Mexico City, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware I go!   🙂  http://mapq.st/Zv1810

Okay, my thing was waking up Friday morning, and heading out at 4:00 AM to make it to

Delaware in a record breaking 2 days, UM, I had to adjust my thinking…Reality sets in over the holidays, I woke up at 4:14, finished mopping and cleaning the apartment from the night before EVERY room mopped, swept, papers organized, and leaving with the apartment clean, the cats taken care of, and Kinah safely being vacationed at her dog resort, I was anxious about so many things – would the border be okay?  Would my truck suddenly come up with mysterious issues?  Would my money actually work all the way to the U.S. without problem? 🙂  I get to see my family, the family outside of Mexico!  🙂

I headed out, 5:45 AM, filled up my truck to the hilt with gas, (and presents) had extra pesos in hand for the tolls, and well, I figured out 45 minutes later, it it harder to get out of Mexico with all the directions I had than anything else…but I did it after awhile… and by say 7:00 I was on my way north…:)   YEAH!  Recalling that first day, I remember it was BORING, but boring is good in MEXICO!  🙂  I only was in a stalled line of traffic once, and wondered when I would make the border…and well, I found myself listening to Mexican radio stations, then switched to my Christmas cd’s, and texting a few times to Moct when I reached San Luis Potosi, then Monterry!, then finally the bridge #1 around 7:00 PM?  (I think that is right!), the inspection was easy, and I hit immediately 35 North to 59….I was excited it was the same day, and I was in the states! – as it got dark and I was close to Nuevo Laredo, I kept hearing everyone’s voices – get there before dark, get there before dark, is was a sinister from of something from Wizard of Oz running through my head…

but I made it, so onward and originally I thought, I will make it to Louisiana for sure, um again, adjustment needed.  I made it to Victoria, Texas and totally died asleep in my truck, at a truck stop, exhausted.  I thought enough to bring a pillow and a thick blanket as I wanted to be as versatile and ready to go to meet my appointment with the DE DMV by the 24th of December….was I crazy?  Yes, was I excited?  Yes, this was a cool adventure, lol.  I remember vaguely waking up on Friday morning, around 6:00 AM – heading out –   wondering how far I would get – however, I loved the warmth of Louisiana,    noticing it was 60 degrees out and December ! – wait until you see the pics I took for all those of  you that asked last time “Why didn’t you take pictures as you went through the states…” lol… I was DRIVING..but I satisfied some of your desires so I will post later JUST FOR YOU…lol….I traveled and drove and made it until I could go no further, which was at the truck stop outside of Virginia – the bottom most part of VA and top of Tennessee, and my GOSH – welcome to the cold, hovering around 40 degrees F I was thinking, I have become a wus with warm weather but was glad I brought a blanket!   Brrrr..FROST!  I forgot about FROST, lol….

Saturday morn, same deal – getting up, heading out at 6:00 (internal clock going!) and excited, thinking I’d be through VA in no time and in DE by , noon, um, NOOOOOO…VA, um, is FOREVER – F O R E V E R….4:00 PM seriously, I arrived at 4:00 PM, what the HECK?  This was the longest part my my trip.   LONGEST – by far… – maybe because I was close or because VA is huger than I thought, I DEFINITELY underestimated the size and time it would take me to get through…  I have a ton of little notes I will add to the next post to my trip along the way – that I will need to refer to, but I remember getting out of the truck arriving in DE, and feeling I had just rode a horse after a long time, for days and I felt saddle worn and punch drunk from the 18 hour driving days, but I was glad to be here on the 23rd!  🙂  By the way, I have to get to the DMV – so I will finish this later, but here is a final note, even with my bank cards, credit cards (Thank you Bancomer!) not working halfway through the trip, I managed to grab a private stash of cash to cover my gas and tolls if this happened, so it worked out well.  Today?  Glad by butt has returned the circulation and lost the pain, planning to do DMV, visit an awesome awesome Alison Schwinn (sorry, she is my favorite so I am going to gloat on her awhile), then head up and pack – travel to see my cousins in Takoma Park with Mom for a few days, and then back to DE to visit a few very missed people!  (okay, well many).

Irony – the amazing job Mr. Fields did on servicing my truck, I have never added a drop of oil to the truck, or antifreeze, or ANYTHING in the time to Mexico and the time back, which is a heck of alot of miles… if you think about the states and the time spent traveling, that truck is AMAZING, but the job Mr Fields did to allow me ZERO, NO problems whatsoever on this amazing scenic, adventurous, and painful trip at times, lol, is even more amazing.

I love making this trip as I see so many cool things along the way, have an opportunity to see cool places and things I would not see from a plane, and think about how lucky I am to be have the friends, and to be going to people I love, on either end.  I always get the barrage of, “Are you crazy?!” or “That is nuts!”, but after this trip, I have so far realized how amazing of a roadtrip it has become and gives me a chance to reflect on despite the bad things that occur, there are always good things that can come out of it and be represented if you only make the time, and take time to look for the positive.  The notes I will add to this will be awesome, and thought I want to go back and edit this to add the pics, additional notes, etc, I am going to push and refrain myself at the same time, to put this in a new post, to try and get as many visits and experiences out to you before a holiday 2012 ends…Curious, I’d love to get a few comments about what you are doing for the holidays and WHERE you are for the holidays below in comments…  it would be a great way to end the first full seasonal year of this blog!  🙂