Saturday, May 8 - Driving to Dallas

Saturday morning we woke up refreshed and ready for a long day of driving. Sadly, the mechanic in Juarez had lied to us, and hadn't really fixed the tire problem at all. That meant the second item of business for the day - breakfast being the first, of course - was to, once again, get the tires on the Suburban re-aligned and re-balanced. We ended up at a Pepboys where we met a friendly mechanic who was willing to tell us the hard truth: we had to unload the Suburban enough to lighten the load in order to properly align and balance it. So, in the Pepboys parking lot we started pulling out the items we had so carefully and precisely packed.

El Sabado llegamos a un taller PEP BOYS en El Paso Texas,a alinear la pateada(suburban)porque llegando a Juarez en la noche,cansado,con sueno,distraido y platicando me pase un tope como a 60 millas por hora y cargada y solo por eso le empesaron a chillar las llantas,bueno llegamos al taller y el mecanico se emociono solo de ver la calcomania de Baja 1000 que mi amigo Gaby pego en el vidrio,me dio un trato especial como si fueramos corredores de la Baja y creo que se sintio como en casa por poder platicar con alguien en espanol el se llama ?Palma y el si es corredor de la Baja tiene el numero 508 en la clase 5 y correra en la Baja 500 este ano me dijo que me va a mandar el video,pues lo esperare,creo que cada cosa,cada detalle que estamos pasando desde que salimos de Tijuana esta supervisado y aprobado por Dios porque desde antes Dios nos a estado bendiciendo en gran manera y en este viaje hemos visto como Dios se a manifestado en TODO!!!! descargamos parte de la suburban para que se pudiera alinear!!! El mecanico cada que se referia a mi me decia guey,guey y guey!!! y me dio gusto saber que todavia hay personas buena onda como ese Guey!!! jajajajajaja

In the process, however, the mechanic, who was from Mazatlan, Mexico saw the bumper sticker for the Baja 1000 that our friend, Gaby, had stuck on the rear window and became Miguel's instant friend. It turns out the mechanic goes to Baja California to race in the Baja races every year. He was very encouraging to Miguel when he found out that he had just received his green card and crossed into the states for the first time and gave him a few tips from one Mexican to another. He also did the best job he could at aligning and balancing, with the extra weight, and get us all set to get back on the road.


Once we were on the road, we enjoyed desert scenery, similar to what we had seen on our drive from Tijuana to Juarez.


Miguel was very pleased with our Suburban...
Despues de 2 suburban Dios nos dio la 3ra un poco fea y pateadilla pero muy Fuerte y no es 4x4!!

...when he realized that it could go 85 miles an hour - even being fully loaded!

Bien cargada y todavia levanta las 85 millas por hora!!! : )
However, even though it could go 85 mph, Miguel thought it best not to put too much stress on the engine, which kept us driving the speed limit most of the way. And, as Miguel said, "Apenas vengo entrando, no quiero que me infraccionen." Translation, "I just got into the country, I don't want to get any tickets!" Because of our extra weight and driving the speed limit, we didn't get to our destination until almost midnight. Thanks to our friends, Dan and Lyndsay, for setting up a place for us to stay in Dallas and thanks to our new friend, Kevin, for his patience with us with getting in as late as we did!