(Un)Welcome to Mexico!
This is it. My final plea. We did what we promised. Canada to Mexico. If you haven't already, will you donate TODAY to support our team and help Kids with Cancer! Click HERE!
Total Distance Ridden: 1662 miles
Total Elevation Gained: 86,594 feet
Total Money Raised (so far): $20,186.06
Day 31 Vlog: Click HERE:
Have you ever watched a television series--a really good one--and pictured in your mind how it would finally end? Then, when the finale finally does happen, you want to sit the writers down and tell them they got it all wrong? As Katelyn and I were sitting in the detention room by ourselves in the Mexico Immigration Office with our passports confiscated, that was exactly what was going through my head: I had envisioned a slightly different ending to our ride. For one last time, let's go back and see how the final day led up to this:
It was a great feeling to lay out all of our bike bags in the hallway for Raquel to pick up as she drove through San Clemente. Other than my pump and tubes/tires, it was just us and our water bottles. Jay--whose house we crashed last night--decided to ride with us the first 30 minutes and took us down past the famous surf spots of Trestles and San Onofre. After leaving Jay, our route got a little crazy and actually put us on Interstate 5 for about 8 miles. Even though it was perfectly legal, it was us and 4 lanes of Southbound traffic--pretty disconcerting. We finally reconnected with the coastline roads in Oceanside and road along the beach again. After about 35 miles, we stopped in Solana Beach for lunch and called Raquel. She was ahead of schedule and we set up a meeting place on Mission Bay at a park we would be riding through that was 25 miles to the border.
The plan for the day was that my wife Raquel and son Cameron were driving down and would meet us at the border. We figured there would be some type of parking place down there where they could wait for us to arrive, then we would all walk to the gate? Wall? I'm not sure what it would be, but somewhere where we could take some pictures at least. The only problem is that none of us had been to the Tijuana border crossing before and we certainly didn't know how congested it was. I had given Raquel a general address of somewhere in San Ysidro but the areas was pretty chaotic. With 7 miles to go, Cameron called and said, "Mom got stuck in a lane that forced her into Mexico. She's not sure what to do now." Once we got within a mile of the border, Raquel and Cameron were still trying to find their way back out so Katelyn and I set about trying to find where we would cross ourselves on foot/bike.
Why we were so dead-set on actually crossing into Mexico (and then immediately crossing back) is beyond me. We were directed into the most crowded walkway that zigzagged between a bunch of buildings until we arrived at a concrete building with MEXICO on the front of it. We had made it! But it wasn't that nice of a picture spot, and figuring we would see nicer, we went through the one way doors--you could go inside but there was no exit allowed. This put us into the customs/immigration line to have them stamp our passport. As we waited, I called to see what the status of Raquel and Cameron were and found they were still in the car line to leave Mexico. At this point, Katelyn and I were laughing at the craziness of it all and I pulled out the Go-Pro to document the saga and pass the time while we waited. Then, this lady jumps out from behind the counter and starts yelling at us in Spanish about how we couldn't be on the phone and take pictures and she is pointing to the wall behind us that said so. I tried explaining that we hadn't seen the pictures on the wall and that I would put away my phone and camera but it was apparently too late. She demanded our passports and as I tried to again apologize for the misunderstanding, she yelled even more, this time turning to Katelyn and yelling at her in Spanish as well. Then, another official gruffly tells us to follow him and made us leave our bikes unlocked and unattended while we were directed into a small room and were told to wait. 30-45 minutes later, an official comes out and to talk to us. He says that we were not allowed to make calls or take pictures (I GET IT ALREADY!) while in Customs. When he was done peacocking, they stamped our passports and let us go.
Now in Mexico, we just wanted to get out. My wife had made it back across and was meeting us at a nearby store. We found the line to cross back into the states--another nice long wait, and then made the return into the US, all the while thinking back on our enjoyable crossing at the Canadian border and how much we missed that experience. Once back across, it was easy to find Raquel and they were waving the signs they made for us and made us feel pretty dang awesome! Or maybe it was awesome because we were taking our bike shoes off and knew we wouldn't have to put them back on again the next day? Either way, our ride was over.
