GUTS: Days 8-11

1/2/06

We cleaned up the church, the bathrooms, and the classrooms in the morning, said our goodbyes, and left for the North. It was kind of a rainy/misty sort of morning, and it continued through a lot of Mexico. We stopped at all the checkpoints we did before, only this time, at one of the military checkpoints, one of the soldiers got on the bus, checked our cooler, checked a pillow for drugs, asked me what I was writing…(this journal)…asked Gene how he was feeling…(he was taking a nap)…and chatted with Maria for a bit. (He also asked me how to say “how are you doing” in English). I told one of my friends what he had asked, and after we were rolling again, she kind of laughed and said, “I guess I never really thought about it the other way around before. You know, not knowing how to say simple things in English”. *grin* Another giant leap for the not-so-terribly-diverse Montanans. *wink*

We stopped for a couple hours in Ensenada for our shopping. It was fun to shop this time, because I could speak the language, and I even remembered to barter a little. (Last time, everything was so cheap, I completely forgot to barter). Traffic to the border was thicker than molasses in January…in Montana. There were people selling their wares to cars in line, it was so congested. Jamie bought a little guitar from a guy through the bus window. Ai! Once we reached the border, all we had to do was unload, walk through a line, show our picture IDs, reload onto the bus, and we were back in the US. It was ridiculous. Last time, at least, we had to take off our luggage and have it X-rayed. Another blessing. We reached San Diego just after dark, and reached our destination. Hardwood floors in a church this time. We ordered giant pizzas for dinner. We only needed 3 to feed 29 people. Each pizza was 3 feet in diameter! They were awesome! The curfew was 10, as there was a lot of gang activity in the area, so most of us just hung out inside and gave back massages. It was a relaxing evening.

1/3/06

Tuesday morning, we loaded up and drove to Sea World. We spent the day doing our tourist bit, and looking at the marine life. The best part for me was probably getting my caricature done. I chatted with the artist, and who has family in Mexico, so we had a nice chat. Tassie, Matthew, and Jillisa went on the water rides. I didn’t, as I had a cold, I was already cold, and am still not so terribly sure I’m 100% right as rain after my pneumonia bout 2 summers ago. I didn’t want to chance getting it again. So I was content to wait. We all went to a Chinese buffet for dinner. It was amazing. I was pleasantly surprised to discover how much better seafood is when it’s only a couple miles from the ocean, rather than several hundred miles away. J Back at the church, we gave more massages before going to sleep.

1/4/06

We drove all day, and I pretty much visited, wrote in my journal a pathetic little, and slept. We made it back to Beaver, UT for the night. We ate at the same restaurant, and stayed at the same hotel, but the pool was out of order. Bummer!

1/5/06

Another solid day of driving. However, we stop at the Army Surplus Warehouse in Idaho Falls. That was fun. If I had money, I would have spent a bunch there. But I don’t have money, so I just looked and had fun stretching my legs a bit. The last stretch to Montana was a little bit icy, but not bad, and we reached Dillon about 7 PM. We all said our goodbyes, said our hellos to our rides, and set off for home. And now we’re back to hurried schedules, chaotic responsibilities, and challenging lives. I can hardly wait to go back! J

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