My Dad surprised my Mom and bought tickets to come down to Albuquerque for a week. We had SO much fun! First things first...we picked them up from the airport and went straight to the Tram so we could get a great view of the beautiful sun sets that Albuquerque has as well as a great view (duh) of the city. Originally, we were going to go out for dinner but we scored these tram tickets...so I packed a picnic dinner, which was really fun.
The next night we hit the Isotopes Baseball Game. It ended up totally raining that night, but it worked out perfectly because we showed up late to the game...just after the rain and with just enough time left in the game to enjoy it. (Entire Baseball games are a little long for me) Of course, we had to get some of that great fried food...and yes, I ate that whole foot long corn dog...it was delish!
And dippin' dots too, of course!
The next day we got in the car and headed down to El Paso, Texas where we watched my Sister, Chandra, play a few soccer games in a tournament she had down there. It was fun...and HOT!
We had a whole day with no soccer, so we had to fill it with something...exercise in the morning.
Then a yummy breakfast!
Then a trip to Juarez, Mexico. NOT! So, we decided to drive around El Paso a bit and wanted to drive up to the border...but not cross it. We just wanted to SEE. Well, we were too many lanes away from the sudden "Last Chance to Turn Around Here" U-Turn spot and ended up leaving the country unknowingly. Before we knew it, we were waiting in a line to get through Mexico's Border Patrol...not where we wanted to be. Have you HEARD about Juarez?!? We flipped around as fast as we could since no one had their passports and my Mom didn't even have ANY identification on her AT ALL. We joked around for about a half-second and thought it would be funny to make my Mom get in the bed of the truck...and we'd tell the patrol guy that we didn't know who she was.This was just ONE of many men at the Mexican Border who were inspecting and searching vehicles...yikes, even the guys on OUR side didn't carry guns that big. Intimidating.
The lines were SO SO long! And it was quite a site, there were HUNDREDS of Mexican people walking up and down the rows of the cars selling things (ANYTHING, like framed random pictures, as shown below), begging for money, washing windows, they'd do ANYTHING for any little small amount of money you would give them. It was sad.
While we were waiting in the long lines, we were discussing whether or not this would be a problem to get back into the US. We sort of decided that the land between the US and Mexican Border Patrols had to be some sort of 'no mans' land and that we never really left the US. However, as soon as we got halfway over the bridge (where all the Mexican people were selling stuff) between the two border patrols, suddenly, there were no more Mexican people selling things. It was strange. We later learned that there is NO 'no man's land' but that the border is actually split half way between border patrols and that even though we didn't think we had entered Mexico, technically we HAD and that meant we had left the US and had to re-enter...without our proper identification. :)
Luckily we got a nice Border Patrol Man who laughed at our stupidity and said it happens ALL THE TIME. :) - We talked to him for a good ten minutes...the whole time, this big Ford Excursion with a young female driver was pulled over in front of us and there were about 7-8 police men who were searching the ENTIRE car and even sticking a video camera down into the gas tank...taking turns looking into it. The Drug Dog was sniffing the car out...it was SERIOUS. No one in the car would let me take a picture but trust me, it was business!
The lines were SO SO long! And it was quite a site, there were HUNDREDS of Mexican people walking up and down the rows of the cars selling things (ANYTHING, like framed random pictures, as shown below), begging for money, washing windows, they'd do ANYTHING for any little small amount of money you would give them. It was sad.
While we were waiting in the long lines, we were discussing whether or not this would be a problem to get back into the US. We sort of decided that the land between the US and Mexican Border Patrols had to be some sort of 'no mans' land and that we never really left the US. However, as soon as we got halfway over the bridge (where all the Mexican people were selling stuff) between the two border patrols, suddenly, there were no more Mexican people selling things. It was strange. We later learned that there is NO 'no man's land' but that the border is actually split half way between border patrols and that even though we didn't think we had entered Mexico, technically we HAD and that meant we had left the US and had to re-enter...without our proper identification. :) Luckily we got a nice Border Patrol Man who laughed at our stupidity and said it happens ALL THE TIME. :) - We talked to him for a good ten minutes...the whole time, this big Ford Excursion with a young female driver was pulled over in front of us and there were about 7-8 police men who were searching the ENTIRE car and even sticking a video camera down into the gas tank...taking turns looking into it. The Drug Dog was sniffing the car out...it was SERIOUS. No one in the car would let me take a picture but trust me, it was business! After our rough Mexico visit, we decided to find a little Mexican joint for dinner. Since Gary was the really hungry one, we made him pick the place...he picked this random place where our server guy couldn't even speak English. The Menus were in Spanish. We were ON-OUR-OWN for this one folks. Luckily, Gary was happy with his meal. Mine was pretty good too.
