Recap from last post:
STUFF NIGHTMARE & MAJOR PANIC THE DAY BEFORE LEAVING FOR MEXICO
Our car title was missing
It's required to cross the Mexican Border
Will we be able to get a new one?
Will we have to delay our trip?
DECEMBER 7, 2016
Day 1 of the drive to Puerto Vallarta
I had planned the move months ahead of time, not thinking about the date that we were leaving
December 7th is a significant day:
* Pearl Harbor Day,
* Youngest nephew's birthday * Oldest nephew graduated from Marine boot camp on Dec 7, 2007 (my family was in San Diego for this event)
* That same day, Dec 7, 2007, Todd contacted me on Match.com
Todd and I met in person a week later and I was pleasantly surprised - he looked like his photos (handsome), nice, funny, down to earth, intelligent, athletic, and humble. I told him I wanted to move VERY slow with dating and he agreed... yep, we took it slow, started living together a couple of months later!
day 1 - the drive to paradise
We packed up the car, had breakfast with my parents, and said many teary goodbyes. It was heartbreaking to leave my parents even though I wanted to go and couldn’t wait to start this new chapter in my life. We were excited, yet nervous, because we weren't sure if we'd be able to get our car title and make it to PV in time for when our furniture arrived.
We're finally on the road! Bags packed in the pod, dogs in the back, all set! Adios cold snowy Chicago! Asha is taking a last look .
An hour later we arrived at the drivers facility and were told it would take a WEEK to get a new car title - Nope, that won't work.
The only other option was to expedite it to arrive the next day, but with a hefty fee. No problem - we need that title and figured if we were delayed one day we could still arrive in PV before our furniture arrived.
Mom and dad did not expect to see us again so soon! We headed to their favorite lunch spot and on the drive back to their place, Todd had an epiphany - 'HEY! I KNOW WHERE THE CAR TITLE IS. IT'S IN THE BACKPACK!' (which was behind his seat in the car the whole time).
At that exact moment I knew that this drive to paradise was going to be an adventure.
For the second time that day, we loaded the car, said more slobbery teary goodbyes, and told my parents we'd see them in a few hours - HAHA!
In a few hours I felt nostalgic and emotional because we were here ... near the small farm town of 550 people where I grew up.
Open land for miles in the winter - in the summer, corn field after corn field.
It felt surreal driving in the area. My childhood felt like another lifetime ago - when I was a scared girl. Now many years later I was confident, strong - and I knew another bend in the road would happen soon. It was time to fuckit and JUST BE ME - no apologies, no worrying what others think.
The longer we drove the FREER I FELT.
FREEDOM is what I've always desired, the freedom to be me and have fun while doing it.
This moment was magical
The sun shining through the clouds looked like heaven.
The two semi trucks reminded me of my dad truckin' down the road as he'd done for decades.
We ended up around Springfield, Missouri that first night, driving well past sunset into snow. By 9pm we found a hotel.
Let me know if you have questions about driving to Mexico.
xo
Kathleen Naomi