The plan
Andy Wright started the 0700 briefing on time and was precise in all the details, or so we thought…
Each driver was equipped with toll monies, a handheld radio and was briefed on his or her part of the “master plan”. The bus was to be full of youth and a couple of adults, Sandy and Debbie Williamson, Tammy Sell and Tom Utterback. They were to be in charge of the youth as they traveled first to Tijuana for a little shopping, then take the foot crossing over the border, jump onto a tram to San Diego, then a bus to the airport, then the plane home. The two van drivers, Heath Wright (no relation to Andy) and myself, were to take a small band of restless adults and ALL the bags, and try to smuggle them across the car border in Tijuana.
7:30 am, departure time from San Vincente came and went.
7:45 am, Heath and company departs, along with Keith Moore’s daypack, a last minute change placed him in the bus…..
8:00 am, the bus and my van leave San Vincente. I turned on the radio and checked in with the command post AKA Andy. I was then informed that the only chance Keith had of getting across the border lied in our van catching Heath who had a 15-minute lead, and by the way, Heath is also an aspiring young NASCAR driver.
8:02 am, Arby secured all the passengers in our van for the jump to light speed, and with a stomp on the pedal, we “put the spurs to her” on off we went. Sue, an unsuspecting victim in this epic adventure, somehow manufactured a makeshift set of rosary beads from a shoelace and some spare change and began her 60-minute chant. Kaity and Caroline, long since desensitized to their father’s antics howled with delight as we sped over two mountain passes towards our prey.
9:30 am, As we reached the outskirts of Ensanada, we finally spotted Heath’s van and retrieved the Keith’s pack containing his birth certificate. Incidentally, when we later crossed the border. We found that the US customs never even asked to see his driver’s license, but were more concerned about any UN taxed purchases.
12:00, We pulled into Tijuana. The bus made it to the central shopping area, and after several frustrating traffic altercations, our van made it to the endless line of cars waiting to cross into the good ole US of A.
12:30, Tammy Sells, sensing a disturbance in the force, informed the teen shoppers that they needed to move towards the border crossing. When they arrived at the rumored 5 minute wait crossing, they found a “2 mile long” line of humanity that put any line at Disney World to shame. Andy began to panic, as his master plan began to unravel.
Meanwhile, back in the vans, all the real shopping was taking place. It seems that one should not waste time actually going to any of the Mexico stores, as the locals bring everything right to your car window as you wait in the line. It was like walking through the Tacoma Mall without moving, and without all the Gang Members, cool! I personally was tempted by the hand painted original art, dare I say “masterpiece”, of the Mayan Warrior carrying an unconscious princess. I say tempted, because I had an opportunity to by the original piece no less than 50 times from 50 of the original artists as our van moved 10 feet every ten minutes.
1pm, With a 3:05 p.m. departure time, Sandy Williamson and company noted that they would be lucky to get over the border by that time, much less make the flight. It was noted that busloads of people were getting across quicker, so everyone paid for a seat on the bus and got over the border.
1:30 p.m., Our van finally snaked through the border and a phone call to Heath found that they were now at the terminal with all the bags and were playing hide and seek with the Loading zone Nazi. Little did the port authority know that Heath the Marine is trained in urban warfare. The 5-min limit was stretched to 90 mins before Andy finally picked up the van.
2:45 p.m., our van made it to the airport, we checked in then helped Heath with his game of hide and seek. All the while checking on the flight, which was now delayed 25mins, thank you Lord!
Meanwhile, the teens had made it to the bus depot where a 10-minute ride would get them to the terminal within 20 minutes of departure. Unfortunately, the bus that went to the airport was broken down and they would have to wait for the 3pm bus, for the 3:05 plane…… Sandy and Debbie Williamson did the math and came up with one conclusion, TAXI! The youth waited for the bus, while the Williamson’s surged ahead in hopes of slowing down the flight.
3:30 PM, Last boarding call for our flight saw all the team running through the terminal carrying belts and shoes from security, as we walked down the Isle of the jet the door closed and off we went. Heath and I tried in futility to count heads and finally came to the conclusion that anyone who didn’t make it would only be stronger for the experience….
6:30 p.m., arrived in Seattle, safe and sound, all present and accounted for.
PS: Adam, we have your camera.
PSS: Marge says "Hi" to all of her family!
