Robin and I woke up at 7:30am Central Time this morning, which was 5:30am to us since we were still on California time. We stayed up until 1:00am last night, so this only gave us about six and a half hours sleep, but we had to bite the bullet and adjust to the new time zone eventually, so today was the day. We let Enid sleep in quite a bit later though, and didn’t get on the road until 10:00am.

It was a good day of traveling in many ways. Today’s drive was only a little more than 200 miles, and it was cloudy and drizzly most of the way, so we were able to keep the windows rolled up most of the time. It was nice to have a break from the wind noise. We even listened to music for a while, which is impossible with the windows down. But by the time we arrived in San Antonio the sun was back, and a wicked mugginess along with it. A very nasty climate indeed, but one we’d best get used to as I think it probably approximates what we’ll find in Monterrey.

Enid was overall pretty good today, but a little edgier than the last two days. Also she never napped today because the drive was so short. We thought we’d get her to bed early and thereby get her switched to the new time zone, but at bedtime she got upset and fussed and cried for a long while, so she didn’t really get to sleep until almost 9pm. Not too bad, but not as early as we wanted. Hopefully she’ll nap tomorrow on the way to Laredo.

What I’ve seen so far of San Antonio does not impress me. In fact it looks butt-ugly to me. Maybe there's a nice part hidden somewhere? If so I’m unlikely to see it on this trip. Our plan is to visit the Alamo tomorrow morning and then hit the road for Laredo. I’m sure Enid’s attention span for the Alamo will be short, as may be my own. But what else does one do in San Antonio?

Miles Per Gallon

I feel compelled to say that yesterday we got 38 mpg and today, 41. Go Honda Civic! Especially since we paid $3.50 / gallon in Kent, TX.
Rest Stop. Nowhere, TX

Almost to Ozona.

Pepe's Restaurant in Ozona. Can you tell Marc is hungry and eager for me to quit with the photos already!?

Another good day of traveling. Enid again did really well, enduring the first couple hours of the car ride without complaint, and sleeping though the last couple. The only problem is that we have crossed two time zones in two days. and consequently we’ve gotten a later start each morning and arrived at our destination later each evening. But we won’t be crossing any more time zones before Monterrey and all the remaining drives will be short ones, so hopefully we can reign in the late bedtimes soon.

We crossed some beautiful, wide-open country over the last two days. It was good for the soul to see so much land virtually untouched by human activity, especially after a couple of weeks in the appalling sprawl of Southern California. Tonight we are staying in the surprisingly nice small town of Ozona, Texas, midway between El Paso and San Antonio.

Farty Fotos

Since Marc gave the low-down on today's events, I'll post some pics. My apologies for the sideways photos. By my account these have already been rotated but obviously I need to spend more time figuring out how to get it right. Not tonight though because catching up on sleep is more important.


Rest stop at a rocky landscape about 1 hr east of Tucson


Family rock adventure


Enid gesticulates as she sings her car-ride ballad


Enid and Gampy happy about our pee-break purchases: durable leather sun hat for Gampy, giant sparkler fireworks for Marc's birthday and a very pretty bird necklace for Enid, compliments of Gampy


We cross the Texas line and soon arrive in El Paso.

Deep in the Fart of Texas

A long but good ride from Tucson to El Paso today. Enid was happy the whole way, which makes all the difference. Cooler than yesterday too, with cloud cover much of the way and even a thunderstorm or two. In the afternoon Enid sang a ballad that lasted nearly an hour before finally falling asleep. Something bittersweet and romantic that she invented on the spot, with lots of "never" and "forever" and "someday" in it. I really wish I could have heard clearly what she was saying, but the car windows were down (no AC) and the wind noise was too loud.

Bedtime for Enid is proving to be problematic in our little hotel rooms. We have to turn out all the lights in the room after reading Enid her bedtime stories, and then we have to sit quietly in the dark until she falls asleep, at which point we can work quietly on our computers in the dark, but not much else. One of us can go hang out in the lobby or something, but we obviously can’t leave Enid alone in the room, so at least one of us is stuck in the dark. Sure would be nice to lie in bed and watch television, but alas it is not to be... Seeing how it has gone on the road makes me realize that we will have to endure this situation for the first few weeks in Monterrey too, until we can find an apartment. That’s a lot of sitting in the dark.

San Antonio is 550 miles away, too far to drive in one day with Enid along. So we’ll most likely have to stay in some dreary little town on the interstate tomorrow. Can’t see much at all of interest on the map.

