note: Days 14, 15, 16, and 17 are sparse in details because I am writing them days after they have occurred and on less than 2 hours of sleep while riding a bus from San Antonio, Texas to Monterrey, Mexico.
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May 18 and 19, 2008
Ethan and I wake up around 9AM and already Lynn is buzzing about preparing a feast: pancakes, waffles, sausage, bacon, potatoes, and orange juice. Sean wakes up a short while later and tackles making the pancakes in various shapes such as airplanes and teradactles.
We eat, digest, lounge, laugh, talk about the events of the previous evening, and pack up to hit the road. Lynn makes a color polaroid of us that perhaps it will be on her Flick (please?). We say our goodbyes and thank everyone for being superb hosts. We had only planned to stay in San Diego 1 night but it was so great we had to stay 2.
We depart San Diego around noon and drive for 21 hours straight. Yes, 21 hours straight with only stops for gas, once to eat dinner, and once to eat a much needed breakfast that would end up destroying our stomachs.
Ethan and I take turns throughout the 1,300 plus mile journey. I drive the first leg of the trip, he drives the second leg, and we alternate the last 2 hours every 30 minutes due to exhaustion. During the night Ethan manages to avoid hitting what is either a bobcat or a coyote. Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz, and Cut Copy give us much needed energy during the final 2 hours of driving.
We arrive in San Antonio and make our way to the Greyhound station to purchase bus tickets for Monterrey, Mexico. With a couple of hours to spend before our 2:05PM departure, we walk around the downtown river front, see the Alamo, drink iced teas, bootleg wireless, and grab a sandwich at Subway.
Behind schedule, our bus finally begins to board at 2:50PM and it is a complete mess. We are the last two people allowed on board before the bus closes it’s doors.
Ethan sits next to a woman wearing a black blouse, sea blue skirt, and small, thick hoop earings. Her skin is fair, smooth, and her hair tones of gray. She looks to be in her early 50s. I sit next to an older woman, perhaps in her late 60s. She wears a floral skirt with dark greens and desert oranges, a shamrock milkshake green blouse, and the viens on her hands rise and fall like small, reversed canyons. She takes off her patchwork jacket. “Caliente?” I ask. “Si… mucho,” she responds with a smile.
We arrive in Monterrey around 11PM, meet Alejandro and his wife, Chrissie, make our way back to her parents home in the mountainside 45 minutes away. It is simply beautiful. They give us a warm welcome, we chat on top of the roof about our lives and photography, and the city of Monterrey illuminates the sky in the distance.
