Somewhere in Arizona
We crossed the border at Nogales, AZ after a long day of driving. We left Bahia Kino at 10 am, stopped in Hermosillo to pick up our vehicle registration and went on to Magdalene, where we intended to stay the night. Unfortunately, the only “RV park” we found was the dusty parking lot of a hotel and they wanted $18 for the privilege of parking overnight. Unfortunately, expecting it would be cheap, we had already set up the van. So we packed it all up again and decided to head for the border, which was an hour away. We scrambled to get our documents together and I quickly made up a lunch to use up our remaining fruits and veggies.
At the border, we were faced with the worst poverty we’d encountered yet. There were miles upon miles of shanties set up along the highway to the border. We had used up all of our pesos at a gas station just before the border, so when a malnourished man started cleaning our windshield with meticulous perfection, we called out “No senor, no cambio!” When he was done, he came to the window and asked for change or even food. We gave him a carton of eggs and one of the sandwiches I had prepared. My insides ached at the hollowness I saw behind his eyes.
Once again, the border crossing was more of an ordeal than we’d have liked it to be. We were pulled over and the van was searched, only this time, they called in the hounds. We confessed our every transgression, which included an onion, a few too many bottles of alcohol and one cigar (Dave’s, I swear!). They suspiciously eyed our peace sticker in the windshield and asked us a hundred questions about our jobs and the reason for our extended stay in Mexico. Despite all this, they were pleasant and we were on our way without too much delay.
We drove on until early evening and pulled off the highway onto a dirt road just east of Tucson, AZ. We stopped in the middle of an unused dirt road some way from the highway, prepared a bite to eat and put Sienna to bed. Dave and I had just settled in with our books when the sound of an engine revving made me jump to the window. A pair of headlights pierced the night and shone directly on the van. The lights paused a few breathless moments, as thoughts began racing through my head “Who are these people? Are we blocking their path to somewhere? Is it the police?” Then the vehicle slowly backed out, its lights shining on us the whole way. We were suddenly afraid, realizing that we had placed ourselves in a vulnerable situation so far from the highway. We packed up the van and decided to get back on the road before the people in the truck had a change of heart and returned for us.
A short while later, we set up camp in a spot near the highway on government land where we’d been given permission to stay and slept soundly that night.
