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We crossed Mexico in two days, taking the toll roads the entire route and staying overnight at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in Saltillo. There were two quick police checkpoints south of the border. One was after Saltillo, and the other was after Allende. We turned in our Temporary Import Permit (TIP) receipt at the Banjercito kiosk near Allende. My credit card was refunded with the original $400 deposited before our arrival home. By noon on the second day, we crossed the border at Eagle Pass, Texas. 

After two months in Mexico, we immediately treated ourselves to brisket bbq in Eagle Pass. It was delicious and was the last serving of the day. The place was packed, but we found a picnic table out front where Callie could hang with us. There weren’t as many leftovers as she would have liked. There was a Homeland Security checkpoint about an hour after Eagle Pass.

We stayed at a Motel 6 in Abilene and then drove to Cameron, Missouri for an overnight at the Red Roof. On the fourth day, we stopped in to say a quick hi to my parents in Iowa and were home by early evening.

We had a small plumbing issue upon arriving home. When I turned the well pump back on, it exposed a weakness in the plumbing pipe near the washing machine. I was able to get a valve turned off so that we had water in the rest of the house until the plumber was able to replace some parts a couple of days later.  A tree was down in the back yard that needed to be chain sawed up. It will provide heat in the form of wood stove firewood in a couple of years.  Some big white pine branches were down in the front. That was cut up into suitable pieces for our outdoor fire ring this summer.

Spring is starting to arrive here in Wisconsin. The sandhill cranes have arrived, and there are some purple wildflowers popping up in the woods on the hill. It’s 4:30 pm, and still warm enough to sit outside on the back deck in short sleeves, sipping an Octoberfest beer still in the fridge