We started our 3 day trip to Mexico in a Sweet '76 Dodge Tradesman (hereafter called the sweetvan) which was indeed very sweet until 6 hours into the trip, right outside of LA, the engine blew.... no joke.

Seth had just finnished talking to Pip about hittin the Red Lion when the engine went bang. I've blown up my fair share of engines so I knew it was a goner right away. When we got it to the mechanics the diagnosis was obvious, the engine was gone. Totally Blown, and completely devestating. It really took the wind and excitement out of us. Seth kept saying that this was going to work out. It was funny because then, as the Tow truck driver was taking care of the paperwork, he told us that he owned the shop and just so happened to have another van that we could use. "It runs great and sounds great, but I haven't driven it so you'll have to drive it and get it checked out in the morning, but I'll give it to ya for $600." "Really?!?" We were so upset, but this was at least something. We had a glimmer of hope, and $600 was a really good price for a van if it turned out to run good enough to get us to Mexico. We called Joe Rodriguez and told him about the situarion so he and Erica came to pick us up and take us out to Mexican food. We thought alot about what we should do. Should try and fix our van and have a new engine put in, or if we should pick up the other van instead.

The next day we called the shop and they couldn't find any used engines for our van, the only thing they could do is put in a new engine and that would be $3000. This was a definite sign that we would not be fixing the sweet van. "Well what about the other van?" "Sorry, I just sold that this morning, some guy came by listened to the engine and bought it on the spot." "Oh...." We couldn't believe it. That was our glimmer of hope, it was our answer. It was our only other way to get down to Mexico with all our stuff. So now what? We could either drive home and try and get another van or try and fly down.

We decided to try and drive home, so we had lunch with Joe and Erica, rented a car and started driving home. But as we were driving we realized we wouldn't get back until late wednesday night, and then we would have to start driving all over again sometime on Thursday, probably thursday afternoon if we wanted to get sleep and repack the van. But by this time driving down all over again after we'd lost all our steam seemed like more than we, could handle.

So once again we went back and forth, should we take a plane down, should we get a rental car and go back home and get another car to take down? We decided to try and fly and started by looking for some used luggage. After going to 3 different Goodwill and Salvation Army's not a single one had used luggage, so we would have to get new Luggage at Walmart for about $60 per luggage piece. We tried calling a friend in Mexico to see what he had to say and we tried calling the airlines to see if we could get a flight from LA to Mexico. Because of the recent bomb scare they were being really strict with luggage and carry ons. One person at the airlines I talked to said that we couldn't bring any carry ons at all and the luggage had to be really small. We couldn't really bring enough stuff to live on. Plus it would cost us at least another $600+ so we figured our only choice was to drive home, get another vehicle and drive down.

In the meantime we were trying to find some way to get rid of the Van. It turned out that we couldn't even do that because we had just registered the Van the day before and we wouldn't get the pink slip for another couple of weeks. And no one could take the van, even for free, without the pink slip. And storing the van at the mechanics would cost $35 per day.

We were starting to get bummed out. We didn't feel like we had the stamina to drive or fly or do much of anything. We were in the Walmart parking lot and decided to go to hang out at some dive. While we were there we got a call from our friend in Mexico, he said not to worry and to just to come on down to Mexico. He said we could get a flight from Tijuana - it was only $90 and since it's a Mexican airport so they don't care what kind of luggage or carry ons you have. We both thought that this was definitely what we needed to do. We talked to Geoff and he said to get some rubbermaid tubs instead of suitcases. Then he said to take a rental car to the San Diego Airport, from there get on a trolly which would take an hour to get to the border, then we would have to walk across the border with all our stuff, take care of our paperwork there at the border, then get a cab and go to the airport. He also said to give ourselves plenty of time because it would take a while. So, we went across the street to Wal Mart and got ourselves some huge matching rubbermaid tubs along with some little mini dolly cart things with bungees for our luggage.

We went back to Joe's house and told him of our new plan, they said it sounded cool. That night while we were hanging out someone suggested that we take a greyhound bus instead of driving down. The bus would take us all the way to the Tijuana airport and we wouldn't have to worry about going through all the hassle crossing the border that we would otherwise go through. Of course luggage wouldn't be a problem because buses don't care what kind of luggage you have, they just toss it into the bottom of the bus and you are on your way. We wanted this to go as smooth as possible and we thought that sounded great! The next day we asked Joe if we could keep stuff at his house, he said it would be no problem. Then we went to the Van to get the rest of our stuff out. We talked to one of the managers of the place about the pink slip and he said that he wouldn't charge us to keep our van there. We had told him that we were witnesses so he said don't worry about it, just send the pink slip down when we get it.