Ocotillo to Tucson

Bummer that these posts get written at day's end when the caffeine high has dissipated and I'm fretting about all the things I have to get done before I turn into a pumpkin. Oh well.

Much of the nervous energy that plagued us yesterday was blown away at 80mph on Interstate 8. That and the 10 oz.s of chilled Starbucks coffee drink. Purposely avoiding coffee pays off big for me on the days when I do indulge. Go caffeine!

We left Ocotillo 8:30am. It was already blazing and without air conditioning in the car, it was definitely a HOT ride to Tucson. We kept the windows rolled down (obviously) and Enid's clothes wet and all in all it wasn't that bad.

One thing I didn't know about the southern deserts of Arizona, is that there are quite a few very large cattle ranches. It's really kind of gross. Thousands of cattle jammed together in the middle of the blazing desert. No grazing, just desert and covered cattle stalls.

A significant event of this leg of our journey is that the odometer on my car turned 120,000. Hooray for the 1995 Honda Civic. Even fully loaded and going 80 mph, we still got 33 mpg.

Another significant event is that we got our Mexican Auto Insurance Policy. AAA seemed to have a good policy for a reasonable price. It includes all the usual stuff that the US policy includes plus roadside assistance in Mexico and legal assistance in Mexico, should an accident with damage occur. For whatever reason, I could only get AAA in AZ to sell it to me.

So here we are in Tucson where $79 buys you a very nice room, full breakfast, pool, fitness room, 2 complementary drinks and in room wireless internet.

Tomorrow - El Paso, TX (probably). For photos of today, see below:

On our way, not too far from El Centro, CA. See my shoulder in the side mirror?


At a rest stop maybe 30 miles past Yuma, AZ


The odometer - 120,004


Enjoying our bed at the Best Western Inn (figured out how to use the timer on my camera)


Gampy, Enid and Marc waiting for dinner to arrive.

Yesterday my friend Bob visited all day. He’s an old desert rat from way back and has been very interested in my father’s projects out here, having read about them on my father’s website. But he’d never seen them first hand. Robin played with Enid most of the day so I’d have a chance to socialize.

Today was our last day of relaxing before hitting the road for Mexico. Mostly just a normal day of playing with Enid, but we did make a trip to El Centro so I could help my father bring home a futon sofa he bought at Costco, and I stopped by the bank to get traveler’s checks while we were in town. Robin baked some cookies in my father’s solar oven. Despite starting the project late in the day they baked successfully. I was impressed to see the oven make it up to 280°F even at nearly 5pm.

The van is already loaded with our boxes, and Robin is putting Enid to bed. I’ll load our Civic with our luggage as much as I can tonight since we’re hoping for a relatively early start in the morning. Our destination for tomorrow is Tuscon. While there we need to stop at the AAA office and buy our Mexican auto insurance policy.

Robin and I are both feeling a lot of nervous anticipation right now. I think even Enid is feeling nervous in her own way. Probably picking it up from us, plus of course she is probably unsettled from two weeks of travel and visiting people. Personally I just want to get the trip over with and be down there. Even though the first few weeks in Monterrey are probably going to be difficult, I’m anxious to tackle them and get settled in to a normal rhythm of life again.

The Precipice

Technically speaking, the broad, open desert is about as unlike a precipice as it gets. Metaphorically though, being here has me feeling a bit on edge. I will say that the desert itself is beautiful (lovingly deemed "hot and snakey" by Enid). But this is our final departure point. The day after tomorrow we go forward into the unknown. Age and motherhood and the extra 15 lbs I picked up somewhere between sane and severly unsettled have made me a bit more squeemish about that prospect than in earlier years. I waver between courageous and happily excited and uncertain and stoically determined.

The photo is from our evening walk in Ron's "backyard".


This is looking south across hwy 98 from Ron's "front yard". The mountains in the far background are in Mexico. However, we won't be crossing the border for another 6 days and about 1,500 miles east of here.


One of the "Ocotillo" for which this town is named.

From La-La Land to Cactus Land

We spent the last several days in the Los Angeles area visiting with Robin’s family. It was a good time and not too hectic a schedule, although we did have several late nights so Enid built up a bit of a sleep deficit. We stayed with our friends Amy and Kai for all except the last night. They have two little girls, Tatum who is five and Tess who recently turned three. The girls all enjoyed each other’s company a lot, but of course the energy level was always very high and constant parental diplomacy was required to keep disputes from breaking out. It made me think a lot about how different our family life would be if we had decided to have more than one child. I definitely like things the way they are.

