Things are getting coconutty up in here!  I have successfully arrived in Mexico!

This has been an absolute whirlwind adventure so far.  I’ve pushed myself mentally and physically far beyond my comfort zone and have been riding on an adrenaline high for what feels like weeks!

As I frantically scrambled to tie up loose ends on my way out of the country, I found there were some I couldn’t take care of right away; so as I was making my way to the Osoyoos border, I had to make several pit-stops.  2 post office stops, and one at a courthouse (long story…not coconut related, but VERY important!),one at the craft supply store (more on that in the future), and one to pick up the phone charger Mom & Dad left in the truck in Kelowna.

It was already getting dark and I was fighting my way through Kelowna rush hour traffic (WHEE!) and it was starting to rain.  My friend in West Kelowna, Olivia, had promised me a long overdue hug should I stop in on my way.  I was SO late, so it was really just that…a hug, but oh-so worth it!

All charged up from my little dose of Livi-love, I was off like a CRV rocket to get to the US border ASAP so they could go through my over-packed car and confiscate the cat’s food (they are apparently quite uptight about pet-food).

On the way through Oliver, the cats started to get quite antsy.  I didn’t want them to be acting like jerks whilst crossing the border, so I pulled over in case they needed a snack, water or litter box break.  None of the above.  No sooner did I stop the car and Bubba had Juice in a head-lock in the passenger seat.  Screeching and hissing ensued.  I looked at them and said “SERIOUSLY?” and they both stopped, & pretended to be innocent.  KIDS!  Am I right??

Once at the border, I had crated the kids just to be on the safe side (which is frowned upon with human kids, BTW).  One officer took my passport while another popped the back window to have a poke around.  Right where the bags of cat food were hiding under a blanket.  As the officer asking the usual questions asked me “any drugs or firearms?” I choked on my words because there were SO MANY JOKES!!  Like….”Firearms!?  Sorry, no…..is that a prerequisite to enter the US?”  Or “No drugs for ME, and I’m no narc, so I won’t tell you the cats are packing catnip””

Thankfully, before I tried to make a funny, I realized that these guys might not take it so well.  Also, they had COMPLETELY missed the fact I had 2 cats and 2 bags of cat food…one opened, which is supposedly a no-no.  Just drive, Amy.  DRIVE!!

So drive away, I did.

I felt a bit cheated, to be honest.  I got away with only about 2 minutes of my time spent there; but I felt like I had been studying super hard for a test, only to have the teacher say “The test is cancelled!!  You all get an A!”

But……but….I was PREPARED!!

*sigh*

So onward!  Through Washington to Pendleton, Oregon for the night.  It was dark.  It was foggy.  Sorry…I meant FOGGY!  Quite possibly the WORST fog I have ever driven in.  It was insane!

**Side note: Little known fact about me:  In 22 years of driving, I have had about 6 car stereos.  Every single one of them has slowly fallen behind in time about 10-15 minutes and just stays there.  Every time!  WTF?  My latest deck is supposed to sync to my phone, which it did when I first set it up, but then fell behind by 13 minutes, only to randomly right itself about a week before I left.**

As I was driving through this incredibly dense fog, I was reflecting on all of the Stephen King movies I’ve seen and wondered…”What sort of evil is lurking in this fog?  Monsters?…….Aliens?……..*gasp*…Trump supporters???”

I glanced back at my clock and it was an hour and 5 minutes ahead!  Heart rate goes up…..”SHIT…it was aliens!”

I scramble for my phone to confirm I was missing 65 minutes of my life, but no….just another weird thing with my clock.  *whew*  Well, at least it wasn’t Trump enthusiasts!  Haha!

