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Published: January 5th 2023
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This one was a rough turnaround. I'd just gotten home from a month in Africa. Lots of fun, but lots of busy, and completely exhausting. The trip home was brutal (did you read about the 5 cities in 3 days?). What's more: I was suffering jet lag, I almost immediately got a sinus infection when I returned to the Washington climate, and there was the whole matter of retrieving my lost baggage... 4 days at home and then off again on another jaunt.
Now Javan and I were headed to Mexico. We woke up at 2:30am to leave the house by 3 so that we could get to the airport by 5 for a plane that boards at 6. Cutting it pretty close, actually. Right out the gate, I started making mistakes. I forgot the bag of snacks and medicines hanging in the kitchen (no time to turn back for that). I forgot to gas up the rental car before returning it. And that wasn't the end of it.
Due to my incessant bargain hunting, our tickets had us stopping in Salt Lake City before Tucson to ultimately end up in Mexico. (What was I thinking when I booked
that?) Getting off the first plane, I somehow misplaced my memory card reader. I travel with a movie-studio-in-a-bag that always leaves and comes home complete. I am fastidious about putting everything in its place, but--yeah--I lost the little memory card reader today. That is a critical tool when you're filming documentary content all day every day on the road.
When the plane landed in Tucson we were already an hour late. We needed to eat something, and watch the World Cup semifinal, of course. That set us back another hour. Then the rental car office refused to let us drive our car into Mexico. Never mind that I had arranged for the Mexico drive over the phone and was prepared to pay the required "Mexico insurance". They just said no way, we're not letting you drive into Mexico, rent from someone else. So then we had to figure out another car rental (and pay a lot more for it). There's another hour's delay.
Now we had to do some shopping. Javan and I were both feeling pretty sick at this point. I had that sinus infection and J was coming down with a cold or something. One of
the ladies at the rental car office got upset with us for not wearing masks while we were clearly congested, sniffling, and coughing. So, we figured COVID tests would be a good idea. The first store we came across was a Walmart, and to my suprise Walmart is actually a pretty good store down here in Arizona. We bought the last set of COVID rapid tests and picked up a bunch of organic snacks for the road (I'm virtue signaling here, they weren't
all organic). After that we had to go to Best Buy to find a new card reader. Another hour delay, at least.
Add up all those hours... I think it's four. Our COVID tests were both negative, but there was no way we were going to get to Hermosillo (4 1/2 hours drive + a border crossing) before dark. All the advice we'd been given was not to make that drive across the Sonoran desert at night. So, we were basically stuck. Lucky for us, my parents have a long-time friend who lives near the Arizona-Mexico border just south of Tucson, and he just happens to own a small resort there. Always be good to people and take care of others because a friend is always a good thing to have in a pinch.
It was a short drive to the Historic Valle Verde Ranch (now up for sale, check it out: https://historicvalleverderanch.com/) where our friend Kelley set us up in one of the guesthouses. He took us out for a fantastic Mexican dinner at a little place (the only place?) in this 'town' that's more like a stop along the side of the highway. It was a cozy little place with great food and I got to sit next to the open fireplace. The room that night was warm and we both slept like (insert cliche). It's no wonder hospitality is such a universal and abiding value. Anyone who's ever been stuck out in the cold understands.
Why do we do this stuff? Even amongst all the trials, there are these shining moments: a warm fire, some good food, and cozy blankets. Travel, however harrowing it may be, reminds us that we're alive, and that we wouldn't be--couldn't be--alive alone.
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