Trip to Mexico

The company at which my dad is a partner decided to fund a mission's trip for my family. My parents decided on Mexico. The plan was to fly to Phoenix, drive to San Diego for a friend's wedding, and then drive down the coast to the mission.

The original plan was to be gone for a total of 2 weeks, which wouldn't work for me, as I'm taking 12 hours of classes this summer. But they eventually shortened the trip to 10 days, so I decided to go along as well.

Only a couple weeks before leaving for the trip, I decided to move out of the house in which I was living, and back into my parents' house. It'd been 8 years since I'd moved out, so it was a weird feeling moving back in. I made the move the weekend before summer classes started. The second day of classes, I came down with the fever. That, along with being overwhelmed with the classes I was taking, led me to make the decision not to go to Mexico with my family.

The morning my family left for Mexico, I told my Calculus professor that I wasn't going to be going on the trip after all. But when I went over to study by Professor VanGorden's office, he informed me that he'd allow me to take the first test remotely from Mexico if that would help me go. Missing the first Physics II test had been one of the biggest reasons in my decision not to go on the trip. So, with less than an hour from departure, I hurried back to my parents' house to pack some clothes, which was made all the more difficult due to the recent move. I then drove to the airport to meet my family, minutes before boarding time.

We flew out of Springfield at noon on Thursday, the 4th of June. When we arrived in Phoenix, we were welcomed by an amazing, 85 degree afternoon. Most of us in my family love warm weather! After eating, we made the 5 hour drive to San Diego in a rental van. The lights of San Diego and Tijuana were absolutely beautiful. I'd been to San Francisco years earlier, but that didn't prepare me for the beauty of southern California. The mountains weren't only on the eastern side of California like I'd always thought; they went all the way to the ocean, though there were obviously plains, like where San Diego was located.

The most memorable thing we did was go to the Cabrillo National Monument, where we had an amazing view of the Pacific Ocean, San Diego, