Everything started out like a normal trip. I spent the two days before cleaning house, running errands, and packing up all that we would need (could not forget the pack & play). We went to bed early around 10pm. We got up around 5am and started getting ready. We left the house at 6:30am....YEAH....only thirty minutes later than I originally wanted to leave.
Joshua looking all cute as we hit the road and head out of Kyle.
Like father, like son....just staring out the window at the scenery.
Joshua playing with his toys.
What would normally have taken us fourteen hours to drive from our driveway to Raul's mom's house took us nineteen hours. Everything went really smooth, even with stopping for breakfast and lunch we were still on schedule by the time we hit the boarder. As we were hitting the customs line a boarder guard directed Raul to one of the lanes...."But we have things we need to declare."....we learned the hard way not to end up in the wrong line, even if you are just following the guards directions. We were held up for four hours while they went through all the stuff in the truck. The entire time Joshua was an absolute trooper. He played around in the cab of the truck and tried to burn some of his energy.
Entering Chihuahua, Mexico (Welcome to Chihuahua, The largest state in Mexico)
Sporting his toothy smile while he stands in the passenger seat.
Having a snack while we wait for Daddy to finish getting the passports checked.
Where is Daddy?.....Joshua hanging out the window watching the cars go by and watching for Raul.
After finally getting back on the road it took us another four hours to drive to Delicias. Joshua slept for a large portion of it, but the last hour he was upset and did not want to be in his carseat anymore (I don't blame him....I didn't want to be in my seat anymore). So I pulled him out and fed him and he passed out the last stretch. We pulled into Raul's mom's house at 2:00am. Then we had to unload the back of the truck. We finally crawled into bed at about 3:30am. Joshua slept until around 8am and was up from then on....although he did take two really good naps that first day.
Getting a bath when he woke up so he wasn't all sweaty and dusty after the drive.
Taking a nap in his Pack & Play
Saturday everyone was sitting around outside and Joshua saw a butterfly and had to watch everywhere it went so I grabbed the camera and took a picture of it for him. We then went and did a little bit of shopping, came back to the house to pick up Abuelita Linda, Tia Lily, and Alexis so that we could all go out to dinner in Rosales.
Joshua's Butterfly
Daddy and Joshua (look at those little teeth)
Joshua in the high chair at dinner
What Mommy ate for dinner
Joshua dancing to the guitar player at the restaurant
Sunday was a very lazy day despite being up at 7am because for some reason Joshua refuses to sleep later than that. It was one of the warmer days and Joshua was getting all sweaty again so Raul's sister, Lily, thought about giving him a cool-down bath in the middle of the day. He liked it. Then we went and got some dinner (oh, how I miss the tortas...those are so yummy!!!)
Joshua getting his cool-down bath
Playing on the high chair that Raul's dad had built for Alexis. He is laughing and clapping for Abuelita Linda
Abuelita Linda and Joshua
Monday brought us back to the road....I had the song "On the road again, back out on the road again" running through my head. Joshua slept nearly the whole way to the boarder. His new favorite game is pick-up. He'll drop his toys so that you reach back and pick it up just to have him drop it back on the ground again. So, our drive back was again nineteen hours. The delay this time....everyone else wanting to get back into the US after coming to Mexico to visit family over the holiday weekend. We were moving at a snail's pace. We stopped in the little town of Alpine, Texas to have some dinner and stretch our legs. Across from the resturant was a little donky place called Jack-Assic Park. It was pretty cute and fun. Joshua liked looking at the donkeys.
Coming back across the border (Happy Travels)
Jack-Assic Park
We hit the road yet again and stopped to put gas in the truck. Then just west of Ozona, Texas Joshua started throwing another fit. I knew he had to be just plain sick of being in the car and wanted to play. By this time is was dark outside. We still had at least five hours ahead of us and it was already 9pm. While walking around I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye and saw a baby rattle snake...yep had to get a picture.
Joshua playing while Raul filled up the truck
Raul and Joshua at the rest stop
The baby rattlesnake
Joshua laughing at Daddy
We pulled into our driveway this morning at 2:45am. Talk about a long and tiring drive. Luckily even after sleeping for five hours in the car, Joshua ate some food and fell back to sleep a little bit after 3am and slept until, yep you guessed it, his usual 7am. I got up with him and let Daddy get some sleep.
So, we are home and won't be doing any long distance travel any more this year. We are traveled out. Besides, we have our huge Cannon Beach, Oregon trip next October to look forward to.
