Reunions, Regulations, and Repairs

After 500 days south of the border, we're baaack!

After 500 days south of the border, we’re baaack!

Our last morning in Mexico dawned cold and wet, with heavy, chilly rain pounding the roof and turning the campsite into mud. As you can imagine, all I wanted to do was huddle under the covers and wait for the sun. Victoria and Jason, however, were eager to get our last border crossing handled, so out of the camper we popped. The rain was coming down so hard that even Maya wanted nothing to do with it. Jason scrambled to get us broken down and ready to go, and soon we were back in the truck and on the road towards the border.

The rain cut out, and after a quick stop to handle some paperwork, we rolled to a halt in a line of cars heading for the United States. Talk about boring! There was nothing to look at but a big ugly wall, and nothing to do but sit while we inched forward for the next hour and a half. Finally it was our turn at the border. I knew My Family was a bit nervous, after hearing some horror stories from friends who had crossed back into the US before us. The border agent took one look at me and broke out into a big smile. They didn’t have any problem with Maya coming home with us, and only seemed to be concerned about fruit. Five minutes later we were across the border, and back in our home country!

Other than crossing through a giant wall, I didn’t notice much of a difference right away. Jason and Victoria were beside themselves, however. Jason couldn’t get used to the speed limit signs being in miles instead of kilometers, and Victoria griped that we couldn’t just pick any old spot for a pee stop. We made our way out of the unincorporated country east of San Diego, and soon found ourselves surrounded by brand names and mini-malls. A few twists and turns later, we pulled onto a cozy, quiet street filled with homes. Where was our campsite?

Goodbye sand and grass.  Hello pavement...

Goodbye sand and grass. Hello pavement…

A moment later I understood: Jason’s family lived here! I thought my tail would wag right off when I got to say hello to Lilly, Rosie Pants, Jason’s sister Samantha, her daughter Abby, and Jason’s parents Gail and Elliott. I hadn’t seen them in FOREVER, and I had never met little Rosie Pants before. What a reunion! Everyone was so excited to meet Maya and to hear about all of our adventures, and Abby wanted to hang out in our camper as much as possible.

Lots of room for running around in Jason's family's house!

Lots of room for running around in Jason’s family’s house!

We spent more than a week with Jason’s family, and it was super cool to have a house to run around in, a yard and a patio for lounging, and nice people who love to snuggle up. But I couldn’t believe all the rules here! I guess I’d been out of the United States so long that I had forgotten. The part of Oceanside we stayed in isn’t actually ocean-side, rather it was full of houses, people, and dogs. Not only is there no sand, but us dogs have to be on leash pretty much everywhere! There are even signs about it, and you have to pay money if you break the rules! We even heard that dogs can’t even go on the beaches here, let alone run off leash! I got a little bit sad, wondering if Maya and my days of freedom were gone forever. I did enjoy all the great humans who were around, and it’s pretty cool that most of them like dogs and aren’t scared of us. The other dogs don’t seem quite as happy. The traveler and camp dogs we had met during the Big Adventure smiled so much, and spent their days running around in happy little packs. Most dogs around here spend their days on leashes or behind fences, which seems to make them grumpy and want to bark at other dogs all the time. I noticed that even I started barking more at these dogs, a habit I had really tried to break while we were traveling. I guess it’ll take some getting used to.

Even the 'green spaces' are full of concrete :(

Even the ‘green spaces’ are full of concrete πŸ™

Rules schmules. We don't need no stink in' rules!

Rules schmules. We don’t need no stinkin’ rules!

We ignored the rules one day for some much needed off-leash time

We ignored the rules one day for some much needed off-leash time!

We ran so hard, even Maya got tired out!

We ran so hard, even Maya got tired out!