On our way to the bus station things started going wrong again. We dropped off our Rental car that we didn't wind up using and the bill came to $100 instead of the $50 we were told it would be, (and were later charged $180 - don't use Budget-rent-a-car) Then we couldn't find the bus station we were going to. We finally arrived just as the bus we needed was pulling away. Joe knew where the next bus station was so he raced the bus on to the next stop so we could catch it there. Once we arrived Seth Jumped out to see about tickets and Joe and I started unloading the car.

The building Seth was running through was huge. He looked left and right for the place that sold bus tickets. There was an amtrak station, a rental car station, and the bus tickets was on the other side of a 1/4 mile long hallway. He ran the entire length of the hallway and once he got to the ticket booth, the disinterested man on the other side said they didn't have tickets to the Tijuana Airport, but he could pick up the white courtesy phone and ask them. So I picked it up and talked to the girl at the other end. "I'm sorry sir, we don't go outside of LA, our buses only service the local area." - unbelievable. So that was out, he called again to see if they could take us somewhere else close and the answer again was "...Sorry." Seth ran back to Joe and Starlit who had unloaded the car with our 6 huge carry ons and 4 tubs weighing over 100 lbs each and told them to load the tubs up again. We asked around and found out the Greyhound station was about 10 blocks away.

Once at the correct bus station and after finding out the bus could get us to the airport in Tijuana by 9PM we said our goodbyes and Joe dropped us off. It was already after 5:30 and Joe had to race home to work on a project he had. Seth buys our tickets and we shlep our tubs into the train station. Once we get inside we realize that they're weighing luggage and charge a ton of money for the extra weight. Once the lady who was weighing the bags got to us, she saw bunch of newpaper in one of the tubs. "What's in the tub?" she asked. "Books and Painting supplies" I replied. "Sorry" She said, "You're only allowed 50 lbs per bag and you can't bring anything other then clothes. You need to do it right and go ship all that suff before you get on the bus."

Now Joe was gone, and we wewere in the middle of LA with no one else to call. We decided we would have to go back to the rental car to San Diego plan if we we're going to make it. There were no rental cars near by so we hailed a Taxi to the previous train/bus station. This was getting silly. It seemed like every decision we made was the wrong decision. It was never ending. Which is why Seth gave up. So I decided to take over. We get dropped off at the train/bus station and I run in to look for a rental car. There were 2 places Alamo closed at 5PM and Hertz closed at 6PM....it was 5:55. Yes! I made it! I waited and waited and waited till well after 6PM and no one showed up. I guess they went home a bit early...I would have. I decided to wander around and find out what our other options were. The train to LAX and get a car there? No, that would get us in too late. The train to San Diego, again, to late. Well, I guess we give up. I headed out the doors to find Seth and tell him the scoop. Just before the doors I decided to make the walk all the way back to the rental car place to check back once more...that had to be our only answer. As I walked back I saw him, the Hertz man! I ran to the desk, I explained the situation and he was happy to help us. $70 got us another rental car and as I left he said "When you get to Mexico, don't forget to say thank you for the Hert's man who helped you get there!" Now that we had our car it was time to battle rush hour traffic in LA as we made our way down to San Diego.

While Starlit was inside Geoff called Seth outside. "Where are you guys at?"
"We're in downtown LA" said Seth
"Man, what ar you guys doing? You guys better get movin!"
"I know,..." said Seth "We're trying."

From the time we got up we had not stopped to get a single thing to eat, not for coffee and not even for a snack. So on our way down we wanted to get something to eat and get some duct tape to tape up our tubs at the airport. We started getting off at this exit and then that exit, but none of them had either food, or a place to buy tape. So then we tried to check each exit before we got off and that didn't work either. We could never see what was off the exit until we had passed it. And when we did see something we couldn't get off at the next exit and turn around because the next exit was 3 miles away with traffic going the opposite direction. It wasn't until we came to San Diego that we were able to get tape for our "luggage"

We finally made it to the San Diego airport between 9 and 9:30 (our plane was leaving Tijuana at 12:05)

Geoff said that you can pick up the trolly at the San Diego airport. So after dropping the car off, we took a bus to the San Diego airport, only to find out it wasn't there, we'd have to take another bus to get to the place where you pick up the trolly. So we waited for the shuttle that would take us to the trolly stop but this entailed more confusion...where do we get the shuttle? People kept giving us different answers. Finally a San Diego airport employee took pity on us and really helped us out, Our luggage all fell apart as we put it on the bus. So she helped us get our bags onto the bus, filled us in on the ins and the outs and even helped pay for part of our fair! (they accept exact change only) The bus then took us to the place where we were to catch the trolly that would get us to Tijuana. Seth bags fell apart again in the middle of the street on the way to the trolly so once there we repacked our bags to condense them a little.

