In the opposite order of our arrival in Mexico, we left. The kids and I first flying to Utah on July 5th and Dave starting his drive on the 6th.
The flight was mostly uneventful (just as planned) with a few crying bits courtesy of Charlie. He has been so excited to go on a "big airplane". Whenever we'd see an airplane in the sky he'd say "I go in", and for a month I've told him he would get to soon. So at the airport, I showed him the airplanes and he couldn't wait to get in. But as soon as we were in it, he would see another out the window and whine to "go in". No amount of explaining would satisfy him that we were in an airplane already. He didn't like sitting in a seat and wouldn't take a nap at the proper time, so became pretty cranky. Then we had to rush out of the plane in Pheonix to catch our other flight. Jane pushed the luggage cart through customs and to our new gate like a trooper, but both Milli and Charlie wanted me to carry them. Not even close to possible. Hence more crying. But we made it to the gate with no time to spare and were very glad to see my mother when she picked us up at the airport in Salt Lake.
We stayed with my parents for the night and woke up early to go to the house. The kids ran around looking at everything. Every sentence was "Remember this..." , "This is the best day of my life" or "I love this house". We immediately started to unpack all of the boxes in Jane and Milli's room so they'd be able to sleep there that night.
Dave's trip was equally uneventful. He did choose a different route home though. Instead of heading for the Laredo, TX border crossing, he took the coast up to Arizona.
This route is supposed to be faster, but you have to stay a night in Mexico, which now that we're old pros, we were willing to let Dave do. He said it was wonderful to be on cuotas (tollroads) almost the whole way. He stayed in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, MX the first night; Pheonix, the second; home by the third.Tope (speed bump) warning sign. We won't miss these.
Hmmm... hard to decide which way to go.
We'll miss the old Pemex stations...back to pumping our own gas.
We're very glad to be home, especially the kids, but we will always treasure our memories of Mexico. And we hope to make it back in the near future, at least to visit.
