On the border & In the house

Yesterday we headed for the border to get the rest of our things that were being stored in a warehouse in Texas. We left Arteaga at 6 am - thinking that would be plenty of time. Rafeal came with us. When we got there, we looked everywhere for a place to get a tourist visa. I will need one when I fly home in February, and we thought it would also make it easier to get back into Mexico with a truck full of items. We circled around town - looking for the place. Around and around we went. After over an hour, we finally found it. Much to our dismay, it is closed on Saturdays.

So, we headed to one of the bridges to cross into the US. We heard that you can also get visa there - but now it was getting late and we decided to cross over. The warehouse closed at noon or 2 pm - we weren't sure which time. Just as we were about to cross, the guards stopped the traffic. They told us there was a bomb threat and no one could go through. Of course!

There we sat. Time ticking away. 10:30 am, 11 am, 11:30 am.... We were literally 500 feet from the US but unable to get across. We were getting very frustrated. After driving for over three hours, plus the hour we spent driving around trying to get a visa, and it looked like we would not be getting our things.

Rafeal and I left the car and were able to get a visa for me. At least one thing was accomplished. After a nearly 4 hour stand-still, we heard a small explosion. The bomb squad. guards, and media crew ran to the place where the bomb went off. It seemed to be a very small bomb - or it was detonated - and after a few more minutes we allowed to move on.

Now it was 1:15 pm. We had to hurry, hoping and praying the warehouse closed at 2 pm. Chances of that were slim, but we decided to try anyway. Then we got lost. We must have taken a wrong turn somewhere - but fortunately we found a road that we recognized from the map and were able to find the building. We arrived as they were closing everything up; but they let us in and started looking for our things. What a relief!

We loaded up our washing machine, sofa, and 6 boxes. Rafeal had to stay behind in Mexico because his green card was expired. After we crossed the border we were able to find him and we headed back to Arteaga. I am so relieved everything went well. We even got a green light - which means we were not stopped at the border to be searched. That can be a fiasco because they tear open every box and leave you with a mess. The three cars ahead of us and at least one car behind us got the red light - but we passed by without being stopped.

Thank you for the prayers.

We moved most of our things - including one frightened kitty - into our house this afternoon. We are planning to bring the dogs over tonight after our dinner at Steve and Rebecca's house. Tonight will be our first night in our Mexican house. I'm excited to finally start getting our boxes unpacked and make this house our home.

People planning to walk across the bridge wait beside our car

Soldiers stood guard everywhere

Chaos in the streets as thousands of people wait in line

We learned a new Spanish word: Bomberos

Finally we can cross!

Load up the truck

Beautiful drive home with all of our belongings