What won’t be so hard to get used to is the food. Oh my gosh! So many choices! Victoria was giddy that whole first week. She couldn’t believe how many options we now had, and she and Jason sure took advantage. I was getting tasty bites of delicious cheeses and meats I hadn’t seen in over a year. And the dog food? Que fancy! We finished our Mexican kibble and found ourselves treated to what felt like super food. Maya was sure happy about this new development. Jason loved the crazy fast internet that made working so easy, and gushed about the selection of good beer, and the fact that you could find it almost anywhere. I guess San Diego is a big beer place, because the humans here talk about it all the time. It was so good that Victoria’s parents treated Vic and Jason to a night out on the town so they could sample some of what this area had to offer. Don’t worry, just as when we were south, Maya and I were left behind in the camper…

Holy choices, Batman!  A dog could get used to this!

Holy choices, Batman! A dog could get used to this!

We spent a ton of time with Jason’s family, which was quite alright with me. Elliott absolutely loves dogs, and Lilly and Rosie Pants showed us the best methods for getting treats out of him. It wasn’t that tough. Abby really loved us dogs too, and spent a lot of time running around with Maya and me. She even gave Maya a new toy, which was super nice of her. One night, Abby joined us for a sleepover in the camper. After all this time, she was our first sleepover guest! It was pretty fun snuggling up with her on the couch, though I did make sure to get safely back to my spot under the covers with My Family once she was ready for bed. We also had a games night, and My Family broke out the UNO deck that had been so well-used during our time in the Costa Rica house. Who doesn’t love UNO? I jumped from lap to lap, trying to help out, but I wasn’t as much of a good luck charm this time around. C’mon, people. You can’t blame the dog!

Jason and Me.  Turns out I am a good luck charm when it comes to UNO, Jason won!

Jason and Me. Turns out I am a good luck charm when it comes to UNO, Jason won!

It was all super fun, but there were some hiccups. Remember what I said about all those rules? Well, it’s not just for dogs. There are rules for cars too, and apparently the big truck wasn’t yet following those rules. Jason spent a lot of time at some place called the Dee Em Vee, and then we spent two entire days driving around from repair shop to repair shop, panting in the heat while humans stood around scratching their heads and talking about fuses, computers, wires and smog checks. In the end, we had to leave our truck and camper overnight to get fixed! It was weird being away from it, even though we had a cozy home to stay in thanks to Jason’s family. Luckily they were able to get everything taken care of, and soon we were back in our comfy home, finally β€œstreet legal,” as Jason said.

Abby's got treats, you say?

Abby’s got treats, you say?

Once we had the truck back, it was time to pack up and hit the road. No, there were no more borders to cross, but My Family said the adventure was going to continue. We were headed back to Venice! We were going to spend time with Beverly and Wickets, and their humans, Mike, Katie and little Marley, who was like two weeks old when we left on the Big Adventure. I was super excited to see our old home again, but a little bit anxious about what was to come. I knew Jason had to go back to work again, and we were going to spend some real time back in Los Angeles. Would we still all be together? Would it be fun? How would Maya cope with city life? There were so many questions swirling around my little head, I thought my eyes would pop out. I felt lucky that we were able to stay with Jason’s family and have a safe place to start our journey back into the United States, but where would we go from here?

PS: To see My Family’s photos from our time in Oceanside, click here!

20
Mar 2015
POSTED BY Neli
POSTED IN

California, USA

DISCUSSION 4 Comments

4 thoughts on “Reunions, Regulations, and Repairs

  1. SUZANNE KARSERAS

    So glad to see you made it home safe and sound. Hallelujah praise the Lord, where’s the vino? So sorry I missed you before I left but hopefully you’ll still be around when I get back April 7th and Maya wouldn’t have convinced you to go back to Latin country already. πŸ™‚

    Reply
    1. Neli Post author

      Suze! I can’t believe My Family couldn’t figure it out so we could see you before you left! When are you back? xo

      Reply
  2. Rhonda

    Hi Neli Welcome back to the USA. Glad you remembered to bring Maya with you. Hope your family is settling in a bit and getting used to life back home πŸ™ Can’t wait to meet you in person one of these days

    Reply
    1. Neli Post author

      Thanks, Rhonda! Life in the USA sure is different from Life on the road! We are all slowly settling in, but we all miss being south of the border.

      Reply

Leave a Reply to Neli Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.