Free Spirit: Don't back into the border patrol's gate!

Journal Entry by LULU

I am sitting under an orange tree ion Pharr, Texas. The wind is picking up to near tornado strength and I can hear the thunder in the distance. It is my turn to pick up the pen and tell you about all the exciting events and how we ended up back in Texas. It was on a Friday on the 6th of July that we left Donna Texas. The moment that we have been waiting for since we began our RV journey just over a year ago. So, with as much toilet paper, paper towels, peanut butter, bug spray and so many other products that we stocked up on because we were told it would be hard to get or expensive in Mexico. Little did we know that we would also be on that list.

RV Park in Pharr, TX Orange trees in all sites.

HEATED pool in 100 degree weather.

No oranges in our tree.

We had a great stay at the Magnolia RV Park in Donna, Texas the week before. We spent the 4th of July with about 20 other summer residents and were able to entertain them for their cookout. Like all the other parks we have visited, we met some great people and made some new friends. We made our heartbreaking good-byes and headed to the border.

Lulu finds a victim. Fred!!

Small group but fun. Last dance with LULU.

Tony was the 4th of July cook.

These guys were in the trees.

Magnolia RV Park

Sign posted on US side at Falcon Lake.

Surprise!! This is in the U.S.A., not Mexico.
The floor of Falcon Lake, Zapata, TX.
About 20 feet below level.

Al has spent countless days and nights on the internet doing research and communicating with people already in Mexico. He has compiled a list of all the best methods, roads, tolls and towns to drive through and which places to avoid. So we headed to the Anzalduas International Bridge crossing in Reynosa, Mexico. We were privileged to be one of the first people to cross through this brand spanking new facility. The place was still shiny and clean and still smelled like fresh paint. Hardly anyone was there, because it did not even look like it was open to traffic. Construction on the U.S. side in McAllen, Texas made it almost impossible to locate and barely accessible to enter. Therefore, it was an exciting and historical moment to see the sign “Entering Mexico”. But have you ever noticed that the U.S. sign says “Welcome to the United States”? There are no welcome signs in Mexico.

So began our 9-hour ordeal. From 11;30am until 9:30pm, we paced and walked and followed two stone faced Mexican customs (ADUANA) agents back and forth from building to buildings and office to office. Our first escort was from our original crossing at Anzalduas to another crossing, about 20 minutes away at the Amanecer crossing near Pharr, Texas. One of the bridges that we were told to avoid because of traffic and because of the difficulty we would have had in getting on the freeway to our Mexican destination. It looked like the only Mexican ancient ruins were going to see on this day were the slums of Reynosa.

Brand new gate.

Not a scratch on it.

That is until AL got to it.

All of this attention was not because we had the wrong paperwork or because AL forgot to leave behind one of his many firearms but because the Free Spirit got hung up on a “tope” (speed bump), just past the security gate on the Mexico side. Apparently the truck and RV began to rock and roll back and forth, just enough to bend the security gate arm back about 6 inches. We were not told this until a couple of hours later. We thought we were waiting to be inspected, since we got the “RED LIGHT”, and Al was inside another building taking care of some paperwork. While parked at the first bridge, we were told that we were waiting for the boss man from the other bridge to come and investigate. However, after no one showed up for a couple of house, we ended up following the lit up police car to the other bridge. So we got the full escort, with a cruiser in front, and an agent in the front seat. Once at the Amanacer crossing, we got in to the police car and taken to HQ. I had never been in a police car before, never mind the back seat. At least Molly was with us.

Our Mexican auto insurance adjuster arrived and we are told we are all set, but a minute later, we told nope. Mais uno minuto. (One more minute). Actually, it was many more minutos because no one knew what they were doing. Hours later, after Molly and I started eating the tuna salad I had packed up for the trip, before it went bad, and without any other food or water, it looks like we may be able to leave. Nope. So sorry. Mais uno minuto.

We were in a two story building with hundreds of people, most of them women. And when I ask to use a bathroom, they say, so sorry, no public bathrooms. More waiting. More tears and Al starts to get impatient. Now the insurance person tells us that they offered to pay for the damage, but the “Aduana” will not accept his word. Instead, they want cash or they will have to impound our vehicle until it is paid, maybe by Monday? It is now 8pm on Friday night.

Finally, someone comes up with paperwork. Now they hit us with a $23,000 peso bill, about $1,500, CASH!! So much for our emergency money that we had put away. However, it is now getting dark, and we are no longer interested in driving in to Mexico. We pay our bill and back to Texas we go. I have written lyrics to a new song, and it goes..”I am proud to be an American, where at least I now I’m free, But, don’t go in to Mexico, if you ever have to pee….” It was a very stressful, discouraging moment and had us thinking twice about what we were doing.

But now after a few days of re-grouping and looking back, and after many encouraging and positive posts from our Mexican RV friends, I can look back and see that this was not the normal routine. It was an unfortunate accident that my driver was to blame for, whether we like it or not, and, the delay was not done on purpose, but was because they had two young agents that were not familiar with their procedures. Throughout the day, we could see the frustration in their faces, as they were given the runaround by their superiors.

At the start of my journey I wrote that I will not fret over tangled Christmas lights or lost luggage. So, for now, my heart sinks back in to place and AL is back on the internet re-routing our journey. New plans are underway and we hope to re-enter Mexico without any problems very, very soon. We still have our health and happiness and we will pray for that other world that we wait for where we all live in peace as one. Stay with us… Go West…. Or South?? Or is that East? Thank you GPS? No, but rather, ....thank you GOD!!!