The next day...more soccer. It was really fun to watch. I don't really enjoy watching soccer on TV, but I LOVE to watch live soccer, especially when my siblings play because I think they're the best ones on their teams...naturally. It's fun to see them play so well and do something I could NEVER do!
During her last game, Chan totally got tackled and kicked in the face (accidentally, I guess). I just think the other team wanted to get her out of the game somehow because she was making it difficult for them! :)
She was just really lucky that nothing happened to her EYE! You should have seen her the NEXT day. I think she'd kill me if I posted the picture, so I won't. But her eye was so swollen, it was completely SHUT and purple!
This is a picture of Juarez, Mexico...it's crazy how close it is to the US. It's just on the other side of the freeway we were driving on. Right there. Amazing how the living conditions are so drastically different just on the other side of the freeway.
At a rest stop on the way home from El Paso..."prego" needed a potty break. And WHAT in the world is a "Beware of Rattlesnakes" sign doing at a rest stop?!? AWESOME! Just something I want to see while I'm running into the washroom!
Back in Albuquerque the next day, I took my parents to Old Town. It's just a fun place to walk around and window shop...and I always love to check out all the hot sauces! :) Don't look TOO close, some of them don't have the best names. Favorite named hot sauce was "The Colon Cleanse"
After Old Town, we met Gary for lunch at one of our FAVORITE New Mexican Restaurants and introduced them to the Sopapilla and the Red and Green Chile! Total New Mexican. Ya'll should come visit us so you can try them too!!
And then we dropped them off at the airport. It's always SO much fun when someone comes to visit...but SO hard when they leave. It makes me remember that "Oh yeah, I really DO miss my family!"
During her last game, Chan totally got tackled and kicked in the face (accidentally, I guess). I just think the other team wanted to get her out of the game somehow because she was making it difficult for them! :)
She was just really lucky that nothing happened to her EYE! You should have seen her the NEXT day. I think she'd kill me if I posted the picture, so I won't. But her eye was so swollen, it was completely SHUT and purple!
This is a picture of Juarez, Mexico...it's crazy how close it is to the US. It's just on the other side of the freeway we were driving on. Right there. Amazing how the living conditions are so drastically different just on the other side of the freeway.
At a rest stop on the way home from El Paso..."prego" needed a potty break. And WHAT in the world is a "Beware of Rattlesnakes" sign doing at a rest stop?!? AWESOME! Just something I want to see while I'm running into the washroom!
Back in Albuquerque the next day, I took my parents to Old Town. It's just a fun place to walk around and window shop...and I always love to check out all the hot sauces! :) Don't look TOO close, some of them don't have the best names. Favorite named hot sauce was "The Colon Cleanse"
After Old Town, we met Gary for lunch at one of our FAVORITE New Mexican Restaurants and introduced them to the Sopapilla and the Red and Green Chile! Total New Mexican. Ya'll should come visit us so you can try them too!!
And then we dropped them off at the airport. It's always SO much fun when someone comes to visit...but SO hard when they leave. It makes me remember that "Oh yeah, I really DO miss my family!"Thanks for coming to visit Mom and Dad! We had so much fun with you! Come see us again soon!! Like for the UNM vs. BYU Football game in November! :)
6 comments:
Great post! You guys make amazing hosts...it looks like. We should come try it out for ourselves. That beware of rattlesnakes signs makes me think of my last hike to the Y. Yuck!!
So I just happened to be blog stalking and I have to leave a post... We went to El Paso last year and the SAME thing happened to us! We were trying to get to the zoo, and we didn't turn at the appropriate time, and found ourselves in Mexico! I have never been so happy to be pasty white in my life!! Ha ha! Next time you go to El Paso, you need to check out the outlet mall just outside of it. It is awesome!
I want to come and visit! I'm sure you are just dying to come visit Pocatello, ID...so exciting. I love your little prego belly!
Looks like a fun time. And cute tummy by the way! :D
your little stomach is really showing now. It's so cute. Love you.
Did you know that Dippin Dots is made in the big state of Kentucky, in Paducah about 1:15 minutes from Hopkinsville. Cool huh! Love reading you stories, glad to see the pregnancy is going well.
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