Yesterday we drove down to Ocotillo, where we are visiting my father for a few days prior to the road trip to Monterrey. Cell phone service is spotty out here, but my father did set me up with a stable internet connection, which is nice after six days without one. Daytime highs here are around 110°F, so we are mostly staying indoors except for early morning and late evening walks. We are keeping Enid busy with various activities. Since my father is an active artist there are lots of art and craft materials around. We’ve already done some clay sculpting and made sea creatures out of insulating foam, and we’ll probably bust out some paints later on. It feels very nice to have some quiet time to relax and play, without any social engagements to keep.

I've received a few email replies from Monterrey preschools in reply to a letter I sent out to about 40 of them earlier this month. José also reports that some letters and faxes have arrived for me from other schools (I gave the med school address and fax number in the letter). I'm glad to see that the letter wasn't a total waste of time and postage. Gloria at the med school told me her son's primary school starts the third week of August, so if the preschools follow the same schedule it's possible we may get Enid enrolled somewhere before the first day of school.

On our way at last!

It was a hectic couple of days but we managed to execute the first leg of our trip to Monterrey successfully. The rental van was still available Monday morning so we picked it up at 9am. Robin’s mom watched Enid while we loaded the van and the Civic. Our boxes fit perfectly in the van, with just a little room to spare, so they should fit fine in my father’s minivan too. Glad to see we estimated that correctly, since we were just guessing really. We said goodbye to Robin’s parents and managed to get on the road at about a 12:45pm. The house wasn’t as clean as we would have liked to have left it, but c’est la vie.

We were fortunate enough not to encounter any serious traffic congestion anywhere along the way. We stayed together as far as Valencia, me driving the van and Robin and Enid in the Civic. At that point they stopped for dinner while I pressed on towards Ocotillo. It was a long, tiring drive. Because I was trying to arrive before midnight I kept my speed up fairly high, which increased the stress level a lot. One bright spot of the trip was listening to the nighttime music broadcast on KCRW, which had a strong signal almost all the way from LA to Ocotillo. I did manage to arrive just before midnight and without a speeding ticket or accident. My dad helped me unload the van right after arriving. As tired as I was I figured it was better to do it at night than in the blazing sun the next morning. Even at midnight the temperature was in the eighties.

Yesterday morning I was up at 7am to get the rental van returned before 9am at the Imperial airport. Then onto a Greyhound bus by 10am for the trip up to LA. Lack of sleep and bad air on the bus left me feeling rather sick by the time I had to change buses in San Diego. The second bus ride from San Diego to LA was a little better and I felt okay by the time Robin picked me up there, although very road weary. Now we are staying at Amy and Kai’s house in LA. Enid is having tons of fun playing with their two little girls Tatum and Tess. I finally got a much-needed shower and shave a few hours ago, and after a swim in Amy’s parent’s pool I am feeling quite good. No more travel until the 23rd.

While on the bus I received a brief call from José to say they’d received my application materials okay. He needed to know my second last name. In Mexico everyone uses two, paternal and maternal. I’d left it blank on the application, but I guess that wouldn’t fly. So I provided him with my mother’s maiden name. Happy again to know that they are working steadily to get my payroll paperwork finished prior to my arrival.

Yesterday was a fairly relaxing day. We had a morning date for coffee and pastries with our friends Thomas and Maya followed by a lunch & wine tasting date with our friend Todd, followed by dinner in the evening with Robin’s parents and their friends Fran and Ted. That didn’t leave a lot of time for trip preparations, but it was probably a good thing since we were going crazy with it all and really needed a break. It was also our wedding anniversary, so it made sense to have some fun.

Today we were back to work all day long with the preparations, hoping for a departure tomorrow. With Enid home it was impossible for both of us to work steadily all day, but we did the best we could and at this point things are pretty close to ready. Unfortunately we just found out that the rental van registration we made got screwed up and they expected us to pick it up today instead of tomorrow. Now the computers at the nationwide office are showing that no van is available at our location, but they can’t tell us whether it’s because our van is being held for us or because it was rented to someone else when we didn’t pick it up today as they expected. At this hour on Sunday the local outlet is of course closed, so we won’t know until they open in the morning whether we can get a van or not. So we may not actually be able to leave until Tuesday.

