In the beginning . . .

The move from Tulsa to Dolores Hidalgo, Mexico, has been in the planning stages for several years, but officially began on December 24, 2009, in the middle of a great snowstorm. I was sick with a cold so Tom and Levi Moore packed up our van and sent Phyllis (as driver) and I on our way to Houston. We stayed just ahead of the storm and made it to Micah's house safely. Enid and the twins also drove there the same day. Tom and Corban, however, did not make it out before the storm, so they did not show up in Houston until Sunday morning (12/27). We got the trailer packed up with our stuff from Micah's garage and left Houston on Tues. (12/29). Five hours to the border from Houston was uneventful, but then things got interesting/stressful/aggravating (etc. etc.). We tried to cross 3 times at different border locations (twice on 12/29 and once on 12/30) and each time, hit a different brick wall at each location. We miserably failed "Border Crossing 101" and had to leave our trailer in storage at Brownsville, TX. Micah and Tova then took the truck and headed back to Houston (via South Padre Island (not a total waste of vacation time)) and Tom, Corban and I got in the van and headed for the border again. We hit more problems with car titles, etc., but finally got across around 9:30 pm on 12/30. All we had with us was what was in the van. We got to Dolores Hidalgo around 9:30 pm on 12/31 (after spending a night at a great hotel somewhere between Brownsville and Cuidad Victoria). We ended up moving into Bill & Gayle Evans' casita (see pics), which was furnished with their stuff (they had just moved out into a furnished house and left the basics for us). So, we have a 2 bedroom, 1 bath house that has become home for now. We are getting our paperwork done here to get our FM-3 Visas, which should enable us to get the trailer across the border. Tom will go back to Brownsville when paperwork is done and get our stuff. We're not sure if we will move into a bigger place right now or just stay here (rent is $115/mo and utilities/phone/internet are another $100) so living is cheap. We may sleep for the next month, but more adventures will be posted in due coarse.