So, the wrap up. How was the total experience? I wouldn't have traded it for anything. Aside from having a great platform to raise money for a great cause, I got to spend 31 days with my daughter. We laughed, played and suffered side by side and it taught me loads about her. I found myself being more patient and understanding of her personality and I saw her areas of strength that extended far beyond pedaling the bicycle. We saw so many incredible places that after awhile, we stopped being able to remember them all. There were some pretty tough days--a couple that were downright miserable--but those were the exceptions and it really was an incredible trip. Would I do it again? I think this is where the childbirth analogy comes in. Right now, I am happy it is over. In a year or so when I am reading back on our experiences, maybe I will get the itch to want to tackle something else. In the meantime, I can relax and be happy for the things we accomplished on our dad/daughter adventure.
One last thing: THANK YOU to all of you that followed along on this trip. I always felt like writing the blog was important and I hope we made it worthwhile to take the journey with us. And the donations? I couldn't be prouder of all the people I know (and many I don't know) that added smiles to our faces and gave so freely.
We did it.
Total Distance Ridden: 1662 miles
Total Elevation Gained: 86,594 feet
Total Money Raised (so far): $20,186.06
Day 31 Vlog: Click HERE:
Have you ever watched a television series--a really good one--and pictured in your mind how it would finally end? Then, when the finale finally does happen, you want to sit the writers down and tell them they got it all wrong? As Katelyn and I were sitting in the detention room by ourselves in the Mexico Immigration Office with our passports confiscated, that was exactly what was going through my head: I had envisioned a slightly different ending to our ride. For one last time, let's go back and see how the final day led up to this:
It was a great feeling to lay out all of our bike bags in the hallway for Raquel to pick up as she drove through San Clemente. Other than my pump and tubes/tires, it was just us and our water bottles. Jay--whose house we crashed last night--decided to ride with us the first 30 minutes and took us down past the famous surf spots of Trestles and San Onofre. After leaving Jay, our route got a little crazy and actually put us on Interstate 5 for about 8 miles. Even though it was perfectly legal, it was us and 4 lanes of Southbound traffic--pretty disconcerting. We finally reconnected with the coastline roads in Oceanside and road along the beach again. After about 35 miles, we stopped in Solana Beach for lunch and called Raquel. She was ahead of schedule and we set up a meeting place on Mission Bay at a park we would be riding through that was 25 miles to the border.
The plan for the day was that my wife Raquel and son Cameron were driving down and would meet us at the border. We figured there would be some type of parking place down there where they could wait for us to arrive, then we would all walk to the gate? Wall? I'm not sure what it would be, but somewhere where we could take some pictures at least. The only problem is that none of us had been to the Tijuana border crossing before and we certainly didn't know how congested it was. I had given Raquel a general address of somewhere in San Ysidro but the areas was pretty chaotic. With 7 miles to go, Cameron called and said, "Mom got stuck in a lane that forced her into Mexico. She's not sure what to do now." Once we got within a mile of the border, Raquel and Cameron were still trying to find their way back out so Katelyn and I set about trying to find where we would cross ourselves on foot/bike.
Why we were so dead-set on actually crossing into Mexico (and then immediately crossing back) is beyond me. We were directed into the most crowded walkway that zigzagged between a bunch of buildings until we arrived at a concrete building with MEXICO on the front of it. We had made it! But it wasn't that nice of a picture spot, and figuring we would see nicer, we went through the one way doors--you could go inside but there was no exit allowed. This put us into the customs/immigration line to have them stamp our passport. As we waited, I called to see what the status of Raquel and Cameron were and found they were still in the car line to leave Mexico. At this point, Katelyn and I were laughing at the craziness of it all and I pulled out the Go-Pro to document the saga and pass the time while we waited. Then, this lady jumps out from behind the counter and starts yelling at us in Spanish about how we couldn't be on the phone and take pictures and she is pointing to the wall behind us that said so. I tried explaining that we hadn't seen the pictures on the wall and that I would put away my phone and camera but it was apparently too late. She demanded our passports and as I tried to again apologize for the misunderstanding, she yelled even more, this time turning to Katelyn and yelling at her in Spanish as well. Then, another official gruffly tells us to follow him and made us leave our bikes unlocked and unattended while we were directed into a small room and were told to wait. 30-45 minutes later, an official comes out and to talk to us. He says that we were not allowed to make calls or take pictures (I GET IT ALREADY!) while in Customs. When he was done peacocking, they stamped our passports and let us go.
