First Leg...

I posted this story on a forum for other people in Playa following our trip... Enjoy. More to come. (ooops, i'm logged in as Lincoln... this is really Lori talking)

Ok, where to begin??? Friday evening, up until 2AM packing the van. So much for leaving by 9AM… We still hadn’t finished our packing or cleaning the condo. Had to leave her shining as there will be showings for sale or rental while we’re away. Anyway, it was quite the show. My favorite was watching Lincoln pack the roof while standing in a shopping cart. Then, just when I thought he couldn’t get any more Trailer park, he started washing the windshield with a floor mop. Entertaining. Then there was me, I was in charge of packing the back of the van. I’m tellin’ ya’ she is TIGHT! Did my best to fill every last square inch. And… just when we thought the van was full… we realized we forgot the printer. Keep in mind, it’s a desk top printer, but it felt like a full sized Zerox at that point. By the time I finished we were having issues finding space for a roll of toilet paper! Now, THAT’S tight! Gotta love it when you find a new air pocket! I was a little disappointed when we pulled out of the parkade and realized there were a couple holes of space near the windows. Ha, we could have taken at least one more piece of paper! Hahah… seriously! Or at least some bounce sheets!

We finally hit the road around 3PM on Saturday. Heading for the border at Sweetgrass Montana. Nothing too eventful on the way. Lolita was holding up nicely. Handling the load as best she could, which was comparable to a Lincoln Continental in need of a front end alignement (to say the least). Make small adjustments when driving, and be sure your big rig driving hat is on tight. Top speed… 110Km, aka 70MPH.

Roll in to the border around 6pm. No line, thank god. We’ll see if our luck continues as we pull up to the window. So, the dude asks Lincoln “What do you have in the van?”. Linc says “Uh, other than the kitchen sink, nothing at all”. Border official “do you have any weapons?”, Linc “uh… just a gun… a tape gun… does that count?”… Ha… not. We didn’t think he’d find that as amusing as we did! Kept that one to ourselves. We were asked to remove the animals and they took the van out back. Since they couldn’t have actually opened the doors without stuff tumbling out, we figure they must have done some swabbing and drug dog snoopin’. About 20 minutes later, passports in hand, and back on the road. Grasias, and Adios. I must say, that was one of our most enjoyable trips across the border. Pleasant people who didn’t have anything to prove…. To us anyway. Might be smart to keep our “jokes” to ourselves at the Mexican border too.

Montana… I noticed it’s really tough to figure out their ‘exit’ system on the highway (maybe just at night). I haven’t exactly pinpointed what the issue is… Cause I think there are several. For instance, the lines. The way the lines are painted, the Exit isn’t clearly distinctive from the rest of the road. No dotted lines to cross over, and no signs or lines to mark the middle section. Then, plant that confusing exit onto a curve in the road… and you’ve got yourself a wrong turn. The ‘exit’ goes completely straight… and the actual highway curves hard to the left. Lucky for us, we brought along our trusty Cherry 2000 gps. For anyone who doesn’t know, Lincs addicted to TV… apparently that is a movie about some robot woman. We love you Cherry.

Stopped in a little town, barely had a gas station. But they did have a Countrytime Skillet. Ah, I forget what it’s called, but that’s close enough. YUM-E!! We shared a homemade turkey veggie soup, chicken fingers and mozza sticks. It was a little difficult to order cause I referred to the chicken as ‘Fingers’ instead of ‘Strips’. I guess they’ve never heard of that. Apparently ceasar salad isn’t a small town thing either… I believe I stumped her 3 or 4 times while I was attempting to order. Geez, we speak the same language and I’m already having difficulties. Can’t image what I’ll be ordering to eat in Mexico. Anyway, what I managed to order was so delicious! Veggie soup?!?! I don’t even eat vegetables! But I couldn’t get enough of that soup!

On the road again… Linc drives all the way through the night. I tried to keep him company most of the time, but since the driver has control over the temperature and radio… that left me listening to snoring talk radio. Some “interesting” topics which include religion and UFO’s. How am I supposed to stay away listening to that? Hit a McD’s parking lot for a quick snooze around 6am, then breakie and back on the road.

Somewhere in Wyoming, we realized our rear tires weren’t holding up so well to all the weight in the van. Stopped off in Cheyene to get them replaced with some 44psi beauties. All I can say is that there sure are some interesting characters in Cheyene. I felt very out of place, haha.

Tried to make it though yet another night, but after 2 caffeine pills, a couple coffees and an energy drink (that is supposed to last for 5 whole hours)…. It was a no go. I was actually still tired after pumping myself with all that caffeine. I should write a letter to that stinkin’ Energy Drink company!! Made Linc drive again and I was zonked out within minutes. Finally decided to park for a few hours sleep around 2am, in Dumas, Wyoming. We attempted to sleep in the van. The two of us, and two animals in the front seats of the van… It doesn’t work. We decided to check into a hotel for a good nights sleep.

Waking up Monday morning I was totally hung over. I believe I can attribute that to a caffeine overdosed the day before. Thank god for a bed though… we needed it! I’m sure the animals appreciated a break from the little cube we’d been living in too.
We planned to drive all the way from Dumas to Houston Monday. Saddle up, it’s going to be a long ride. Due to arrive around 11pm. Our AMA trip advisor told us to take highway 35 most of the way to Houston. But our new found love Cherry, lead us down another route, through several small towns, the number 287. The highway was still fantastic but down to single lane in some areas. This didn’t affect us at all considering our top speed is about 110km/hour. We weren’t passing too many vehicles in Lolita, that’s for sure.

So, a day… and a night… and another day… and a night…. And we’re almost where most people start their drive to Playa.

Rode into Houston around 10:30. Staying with my sis and her hubby for a couple days before the next leg of our trip.

Did some visiting, shopping, hot tubbing and lots of eating in Houston. Not sure how we plan to fit our new purchases into the van… but where there’s a will, there’s a way! Dad called today very concerned about the news reports of violence at the border and driving through Mexico. We’re very aware and planning to do everything we can to stay safe. I will admit, it scares me to think about the border where I cannot speak their language. Then to top it off, another 5 military check stops on the way….. yikes. uh, we’re from Canada where it’s very rare to see machine guns kicking around. Or for that matter… any guns at all. I could personally do without them. But… I guess that’s part of what I’ve signed up for in order to live my dreams in Playa.

Leaving shortly to Brownsville.