Road Trip - Dia Quatro II

The road south was nice, cool and empty and we stopped at a little roadside food place just beyond our first toll. My first real meal in Mexico and I didn't know if it was fatigue, not eating well or whatever but it was great and I was happy to have real Mexican cooking as a fuel source again. The road south was much better than road the previous day and again we made good time glad that we pushed on the extra couple hours the previous night regardless of being kicked out into the dark that morning. Eager to get the final day over with we were glad to see distance road signs letting us know we were making progress. The last city we had to go through was Tepic(see photo above). Crawling with Federal Police and tight traffic, the state of Nayarit's capital city had the most beautiful backdrop of green mountains and farmland. A couple hours later on a twisty road and we had reached our destination. SAYULITA! Not more then one minute in town and John was already running into people he knew. Josh, known for he and his wife's fitness business called Mexifit, greeted us just as we entered town. We were able to contact the property management folks and get a key for the house and were escorted to our home for the next 10 months. The Land Rover struggled to get up the concrete cobblestone road, and slid a couple times trying to find it's footing. So much weight but this is what the LR was designed for...I hoped. Just a minute or so later we summited and pulled into our driveway and saw the view we knew from the photos we had seen. John turned to me and said "Ashley is gonna love this" Let's hope so 'cause it's home now. We made it!

Road Trip - Dia Quatro I

The banging on the door and a male voice yelling on the other side of it awoke me and Dillon in the dark. Not the most settling feeling when you are in a foreign country and someone is trying to get into your room shouting at you in a language you only understand in bits and pieces. John and I pulled into Los Mochis the night before and decided to stay at a "Motel". A "Motel" is a place where you can pull into the property which is secured by a perimeter wall and gate and park your car right outside your room door acessed on the inside of the compound. No parking lots, somewhat secure and we didn't have to be real concerned about all the stuff in and on the truck. These place also provide visitors privacy since anyone driving by on the street outside can't see who's at the Motel. So, little did we know but our "8 hours was up" and had to leave so they could flip the room incase some of the Motel's regular clients needed the rooms. At least the sheets were clean and the air conditioning worked. John received the same wake up in his room so we threw the few things we had with us back into the truck and we were on the road before 5am.

Mexico on 150 pesos a night

Road Trip - Dia Tres III

The border was behind us and we hit the route that would take us almost the whole way to Sayulita. It is a toll route which means that for a fee every so often you can travel a road that is faster, less crowded and in better condition than the non-toll road that can be occasionally be seen running along side. The toll road is in sections as it connects towns and you pay for using each section. Lots of open desert and then a town followed by a toll and lots of open desert but making good time is possible and is generally an nice drive. The toll road this day had a lot of construction and roads that were less than comfortable to drive with an over loaded loaded truck. We made good time anyway and pulled into our intended stop in Navajoa before dinner and agreed that we could make Los Mochis before it got dark so we continued for another couple hours to find a place to eat and sleep for the night.

Road Trip - Dia Tres II

We pulled into the lot at the faciltiy that takes care of visas and car permits. I thought I had been through a similar process when flying into Mexico but this was a totally different animal. I'll try to be brief here since the process could be a short essay and not really work here. I got my passport checked and needed to pay the visa fee. I left the visa office and walked down the covered breezeway to the teller to pay. I took that receipt back to the visa office to show that I paid and was able to get my visa. (If you buy a plane ticket most of this is included included in the price of the ticket.) I then had to bring my newly paid for visa back to the teller to pay for my car permit. I did not have originals of anything. All copies. Not good. If you do this have originals and make sure your registration is in the right names. I had the title in the right name but not the registration-the one I needed. The nice folks behind the window let it go after some discussion and I had to take the whole bundle to the copy office and get copies made of everything and then I had to go back to the teller with the packet to pay for and complete the whole process. Now, the place was empty when I did this and can't imagine what this place would be like with lines everywhere, people standing in line for hours. Get there early and have the right stuff and understand the process. There are guys usually out front that, for a fee, will take you through the process and translate. Maybe worth the price the first time but fortunately I had help and a translator. One more check point button to push..."Green" this time and weeks of anxiety about this particular part of the journey is behind us.

