Mini-move

We made good time again today and we're south of Tucson . . . getting ready to cross to Mexico before dawn.

Traveling is a mini-version of moving to another country. You spend an inordinate amount of time doing stuff that wouldn't take a minute at home. Where do you eat in Garden Valley, Arizona, after 9 p.m.? At home, of course. Denny's is your only other choice. (They were very nice about the take-out idea when I called, by the way.)

And where do you walk your dogs when there are no sidewalks near the gas station where you're filling up? I've checked out the back of a few stations now. That's perspective for you!

This Best Western isn't as helpful as last night's La Quinta. They gave our room away, for one thing. Is 8:30 p.m. really that late? I found free wi-fi, but it's not the hotel's -- so I'm hoping my computer isn't contracting a deadly virus as I write this. (Who's SpeedLink 27?)

The dogs are pooped from sleeping in a warm truck all day. Yes, we finally did drive into better weather. Although, the wind in Mojave was unbelievable! I struck up a conversation with a local after he commented on it -- apparently it was unusually breezy, even for a place with about 10,000 windmills. We drove past the Mariah Motel there. Sheesh!

Well, the dogs are fed. I'm waiting for Ross to show up with our Denny's cheeseburgers. Then we need to get to bed for the run for the border first thing.

All the way to Stockton in a day

We're at the pet-friendly La Quinta Inn in Stockton. Ross is out rustling up some people food. We fed the dogs already.

(By the way, La Quinta has free wi-fi Internet access . . . so they're definitely on my recommended list.)

Ross drove the whole way. That's probably not a great idea. But maybe he was a long-haul trucker in another life. We left at 6:30 a.m. and arrived here shortly after 8 p.m. I think all the days on the road except the last will be about this long.

We had to eat lunch in the car, because -- although Wendy's had a picnic table -- the weather was lousy. The dogs pretty much left us alone, once we laid down the law . . . but we were a good example of wolfing down food at that point.

The dogs were amazingly good. I think they liked their little cave in the back seat, once they settled in.

We experienced a dust storm and rain (with a little sleet) at one gas stop along the way. It looks like we've found much better weather now.

I think we'll all sleep well tonight.

We're leaving for Mexico tomorrow!

I had lunch with Christine today and she suggested I start blogging about our adventure.

The first consideration was what to call this blog. To Say Nothing of the Dog is the title of a very popular science fiction novel that I love -- because it's not terribly science fictiony. And that title is taken from a very fun 1890-ish novel by Jerome K. Jerome, Three Men in a Boat (To say Nothing of the Dog).

Now that I have a blog title, here's the first installment -- which is from the email I sent some folks this morning.

Ross has the truck packed, except for the essentials that we’ll need tonight and the dog stuff. We’ll leave first thing tomorrow morning. The dogs are as nervous as cats. I keep telling them they’ll be seeing more of us than they really want . . . but they don’t believe me.

Tomorrow night we’re staying in Stockton, California. The next night is in Phoenix. Then Mazatlan. Then Ajijic.

If you need to reach us, our cell phones should be working at least until we cross the border. At least leave a voice mail. I don’t know about Internet access at any of the hotels/motels we’ll be staying at. (I do know they’re all dog-friendly!)

Did I tell you that my boss is flying me back to Seattle to see our new offices as soon as they’re open?

Let me start over. Maybe I didn’t tell all of you that Hacker Group is moving to downtown Seattle. The move is happening next weekend – so I had to pack up my office before I left! Spyro, my boss, offered to bring me back for the first day in the new office (ironically, it’s Cinco de Mayo.) So Ross and I will be driving for four days to get to Mexico on Friday. Then, on Sunday afternoon, I’ll be flying back to Seattle! I’ll fly back to Mexico on Tuesday – and if I’m lucky, I’ll see Ross at the airport just as he leaves for Grand Rapids for a client meeting. My flight arrives at 2 p.m. and his takes off at 3:30. Since I’ll only have carry-ons, I won’t have to wait for luggage . . . so if I get through customs quickly, he can tell me where he parked the truck and I can drive home. Otherwise we’ll have to figure out how he can leave me a message.

Ross is saying three months won’t be enough to figure out if we like living in Mexico if we spend most of our time in the States. On the other hand, after four days on the road together in such close quarters, struggling with crazy dogs, a little away time may make us appreciate each other again.