We waited for about 40 minutes for the trolly. While we were there some guys showed up who were headed down to Tijuana to party. So we told them what we knew about the trip and how they could get there. At around 10:20 the trolly showed up. The trolly stops, Seth gets one piece of luggage to the doors and the doors start to shut.

"No, Way! This can't happen!" So Seth grabs the doors, and pushes them open again, and yells at the group of little skater kids that are sitting on the floor of the trolly, "You guys need to help us! Hold the doors and help us with our stuff!" So, they did, helped along with a few other passerbys, which we so needed! Each of our large tubs took 2 people to lift (we had 2) and the smaller ones 1 strong person could handle (we had 2) along with 2 guitars, some paints and a bag full of other random things. When all was said and done we actually made it on the trolly with all our stuff. The next hour would just be us, our stuff and a bunch of party dudes headed for Tijuana. Actually we were probly the weirdo's, everyone kept asking us, "What are you guys doing? Moving?" "Yeah, actually we are. " We met a couple of really cool guys that live in Tijuana because it's so cheap (about $100 to rent a place) and work in San Diego. They got real excited when they heard we were moving to Mexico too.

We finally pull up to the border and the guys that we helped with info on getting to Tijuana tried to get out of helping us unload our stuff. They complained but helped us with our two heavy Containers. It was now 11:30 and we still had a ways to go. We start with the project of getting ourselves and our stuff across the border (we heard this was the hard part....didn't we already have a hard part??) We drag our stuff very slowly up the 4 story spiral ramp that leads to the bridge over the freeway and over the border and then back down the spiral ramps that leads to the large gated turnstyles. Yup, giant turnstyles. People thought we were crazy!! "Why in the world would you want to move to Mexico?" is what we kept hearing. Once at the turnstyles we made it through with the help of many friendly Mexicans. We would take it slow. Seth would take some things, a nice helper would take some more, and then I would come through with the last bit. After 2 turnstyles We were over the border! We tried to take care of paperwork at the border, but the border guards told us just to do it at the airport.

We got ourselves a cab, told him we were in a hurry, and rushed to the airport. We got there at about 12:05. Just when our flight was going to leave. "If we get on this flight it's going to be a miracle" I said. We both had this feeling in the back of our minds that somehow we were going to make it. I was really counting on the Mexicans being so relaxed that none of their flights left on time. We of course ran into a huge line. So Seth ran up to the guy checking luggage and told him our dilema. He let us go ahead of everyone, checked out our luggage and got us to the check in counter. It was 12:10 and the customer service agent said you are too late. She sent us off to talk to someone else...and he of course said you are too late...we can get you on a flight tomorrow at 7. Even though we heard those two statements we both still had this feeling that we were going to make it. As the guy was getting us new tickets a red haired agent came up and said "they can still get on the 12:05 flight, it hasn't left yet". Yippee!!!! The agent hurries and checks us in and tells us to "run"! As we are running towards the gate we hear a whistle and some guy yelling at us. We turn around and he motions for us to come over to him. Well, turns out we needed to get our Visas. AAGGGGHHH! We plead with him... we dont reaaaaaly need Visa's do we? I guess we did cause he had us fill out one long form each, then told us to take it back to the ticket counter and then back to him. Our nerves were shot long ago but there was nothing else we could do. We ran to the front of the line showed the red haired lady the forms we had filled out and she came out from around the counter, took us by the hand and led us through all the procedures and windows we had to visit and fees we had to pay and stamps we had to get and got us right up to the security check. I don't see how we could have done it without her. We started running to the gate and almost passed it because at this airport gate #11 is right next to gate #17. Our friendly guy ticket agent was waiting for us on this little stairwell leading to our gate..."hey this way" he yelled as we were passing it. He took us to the gate and got us to the front of the line, looked at us and said "Hey, just relax." This was the same guy who told us to run earlier - whatever. I guess we really are in Mexico now. As we walked out onto the tarmac we wound up being one of the first 5 people on the plane. We fell into our seats and started laughing so hard. I think we cracked! We finally got a little snack on the plane, and something to drink. We arrived to our destination around 5 am and made it to our place around 9. Even so it STILL wasn't over because once we got there. We had to take a cab to a bus to another cab that finally dropped us off where our friends were at, and where we could finally get some food. We felt a million times better after eating our first proper meal in almost 2 days. Of course, the next day Seth got sick.

This happened a few months ago, so it's funny now and we thought our friends would get a kick out of the story. It was a tough trip but we don't regret it. Seth has been playing alot of acoustic stuff (don't worry, nothing sappy) so we're going to have some really cool new stuff when we come back. But now it's just that trip back that we have to worry about!

Ron Helped Us Steal Seats Out Of Another Sweet Van

We Even Got Some Cool 70's Van Decor

About an Hour Before The Engine Blew

This is how we're making a living now.
(Seth on guitar - Starlit on drums)