I finally got the employment application inked today and ready to send off. It took a while because it was all in Spanish, asked for lots of very odd information, and had boxes so small to write in that I had to carefully do the whole 4 page application once in pencil first just to make sure everything would fit. Apparently the application form is available on-line and can be submitted electronically, but interestingly the part of the ITESM website where the application is (as well as all the ITESM job postings) is password protected and open only to students and alumni.

I received my diploma and birth certificate translations from Diana yesterday (and fortunately they came in cheap at $34 because the birth certificate was very simple and the diploma was just a reprint and re-stamp of the translation she did for me in November) so I thought I’d be able to get the required two photos taken, make the passport and visa copies and mail everything off today. But then I realized the consulate still has my visa. I left it with them along with the menaje de casa inventory and won’t pick it up until tomorrow. So I couldn’t FedEx the paperwork today, but I did make all of the other copies ($2.94) and get the photos taken ($14 for four; I decided it was a good bet I’d need a couple more somewhere along the way). I’ll send everything tomorrow.

I also drafted a letter giving Robin permission to drive the car in Mexico and another giving her permission to bring Enid in and out of the Mexico without me and had both letters notarized ($10 each). The first letter is because even though Robin’s name is on the title along with mine, the car importation permit is in my name and she and I have different last names. So if she ever got pulled over while driving without me there’s some possibility that the authorities might give her grief Whether said grief would be mitigated by a letter written in English and notarized in the USA is open to question, but under such dire circumstances it would at least be worth a try. The second letter is just in case Robin needs to take a trip back to the U.S. without me at any point in the coming year. Mexican law says one parent traveling alone with a child is supposed to have written permission from the other parent before entering Mexico. Apparently the law is only patchily enforced, but getting ourselves stuck on opposite sides of the border is not something we want to risk.

I got an email today from Gloria, one of the administrative staff at the med school, regarding their efforts to get me a Social Security number and a CURP (Clave Única de Registro de Población), which is some kind of national identification number. They are apparently going to get these numbers for me, which is awesome. I’m sure it is going to save me from heaps of tedious paperwork and standing in line at crowded government offices. After my unpleasant experience with the faceless bureaucrats of the INM it’s good to know that there’ll at least be some accountability among the people I’ll actually be working with.

Absurd and Over-the-top

Well, I can't write a lot because then you wouldn't believe us when we say we're a bit busy with all this moving to Mexico business. I'll share this: When I asked Marc today whether or not he had posted his story about the customs brokers that many people end up having to hire - for $200 - he declared that it was all just too "absurd and over the top" to describe. Therefore, no post from Marc today.

So, I will tell you that the in-fact-very-nice-and-helpful customs broker lady in Laredo, Texas (we'll call her Brokerella) told us that it is possible that we won't need a broker (our load is relatively small). But we might. There is no cut and dried rule about what / who needs one and what / who doesn't. And, the customs broker on the US side of the line is only one-half of the equation. You have to hire another when you get to the other side of the line. And, they usually charge about $400. Dollars. So sayeth Brokerella. If I understand correctly, she did also volunteer to check out our stuff when we get to Laredo and to offer advice about whether or not we'll need a broker. We'll see. Economically, why would she think we don't need her service? However, I have, over the 11 month course of getting ourselves to CA and part way to Mexico, witnessed genuinely helpful people.

This would not include the people who wrote the ITESM (Monterrey Tech University) application for employment. They want to know not only what Marc's shoe size is, but mine as well. And, they want it translated, by an official translator, into Spanish ($35 a pop) - this part is totally true. Marc had to get his diploma translated, in addition to numerous other items. In fairness, I've seen the same bureaucratic morass descend upon University employees in the US. They hire you and then 15 committees have to decide what your title is. That kind of thing.

Marc has a saying when it comes to getting a bunch of stuff done - "the list is life". So back to it...

La Mama

OK, now I am officially part of this blog too. But I am incognito so you'll have to guess at my real identity. I just hope that Marc doesn't stay up 'til 4am again trying to figure it out!

