Friday, October 18, 2013

The Journey Begins...

Plugged-in at brother-in-law's home in
Houston
After a rather lengthy blogging sabbatical, I figured the least I could do would be to write about our adventures along the way as we make our way from Norfolk, Virginia to Mérida. The last few months have been busy with deciding what we would take with us and what to leave behind, with packing and multiple trips to Goodwill. There were also countless large black garbage bags lining the street in front of our house, filled with things that would likely fail the "one man's junk, another man's treasure" cliché. Because this is a new beginning, we chose to leave most of our accumulated belongings for others to enjoy. Other than a few cherished paintings, our favorite cookware, some kitchen gadgets, and clothes, we are coming to Mexico with our two dogs and cat in a 20 foot motor home.

We began our trip on Wednesday, October 9, in a heavy rain. It seemed that we would never get the last item loaded. We had planned on leaving around 9:00 AM. We drove away at noon. There was a tremendous feeling of relief, that even though our home is still unsold, no longer will we have to rush to clean the house and make it presentable for a showing. It was difficult and tiring to keep the house clean with two large, active dogs around. Our realtor is baffled as to why our home has not sold, and he recently had an open house for 30 area Realtors. The feedback was all positive, including affirmation that the price is where it should be. We have a great home in a desirable neighborhood, so it will sell eventually.

Our two dogs have never been on a car trip lasting more than half an hour. We had no idea what difficulties traveling together for such an extended time would bring. To our amazement, the dogs settled in between our seats, competing for the fully reclined position or the cramped one, and slept quietly for the entire day. Occasionally, a rough road or series of bumps would bring them to their feet, but then they settled down once again. We stopped frequently that first day, for water and bathroom .

Mr. Jules, our little orange Manx, cried for the first few miles, but he then also settled in, burrowing under a quilt on the bed or sitting on a hammock of sorts we fashioned from the collapsible nylon and mesh crate suspended between the two twin beds in back. He could see out the side and back windows and seemed content seeing more of the world in one day than in his entire 6 years.

We spent that first night parked in a huge parking lot in a beautiful North Carolina rest area, illegally, but no one ran us off. There were a few other cars parked nearby and the parking area was well lit.
A great night's sleep, with cool breezes which turned a bit chilly toward morning, rested all of us for the drive to Atlanta.

8 comments:

  1. How exciting. I'm so glad you're sharing your experiences with us. God bless!

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  2. Good Luck! I know you will have a great adventure.

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  3. We'll be following you in about 4 months. Please post regularly and in detail. You've been missed.

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  4. We will be following you in just a few months and hope to read about your trip south, in detail. You have been missed.

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  5. Thanks, everyone. I will try to post as often as possible. Once we cross the border, it might be difficult to find a WiFi hotspot.

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  6. Yes indeed, do blog about your trip! we love to see the travels of others. Plus - I must see your kitty hammock, foto please!

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  7. Great to see you posting again. I was wondering where you guys had got to. Looking forward to reading about your trip.

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  8. Thanks, everyone. The problem with posting during the drive is that if we are lucky enough to get to a place where we have WiFi, my brain is simply too fried to even attempt to post. I will, eventually, post about our travels. I have a few harrowing tales to report. Like I said on a FB post today, driving through central MX is NOT for the feint of heart. It has been an adventure though. Unfortunately, having 3 animals along makes it very difficult to really see the country. It has basically been drive, park, sleep, repeat.

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