble. The Immigration officer asked for my Century card. Of course I don’t have one. It’s the one for frequent travelers who pay $125 a year for the ability to bypass the long immigration check in lines. So…my car got searched again and drug and explosives sniffed. It took about 20 minutes to complete. Now I’m sitting in a McDonalds, using their free internet, to look for a hotel for the night. I’m way too tired to drive any more.

My car needs a good washing. Besides road dust I found where all the dragonflies, butterflies and bugs come for the winter. I’ve never seen so many of the 1st 2 in all of my life. Mostly monarch and yellow butterflies and dragonflies in huge swarms. While it looked pretty it wasn’t a pretty sight as they were crushed by the front of my car and all over the windshield. No matter how many times the windshield got washed I still can’t see. Five minutes after leaving the gas stations it was covered again. And using the windshield blades/washer just smeared them more and turned my vision into a haze. Now that I’m in the states it probably won’t be so bad.

I emailed Bruce on Wednesday night (9/8) to see if Tricia had arrived yet and he responded back quickly with the bad news that Tricia was arrested in Miami Airport for an unknown reason and was being shipped up to NYC. I have no other details. That poor lady cannot get a break to save her life. If it wasn’t for bad luck she’d have no luck! God only knows when I’ll see her back at Kismet… The news from Bruce today was that he hasn’t heard any more from Tricia so he doesn’t know where she is right now.

As always, stay well, keep happy, and practice peace. I am!!!

1/2 way to the TX/MX border and oh what an adventure!

There was a bit of a mix up over our travel plans. Tricia thought her flight was on Thursday but I thought Wednesday. Sure enough it is Wednesday. It all started when I mentioned that I wanted to leave between 5 and 6am on Tuesday, not knowing how long it would take to pay my trailer duty and for Customs to provide a rider to the border. Since Cancun is a 6 hour drive from Belize City I wanted enough daylight to get there, knowing how bad the Mexican road signage is. But that is too early for Steve to get up so we left late Monday and stopped for dinner and sleep in Belmopan and we left at 7am for Belize City and Customs. Customs was not a happy adventure, although I finally got my car after a 3-1/2 hour wait. The tariff paperwork for my trailer, which was supposed to be ready at 8:30am, wasn’t finished until 11am, at which time I paid it. The next adventure was getting someone to ride with me to the border in a timely manner (like the 5 minutes I was promised). Tricia was driving Steve’s truck with him as a drunken passenger. Bad thing was that he stopped everywhere along the way to greet friends and buy more liquor. How much good do you think rehab is going to be, if he even makes it there? Tricia was pretty upset by that too. In Orange Walk he stopped again and I told Tricia I was going to head to the border because I had no idea that kind of a hassle I’d get there so being there 1st would hopefully eliminate their sitting around waiting for me (and it was a hassle but nothing like Belize City). Steve walked back up while she and I were talking and said he was stopping in Corozol for “an hour tops” too. I told them I would meet them in the Princess Casino in the Free Zone. Guess what??? They never showed! I waited 3 hours for them. Of course our cells don’t work outside of Belize because they are pre-pay so we had no way of communicating. I won a couple bucks on the slots while I waited. Finally I decided it was time to be on my way. Tricia had already moved her luggage to Steve’s truck or we’d have had a bigger problem. So my trip to Houston finally started around 6pm. I drove until 2am at which time I was in Escarcega, about 250 miles from the Free Zone. Pretty good distance to drive in that amount of time in the dark and on crummy roads. I pulled into a PEMEX gas station and slept for an hour and drove then to and Villahermosa, getting there at 5:30am and sleeping one of the state border check points until 7:30am. Between Chetumal MX and Villahermosa I was stopped at 3 military check points. At 2 of them they searched the entire car, even under the floor mats, and all of my belongings. They were nice about it and I was soon on my way. Now I’m in Veracruz which is about ½ way to the TX/MX border. That drive was an adventure too. When I got to Alvarado (near Veracruz) the entire town and 5 miles of the road northwest was flooded. Hundreds of homes were flooded, some to their roofs. That took over 3 hours just for that 5 mile stretch. I watched Police and private boats were rescuing people from their homes while we very slowly drove the flooded road. I know it sound crazy but I drove in up to 2 feet of water and was scared stiff! I was too far into it before I wised up and thought about turning around. So I figured I’d play the waiting game and keep driving and if it got any deeper than what I’d already driven through, or the water start flowing, I’d turn around and see what other direction I could go. I REALLY didn’t relish the thought of driving to Mexico City! Anyway, Tractor/trailers and buses were plowing through the water, making huge waves that washed up onto the hoods of us traveling in the opposite direction and shook our vehicles as they passed. I prayed for safe passage through the watery streets and was granted it, and said a prayer of thanks once I was on dry road again. I finally got to Veracruz around 3pm and I’m going to spend the night here, getting some much needed rest and an early start in the morning. I’m not sure that I’ll make it to Brownsville though because the worst of the roads is coming up. More as I make my way toward Pat’s home in Stagecoach TX!

As always, stay well, keep happy, and practice peace. I am!!!

New Fishing Buddies!!!

Two new guests arrived yesterday (Saturday 9/4) afternoon, James and his father Joe and became my newest fishing buddies. James is from Phoenix and is an actor. Perhaps you’ve seen him on Desperate Housewives. His dad is a carpenter and lives in Sierra Vista near the AZ/MX border. This trip is a Father’s Day gift from James and they are staying for 5 days. Both are really nice guys and former Navy sailors like me. Joe and I have visited some of the same bars in the Philippines, but 12 years apart.

Today we went on a fishing excursion to the Cayes and caught a dozen nice sized barracuda. Grilled fish is on the menu for dinner tonight. We laughed about throwing James overboard because every time he picked up a rod he had a fish in what seemed to be 10-20 seconds…literally. His dad joked, “Why do I get the rod for 20 minutes and you only have it for seconds?” It was pretty funny. I caught a barracuda and a triggerfish from the boat and one when we stopped at Bread & Butter Caye. I think James and Joe caught 6 barracuda between them and James also caught a yellowtail snapper. Patrick, our boat captain caught 3 barracuda in rapid succession on a hand line. Tricia came as well bit didn’t fish. She was our designated photographer. The other thing I got was a pretty good sunburn on my face and the top of my head. I brought a hat but didn’t wear it. That will learn me. Now the 3 of us are waiting for Peter to show so we can go fishing in the lagoon. We’ll be back there in the morning too. The 3 of us are fishing diehards!

Tricia, Steve, Peter and I plan to leave at 5am Tuesday for our trips. Steve to rehab, Tricia to her long awaited trip to Maine to see Bruce and San Francisco to see another friend plus a stop on Long Island NY to see her 99 year old adopted father. I know she is REALLY looking forward to the trip and to leave Belize for 2 weeks to shop in real stores and eat real food. Me, I hope to be in Houston by Friday. A really big steak is on my radar! Steve is headed to a rehab clinic in Mexico somewhere south of San Diego and then plans to go home to LA for a visit following his treatment. Prayers for a safe journey for all of us are greatly appreciated!

As always, stay well, keep happy, and practice peace. I am!!!