Now in Mexico, we just wanted to get out. My wife had made it back across and was meeting us at a nearby store. We found the line to cross back into the states--another nice long wait, and then made the return into the US, all the while thinking back on our enjoyable crossing at the Canadian border and how much we missed that experience. Once back across, it was easy to find Raquel and they were waving the signs they made for us and made us feel pretty dang awesome! Or maybe it was awesome because we were taking our bike shoes off and knew we wouldn't have to put them back on again the next day? Either way, our ride was over.
So, the wrap up. How was the total experience? I wouldn't have traded it for anything. Aside from having a great platform to raise money for a great cause, I got to spend 31 days with my daughter. We laughed, played and suffered side by side and it taught me loads about her. I found myself being more patient and understanding of her personality and I saw her areas of strength that extended far beyond pedaling the bicycle. We saw so many incredible places that after awhile, we stopped being able to remember them all. There were some pretty tough days--a couple that were downright miserable--but those were the exceptions and it really was an incredible trip. Would I do it again? I think this is where the childbirth analogy comes in. Right now, I am happy it is over. In a year or so when I am reading back on our experiences, maybe I will get the itch to want to tackle something else. In the meantime, I can relax and be happy for the things we accomplished on our dad/daughter adventure.
One last thing: THANK YOU to all of you that followed along on this trip. I always felt like writing the blog was important and I hope we made it worthwhile to take the journey with us. And the donations? I couldn't be prouder of all the people I know (and many I don't know) that added smiles to our faces and gave so freely.
We did it.
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| 31 days. Lots of stories. Couldn't be prouder of this kid. Unlike the photo, I didn't carry her at all down the coast. It was all her! |
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| Even with only 10 miles to go, you still have to stop for some good wall art! |
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| Hard to get in, hard to get out. Bienvenidos y adios! |
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| The waterfront in San Diego was ridiculously crowded but had some amazing views nonetheless |
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| For the golfers out there: how many times can you say that you visited Bandon Dunes AND Torrey Pines on the same trip and didn't golf either of them? |
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| Positive Vibes only in Encinitas. Or Solana Beach. Or wherever we were when we snapped this. We were by a beach. Does that help? |
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| Some of the best wall art on the trip! |
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| We always like the company on the ride. First it was Dan. Then it is Jay. Only riders with 3 letters in their name are welcome to ride with us? |
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| If I had a time machine, I would go back and tell us, "don't go through that door behind you! Just take your pictures and turn around!!!" |
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| We had hoped to finish by 3:00 and go to the beach for the rest of the day. Mexican customs made sure that didn't happen. It was 7:00 when we finally got to the beach but it didn't stop my kids from getting in the water! |
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| Not sure if this is a border thing or not--actually, I don't know what to say about it... |
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| Border selfie! |
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| I can honestly say that we were far less tired after today than we were after our first day in Washington when we did 35 miles. I even had the legs to squat down and pick up this kiddo! |
Congratulations, Jerad! Thanks for sharing your journey with your loyal readers!
ReplyDeleteChris, this was actually a proposal for a kinesthetic writing course for BYU. If you would, please submit it to the department. I think it should be a 5 credit course, but students would need to provide their own bicycles and helicopter...
DeleteSo wait....there isn't a "YUGE" wall down there yet?
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is wow!!! I love the color tiger art and Ramon from the Cars movie!!!
ReplyDeleteThis was wonderful to read, I didn’t hear about you two until it was over. What a wonderful adventure and something I’m sure you’ll never forget! I also rode in the GCC and completed both my donation and distance goals! Way to go!!!
ReplyDelete