ROADTRIP

Distance traveled: 5182 km
Thoughts on Roadtrip: Will this road NEVER END?

We left Ontario on Feb 28th in the morning. Ran into a bit of a problem at the US border -Jenny's school hadn't sent her the correct documents to obtain her work visa. So, after being let into the country, we headed to Chicago so Jenny could drop off her car and pick up the paperwork. Port Huron Customs assured us that we just needed to "cross any border ma'am" in order for Jenny to reapply for her visa. With that in mind, we changed our "boot it across the country as fast as possible" route to the more scenic "it's slightly longer, but hell, we'll get to see Mexico and won't be driving through snow" route.

We headed on our way and were bored for most of the drive through Illinois, Missouri and New Mexico. Arizona was much prettier and the people were all quite friendly. In fact, I'd consider living there in the fall/winter. It was sunny and about 20-25 degrees. But I'd be out of there the first of May, I think. The guy at the souvenir shop told us it goes up to about 40 degrees. Yuck.

Missouri and Arizona and New Mexico were so warm, we had to dig our sandals out. Not such a big deal since we'd left behind -10 degree weather and about a foot of snow on the ground. In fact, I wasn't complaining at all that I got to ditch the sock and show off my new pedicure!

This was one of the random tourist stops we made in Arizona. It's Montezuma's Castle -and although people now know he never lived this far north, as the guide goes, the name has stuck. The cliff was full of caves and ledges and the people who lived here used these secret caves to enter and exit the castle.

The sign read "Fry Bread". We were hungry and it smelled good, so we took a chance. Turns out it's exactly like elephant ears/beaver tails. They sprinkle honey and cinnamon on it. Quite tasty.

This is the view from the highway running through Flagstaff, Arizona. It was a beautiful town and such a weird little oasis. We drove through desert to get here, then suddenly were surrounded by huge evergreens and mountains and lush green grass. Then, just as suddenly, we found ourselves back in the desert.

Mexico did not go as well as planned. "Just cross any border" my ass. Jenny was flatly refused her work visa, mostly, we think cause the customs agents had no idea what to do with a Canadian making entry into the country via Mexico. And crossing the border was chaotic and a little scary. At customs, they were searching a car near ours and found a suspicious package of white powder. Seriously! As if someone would bother trying that when they have drug dogs and customs agents everywhere! Fortunately, my car -which was packed with my worldly possessions- slid though the search. Our customs agent, while a little confused by our story, was nice and seemed to believe us. Probably because we looked so scared at the prospect of being searched that he realized the only thing we were trying to hide was our underwear.

Waiting in line at the Mexican border. Chaotic and confusing. People wander between the cars selling fresh fruits and vegetables and hot nuts.

We left Mexico as quickly as we'd entered. It was an ugly and unexciting border town and we still had the state of California to drive through. Next time I go to Mexico, it'll be to a resort. Guaranteed.