Enid came down with a sore throat and fever Saturday night which meant very little sleep for us that night, plus all the stress and worry that comes with a sick child. It also meant that Enid’s grandma had to cancel her Sunday play-date with Enid, which we were really counting on to give us a few hours to work steadily on packing and preparing the menaje de casa inventory. Worse yet, we had to keep her out of school on Monday, which was time we really needed to work on all kinds of moving-related stuff. I decided to just bite the bullet after Enid went to sleep Sunday night, and I stayed up until 4am finishing the menaje de casa inventory. I was a wreck the next day, but at least I got it done. In fact I turned it in today at the consulate in Sacramento. It should be approved and ready to pick up on Thursday. I also picked up our car permit today, so that’s done. Enid bounced back from her illness pretty quickly, as she generally does, and was back in school today. Unfortunately I have a scratchy throat myself now and I’m really hoping it doesn’t get worse. The last thing I need right now is to get sick.

While I was preparing the menaje de casa inventory I was looking on the internet for information and examples and I came across several mentions of using a customs broker to execute the actual border crossing. Upon further reading it appears that it’s actually required to hire one. So now I have to work on that. Sounds like it will cost about $200. They get you coming and going with the fees and expenses. Just obtaining the consular approval of the menaje de casa inventory cost me $127. The automobile importation permit was $39.

Robin worked until 7:30pm but is now officially unemployed and busy packing up her clothes. I had to make two trips down to the Kinko’s in Napa today to get my birth certificate scanned. They charged me $7 which I thought was ridiculously high. Then when I got home the file wasn’t on my USB drive where they said they’d put it. So I had to drive back down there this evening, and this time I took my iBook so I could check on the spot that the file was actually on the USB drive. Now I can email it to Diana R., the woman who has been doing all my official translations for me. Now that the INM is done torturing me I am dealing with the paperwork requirements of the university’s recruitment department. They want copies and official translations of my diploma and birth certificate. But I consider myself lucky because unlike the INM they don’t require notarized copies or apostilles. I’m should try to come up with a list of how much I’ve spent just on the paperwork for this adventure. If you count all the INM fees, translation fees, notary fees, apostille fees, FedEx and copying charges it is probably over $500 at this point, and still climbing.

I received an email reply from the hotel where I stayed in Monterrey in February telling me that they would allow us to stay there in August. Their website stated that they didn’t allow children, but since it’s Mexico I figured the rule might be flexible. After all the website also says they have a Jacuzzi available to guests, and when I was there it was dry as a bone and had obviously been dysfunctional for a long time. So sure enough it turns out they’ll make an exception for us on the “no children” policy. Their weekly and monthly rates are pretty reasonable and they are very close to the medical school, so it could be a good option for the first few weeks while we choose a neighborhood and find an apartment. The room where I stayed in February was not luxurious, but it was clean and spacious and had a functional kitchen.

Today is the first day of the rest of your blog...

I'm setting up this simple blog today so that we'll have a way of recording and sharing our day-to-day experiences during our year in Mexico. Right now we are less than ten days away from our planned departure from Yountville, California where we've been living since November of 2006. The three months we were planning to be here stretched to over eight as the Mexican immigration bureau (the INM) took its time processing my visa paperwork. I finally picked up my FM3 visa, which gives me legal permission to work in Mexico, on June 22nd.

Today is Robin’s last day of work. We’ve both been working for temporary employment agencies to keep some money rolling in during our unexpectedly lengthy stay here. Robin has had a steady gig for the last couple of months in the legal department at Sutter Home. I quit my job the day I picked up the visa, but Robin gave two weeks notice. The preparations for our actual departure are numerous, and I’ve been working on them alone for the last two weeks while Enid is at school. Next week will be her last week of preschool here and hopefully with both Robin and I working we can finish up all the necessary preparations for our anticipated July 15th departure.

We’ll be driving to Monterrey, Mexico after some brief visits with friends and family in Southern California. We’re hoping to be in Monterrey around August 1st. My father is planning to caravan with us in his minivan to help us bring our household possessions down (since there’s little cargo space in our Honda Civic). Right now among the biggest details we need to take care of is preparing our “menaje de casa” inventory. That phrase basically translates to “household goods”. We are allowed to bring a fairly large amount of stuff with us duty-free, but it has to be contained in numbered boxes and each numbered box must be completely inventoried in Spanish. The inventory must me pre-approved by the Mexican consulate. I’m hoping to submit the menaje de casa for approval at the consulate in Sacramento on Tuesday, when we plan to be in that area anyway.

Most of the boxing up is done already. Robin still needs to do her and Enid’s clothes, plus we need to deal with Enid’s toys and books. I want to leave some of them out so she’ll have things to play with up until the last day, but I have to at least figure out how many boxes they’ll fit into so that I can add them to the inventory. And I need to start translating the inventory into Spanish.