Border, border, border

Well, we made it to Mexico. Twice.

We woke up in Yuma this morning with lots of errands to run. One of those errands was to get maps of Mexico because we are unable to get Mexico information into Karen the GPS unit at this time. (Long story. I'm not getting into it.) We were browsing the book store in Yuma and got into a conversation with some snowbirds that had just been to Mexico for a few months. We were a bit disappointed because the bookstore (Barnes and Noble; a big one) didn't have any maps of Mexico in it, even though it was less than 25 miles from the Mexican border. Strange.

The snowbirds assured us we could get maps easily in Pemex, which is the gas station in Mexico (government run, and they're all the same). They also said we could park overnight at this wonderful place called Pemex, because it was just like a truck-stop. Fine and good. We left the bookstore with a few reference books on camping and whatnot and headed for the border! Yay!

Then we got to the border, a green light blinked, we looked around in vain to see where we were supposed to get our tourist cards and vehicle permits from, someone behind us honked, and we were on our way in Mexico. Dang.

We found ourselves in San Luis, a noisy little pot hole-filled border town, without a map, or any local currency, or proper travel documentation. Aaahh! Oh, and we don't really speak the language all that well.

So we drove frantically around and found the famous Pemex gas station. I did manage to get some pesos right off the bat, but when I asked for "un mapa" the cashier shook her head. "No mapas today", she told me. Hmm. We did some more frantic driving, trying to get back to the border, drove down a one-way road (but guess which way we drove it!) had two false leads and finally got into a line to cross the border INTO the States again.

The line was long but the guards were friendly, and we turned around, parked in an improvised parking spot on the advice of the Mexican border guards, and took a very, very long time getting our documentation. They actually popped into the building halfway through, asking us to move our truck. Mark, Mexico fashion, told them "un momentito" (just a minute) and then took about another half hour getting everything else signed, stamped, and processed. Oh well; they didn't tow us, and our border guards showed off my tattoos to the other guards.

So...paperwork was done. We had no idea where we were going, but it had to be somewhere, so we drove. BOTH of my road atlases only have a two-page spread for the entire country of Mexico, so there wasn't exactly a lot of detail. We stopped at two more Pemexes on the road, and neither had maps OR any area where there was room to pull over for a bit. Those stupid snowbirds. If I see them again I'll strangle them.

ANYWAY. We got as far as Mexicali, where I am typing this, and we found a boring old Walmart, pulled over, and bought a map. We're a bit nervous about spending the night as there are about a half a dozen men with whistles hanging around the parking lot, helping people back out of their parking spaces. Is it also their job to kick out boondockers? Do they care? We will find out...I'm hoping we can stay. One of the only rules we really know so far about Mexico is not to drive at night, and, well, border fiascos took so long that it's night now.

Wish us luck!!