Crossing the Border

Crossing into the U.S. at Tijuana can take hours. I had several apps on my phone that tracked wait times, and 4 am was the shortest wait. I really didn't want to do that,  so we left at a semi-reasonable time, 6 am, and planned for a two-hour wait. If you're prepared for it, the wait can be fun. There's plenty of food to buy if you're hungry, there's entertainment, and there's shopping. We got our windshield washed, which I'd been meaning to do, we bought some churrros, and we talked to a lot of vendors. One guy was hilariously persistent. He was dying to sell me something. He'd go to the stores that line the road and pick something to present to me. He wouldn't come down on prices, though, so I kept saying no. We watcged him ryn back to the shops, debate quickly, and grab a ceramic turtle to run back to my car. I said, laughing, "Nooo! I don't need a ceramic turtle!" We were both laughing. He was a great guy. I felt badly later when I bought a soccer jersey for Ptolemy from another guy, but the other guy had it cheaper. What can you do?

There was another salesman that walked with us for a few minutes, talking. He was from Guadalajara, and his English was very good. He said he'd tried to cross the border several times and was caught. Squinting northward, he said, "I'll go someday." I told him to be careful. People die every day trying to cross. This guy was ambitious and smart. I wish he had more opportunities, but good for him for being such an entrepreneur.

This guy, I recognized from last time we crossed the border, when we went by accident. He sold us the soccer jersey.

By the time we got across the border, it was 8:30 in the morning. We basically went to Imperial Beach and fell asleep in the sand. Some of us ended up with sunburns to prove just how soundly we slept.

Lunch at my favorite Hawaiian place.

And back to naps. I'm not accustomed to being at the beach without little kids. To actually be able to fall asleep for reals, without keeping one ear open for screams and/or drowning, was pretty great. I even did some reading.

Such beautiful, lovely children, and they get along so well.

Sometimes.

I hated that the Mexico trip with this crew was coming to an end. I loved being with them. I was dying to see Scott and the little kids, but still sad that the end of our brave lottle adventure was in sight. These are the easiest kids. They all got along well. There was never any drama or conflict. They are all very patient and easy going. I thought Sofia might have trouble with her English, but she didn't. She understood everything and gained so much speaking ability during her 6 weeks. I was proud of her, and in awe of her calm approach. She never seemed to get frustrated, even though it must have been a challenge. She is strong and dignified, but also very fun! Sofia is up for anything.

All the kids are up for anything, and they're super accommodating. I felt like I'd be a damper on the fun, as "the mom," but none of the kids, including mine, wver gave me the impression that I was an unwanted stick in the mud, and I appreciated that. I sure loved being with this gang.

After our skin was sufficiently charred, we left the beach and toured Old Town, including the Mormon Battalion. Sometimes I wondered if we laid on the Mormon stuff too think. Ha ha. It's just what we do! Church is intrinsic to our lives. Plus, I think the Mormon Battalion site is interesting. Olympe got cornered by a French-speaking missionary. He was great, though, and so enthusiastic about using his French.

The kids tooled arpund Old Town for awhile while I read, then we drove to our hotel in Escondido, grabbed dinner at Wendy's, hot tubbed and hit the hay.