I arrive at the Motel 6 in Pendleton at 1:15am.  The cats were restless having had another scrap in Walla Walla.  Maybe it was because Walla Walla smelled like the broccoli you forgot about in your crisper last year and has since partially liquefied; or maybe they were sensing that I was so hungry, I ate at ARBY’S!!  *cries*

As I’m unpacking the car into my little ground-floor room, I noticed a kitty in the parking lot.  “AWW….A kitty!!” was my first thought, but then I realized it was MY kitty!  And the other one is just making a run for it!  So at 1:30am, in freezing wet weather….I am herding cats in a Motel 6 parking lot.  You can’t make this shit up…..really!  The folks at the Super 8 next door were surely entertained.

The room was ok.  Not sure what I expected for a Motel 6, so I guess it was fine.  I was hoping for a bathtub for a faux-spa experience (LOL!  “faux-spa”?….damn, I’m funny!) but there was only a wedge-shaped shower.  Not a big deal, but the shower head was installed at about the 5ft mark.  My boobs have never been so clean!  *ouch*

First morning of this adventure.  I have already cleared an entire state into Oregon….or should I say “Boregon”?!  I realize this is only one part of it, but I had such great visons of what it was like!  The fog acted as a blank canvas for my imagination!  Well…..this part of Oregon, and the corner of Idaho I drove through…well…

Meh….

I had to pee.  I stopped at a Rest Stop outside of Twin Falls.  So far, Rest Stops in the USA have been very nice.  This one seemed just as good as any.  I went in, did my thing, and proceeded to wash my hands.  The mirrors looked strange.  Maybe it was the lighting?  Were they made of some sort of polished stainless steel?  I pushed on one to see…..stared at it for a bit.  Went to the car to get my phone.

Well….I’m not sure, but that very well could have been mirrored glass!  Seems unusually inappropriate for a nice bathroom on the interstate, but Google suggests it just might be so!  So there I am, phone in hand, pressing on the mirror, trying to decide if there is a “gap” between my finger and my reflection. Haha!  Clearly, I am bored at this point! *shakes head*…ONWARD!!!!

It was dark.  I was tired and hungry.  The interstate highways don’t allow the option to preview what you might find at an upcoming exit so I was reluctant to take random exits to find out.  I was surviving on Kashi bars, carbonated water and Cherry Coke Zero (yeah…go ahead and judge.  I know it’s terrible).  I knew Jackpot, NV had several hotels and casinos, so I figured it would be a suitable place for a food stop.  Maybe a Wendy’s salad…or Subway?

WRONG!  Jackpot is a LIE!  There is only a handful of big hotels and casinos…in the middle of nowhere.  Unless you are there to gamble, you might as well keep on driving.  That is until you get 10 minutes out of town and realize that is ALL for who knows how long, so you turn around to get gas.  Because it’s cold, snowy, and lonely out here.  Would be a terrible shame to get stranded!

More Kashi bars….

After a quick stop in Wells, NV, I have acquired food, messaged the ‘rents, and am back on the road for my final 2 hour stretch.  Getting pretty tired, not much sleep these days.  The interstate is blissfully straight and the moon is full, so I can almost enjoy the scenery…..but there is NOTHING around.  I’m hoping to find a spot to pull over and run a few laps around the car, but there are no pull-outs and at 120kms/hr, one generally doesn’t see wide spots in the road until it’s too late.

About an hour away from Wells, and 2 hours to Ely, NV, I spot a sign for a Rest Area ahead.  Other than the creepy mirror thing, these have always been great stops.  I see a transport truck stopped, so I pull off the road into a parking lot, of sorts.

Turns out, this wasn’t the rest stop, it was a creepy old abandoned motel!  Not only was it creepy because the doors were all open, and the Venetian blinds all mangled and moving in the wind…..it was creepy because the furniture was all still there and it hadn’t been vandalized with graffiti and such.  It was like someone just left it and forgot about it.  Or maybe they were taken…by ALIENS!!!!! Haha!  Well, I did get out and do my laps.  Yes, I did try to see the rooms a bit closer, and yes, it *did* make me run a bit faster.

An hour later, I was safe and sound at the Motel 6 in Ely, which was a whole other experience.  Shower and all!

More on that later.  Gotta hit the road early tomorrow!