Saturday, September 25, 2010

Sept. 25: Benson, AZ

Hello, everyone

We left San Miguel at 4:00 on Thursday afternoon, after finally receiving our "no-immigrante" visas an hour earlier.  We left more possessions in the new house than we are taking back with us:  less to move in December.  The car is working well, even if the air conditioner occasionally leaves something to be desired -- it needs a rest every now and then.  Thank goodness, no tour of the Dodge dealers in Mexico this time!

We took a different route back than the one we took down.  We drove up the center of Mexico, which is very beautiful country.  Last night at dinner Rick took a big bite of a chili pepper they brought to the table -- he's tough, he can take it! -- and discovered that its kick spread throughout his mouth and onto his lips.  Here he is, trying to put out the fire.


Today we were stopped at three military checkpoints in Mexico as we neared the border.  One of them involved a wait of a full hour (in the Sonoran Desert heat), but when we finally got to the head of the line we were waved through.

In Aqua Prieta, the Mexican town across the border from Douglas, AZ, we saw the anti-immigrant fence we've read so much about.  It's enormous:  tall iron bars backed by thick wire, with another imposing line of fencing 20 feet behind that.  Once in Arizona, there was another checkpoint about 30 miles into the state.  The guard took one look at us, asked no questions, and waved us through.  I am sure that we benefited from Arizona's stringent racial profiling, which did not feel good at all.

Very tired, mucho driving today, now about halfway to Camano Island, and all is well.  Goodnight!

1 comment:

  1. hey, I'm really enjoying all the bloggerei! Excited for you on your new life's ventures. Now if only we can raise the kessef to come visit you, life will be even sweeter.

    All's well here; I'm sure you're just about caught up on us. I feel better every day but still feel like resting a lot, and let it be so. I'm throwing a dinner party on Oct 30 to toast my first half-century. The week after that, it's tonsil city! lol

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