Yesterday American Thanksgiving. I was giving thanks for all that I have. I beautiful girl, a great dog, and a wonderful and supportive family. I was also giving thanks for a safe journey thus far and all the beautiful people I've met along the way.

There's one more thing... as I headed south down highway 19 out of Tucson towards Mexico, I was giving thanks for an utter and complete lack of traffic. It seems everyone was either out playing football, stirring gravy, or preparing for the morning shopping rush of Black Friday.

I on the other hand was up at 6:30 a.m. with coffee in hand driving south towards Mexico. Stopped a few times for some last minute supplies, and to mail photocopies of my identification and vehicle registration to my father in Canada for safe keeping. I made three color copies of all this stuff the week before for stashing in the van and to send back.

I arrived at the US/Mexico border at around 10am and still the traffic was easy. I get pretty anxious at border crossings, there's no reason for it, I just get all tied up in knots. I drove down the hill and before I knew it I was at the green light telling me to pass. The car in front of me was pulled over, and in the chaos I proceeded slowly trying to understand if I was allowed to drive through or if I was supposed to stop. No one had looked at my passport or anything. While stopped looking for direction two border guards seeing it as an opportunity walked up to my van and just started trying to open the doors without warning. Encountering locked doors, they grew frustrated, until I rolled down the window saying "Dog! BIG DOG!". They immediately backed off and waved me onwards... Lol.. Moses isn't all that big, but I'm sure if some guys opened an unlocked door to my van without asking, he'd have something to say about it.

I need to get Spanish BEWARE OF DOG signs.

The thing about the Nogalas border is that the city of Nogalas is right up against the U.S. and you essentially cross the border right into downtown traffic and a flurry of migrant workers looking for a way north. The smog hits you immediately and there are people everywhere.. it's a clear transition from sterile and ordered America to the unordered chaos and randomness of Mexico.

I held on tight as I maneuvered my way through the seemingly random traffic threatening to crash into me at every instant. Finally I saw the sign for Hwy 15 out of the city. Within minutes the city gave way to rolling hills and the open expanse of Mexico.. Ahhhh it actually felt really good to be in this new country and out of the U.S.

I drove south 20km to the checkpoint where you are forced to stop and get a tourist pass and a sticker for your vehicle to ensure you don't import it. I jumped out of my van and grabbed my papers, and headed in the direction of the office. There I encountered some guys who through broken English helped me fill out my tourist pass application. I laughed with these guys at our inability to communicate and finally broke down and spoke what little spanish I have gathered while walking the dog the past couple weeks. They smiled, now understanding me, and directed me to the copy center and bank to finalize my paperwork.

At the copy place they asked for my passport, drivers license, and vehicle registration. I grabbed the first two and opened my wallet for the third.. only to realize it wasn't there. What? It's always there... I racked my brain, walked back to the van and proceeded to tear it apart top to bottom.. where did I put it.

Having not found it, I grabbed a color photocopy and returned to try to go without. I made it past the photocopiers fine and up to the bank window.. where after 10 minutes of suspense the woman asked me if I had the original... "No." She then directed me to the border guard standing near by who promptly shut down all hope whatsoever of going any further south.

I made some calls, jumped back in my van, and headed back to the US.. my guts tied in knots again at entering the US... For sure they're going to think I just went down for a drug run, for sure they're going to rip apart my van, for sure they're going to tell me I can't enter the U.S. without an original registration.. So much for 'feeding the faith and starving the fear'.

Turns out the U.S. border was a breeze and I arrived back in Tucson at 4pm and started making arrangements for my father to pick up a new registration in Canada and FedEx it to me.. FedEx... photocopies....

FedEx was closed until 8:30 am the next day (today).

I was up at 8:30 this morning and over to the office, the woman pulled a huge box out from behind the counter labeled lost and found, "We keep anythign that doesn't look replaceable" she tells me. As she goes through piles of items, it's really amazing what people leave behind, she tells me each stack represents a single day. THEN, there it is... my registration.

So yeah... my mother used to always say this German expression translated to English, "What's not in your head, is in your feet." in my case, what's not in the head is in a day to Mexico and back, a half tank of diesel, all to go back to now.here.

Well I guess it was a scouting mission, I filmed with DV through the Nogalas border, but Sunday when I go back in, I'll have more cameras ready to capture the scene.

peace,d

PS. Image from Gate's Pass outside Tucson