Here's Maria back in her dorm room.
And now ... the rest of the story.
To get Maria to the airport in Laredo, Texas, for her return to college, we made the 3-hour trip from Saltillo to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, then it's simply a matter of crossing the US/Mexico border and going 3 miles to the airport (there are a couple airports that are closer, but Laredo is much cheaper). But, we didn't realize that 1000s of people who live in the US, but went home to visit Mama for Christmas, would also be trying to cross that very same border on the very same night as we were. When we were 4.5 miles from the border, we saw many stopped vehicles ahead, and a policeman directing traffic. He stopped us and asked if we were going to the US, when we said, "Yes" he said, "Get in line." :-) So, we sat and waited, and inched forward, and read, and did Sudoku, and got out and walked around, and ate the food that we brought for a midnight snack, and drank the drinks we brought in the cooler, which eventually necessitated using the portable (ahem) facilities, that were placed strategically along the road. The way the border runs in that section, we were actually just a few feet from the Rio Grande and you could see the US the entire 7 hours. We could see the US flags, McDonald's, Wendy's, etc. I thought about swimming across, but didn't feel like getting shot by the border patrol. :-) Adding to our angst, is the fact that Nuevo Laredo is one of the most dangerous border towns, and we had purposely left early enough that we wouldn't be there after dark. But, I have to hand it to the town, they had plenty of police and private security, they were allowing people to sell tacos and drinks, and Domino's was there selling pizza. They also had mechanics for those experiencing car trouble and large containers of gasoline in case we ran out of fuel. Fortunately, we had the smarts to go up the night before her plane left, so we didn't need to worry about her missing her flight, although we did bemoan paying for a motel room which we didn't use until 1:30 a.m. Ah, well, we made a memory!
11 comments:
YIKES!! What a day!
What a story! Glad you were safe.
Wow ... what a day! And I fuss about Tampa traffic on the Howard Frankland bridge when I go to the airport! No more complaints from me!
what a mess! you 'made a memory', for sure!
hope things are getting back to 'norm' for ya'll! ;-)
trust you'll have a fine 2009 with those you love...
And here I thought maybe it was because of an ice storm that you went so short a distance in such a long time. We did that once but I think it was up north (do they call it the pan handle? I don't remember...I was only 8 :)
Glad you had the foresight to leave the night before. That would have been double distressing for her to have missed her flight!
I CANNOT imagine!!! I'm gritting my teeth just thinking of how much patience I would need....at any rate we're glad to have Maria back. You are blessed with a great girl you can call your own. Sometimes I still do a double take and think I'm seeing you!
Eek! I'm not so good at the waiting. Glad Maria is safely back to school, though. She's a sweetie.
Whew! What an experience! Glad that everyone stayed safe, and that Maria is back at GBS! It is always good to see her in church when she makes it over this way! Miss you guys, and hope you're all well!
What a memorable trip...sounds like some of the "hurricane" traffic we've gotten stuck in.
I love that Gaither song you posted a couple of posts down. Happy New Year!
Oh that's awful... glad you made it! Better you than me. :)
That's awful!!!!!
But thanks for making it an entertaining read for those of us reading your blog although I wouldn't have wished it on you for anything!
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