Road Trip - Dia Tres I

We arrive at the truck border crossing at 7am and had to stop at the American side of the check point before moving on. The machine gun packing border guard, who resembled a GI Joe I once had, approached the driver side window and asked us where we were going. Out of habit I responded "to Mexico" and immediately realized I was a total idiot as I sit within yards of crossing the border. I quickly recovered and told him "Sayulita, Nayarit". He sent us on and we were off to the Mexican check point. Again, machine gun packing guards greeted us as we pushed the border button which decides whether we receive a more detailed inspection. "RED". Crap! This is bad. We pulled over into one of the inspection bays and waited for the guard to come over. A good thing John was with me to interpret because the border guard and I would have had a hard time communicating. Pretty cut and dry though. I had stuff. Some stuff that they didn't like that I had like power tools. The guard asked if I had a list of the items in the truck and I did. She took it over to her supervisor and after a brief conversation she came back and told us to move on. Next stop. Visa and car registration down the road a ways.

Road Trip-Dia Dos

I picked up supplies in the Phoenix area today and visited with Brandon Gore of Gore Design Co. Brandon is the concrete artisan and designer that taught me much of what I and many others know about producing GFRC countertops and sinks. John arrived at the airport in the early afternoon and we had to immediately repack the truck. It's a good thing that John may have been good at Tetris since it was way too obvious that we had way too much stuff and the Land Rover showed it. After a stop at In and Out Burger, we arrived in Nogales at sunset and repacked the truck again. Off to the border at dawn and on to Mexico.

Road Trip - Dia Uno

After leaving my family, house, neighbors, friends, shop and Utah behind, the Land Rover rolled into Phoenix at about 2:30am after a 14 hour drive. I left about 3 hours later than I would have liked and the possibility of 4 surfboards flying off the truck proved more nerve wracking than anything else. As a result, I didn't really get to decompress much. Dillon, our Retriever, on the other hand did great. On Dia Dos I will be picking up supplies and my buddy, John, at the airport and starting to drive south.

Cramming

How do you fit an entire shop and supplies into a Land Rover Discovery with a copilot, 4 surfboards, rocket box and a full grown Golden Retriever along for the ride? Too much stuff and too little time. I'm not really sure but some things will have to stay behind and be repurchased once I get settled. I'll be traveling south to Phoenix first and picking up a long time friend who will copilot on this portion of the adventure as well as some critical supplies for working down there. Hopefully customs won't give me too much of a hassle about the amount of suppies I'll have with me. My real concern is the total amount of stuff, tools and supplies, I'll have with me and whether or not it will exceed the allowable dollar value I can transport across the border without an import agent. I'm sure the stress level will increase the closer I get to the crossing in Nogales. But for now, the stress level can't get much worse.

A Send Off Fiesta

The neighbors on our street in Park City, Aspen Lane, put together a little "Fiesta" this evening. It's hard to leave such a great group of people. A special street for sure but I'm sure we'll have visitors from "The Hood" this winter. Gracias Amigos!

SUP=Stand Up Paddleboard

One of the things at the top of our list is to become proficient surfers. I consider myself a decent athlete but the ability to longboard has absolutely eluded me. I am flat out terrible. So, Ashley and I will be investing in our first Stand Up Paddleboards. Stand up paddling or "SUP'ing" has ancient roots but has taken off globally. With modern materials and design, SUP'ing lets even the novice get out on the water and enjoy touring the coastline, meandering down a river or stream, paddling around a reservoir, canal or even pond. The boards are generally big and stable.

We both tried SUP'ing for the first time in March of 2011 and we both enjoyed it. I even caught a few waves for the first time ever. Ashley likes SUP'ing for the workout and just to get a different perspective of the coast and I like it for the same reasons as well as being able to keep up a little better with my skilled surfing friends.

Items Completed

The amount of things one must do on a daily basis never seems to end. Add the fact that we are packing up our house and moving to another country altogether just makes the list seam insurmountable. The most progress so far has been made on the family and home front. All the grandparents have finally been informed of our planned adventure. The reactions ranged from "sounds incredible" to "when can we come visit?" to "how long is this going to go on?" to "call me, we need to discuss this". All in all, at the end of the day the grandparents have been generally if not mostly supportive. The other challenge was to rent the house in Park City. Our home is not the grandest or the nicest compared to many homes in PC or even on our own street but we love it and it is ours. Leaving will be difficult but we feel we have found a family who will enjoy and take care of the place. So, the extended family is on board, the house is rented and Ashley and the kids have plane tix for the 1st of October. I, on the other hand, get to spend 4 days driving our newly tuned Land Rover down with work tools, supplies, surfboards, our dog Dillon and my good buddy, John. John and his wife, Amy own a fantastic two bedroom rental named Casa Ava

in Sayulita. John has made the trip before and it will be good to have someone to ride shotgun and know more about border proceedures, driving in Mexico and where to stay etc. Just over 3 weeks until I hit the road. Lots more to do.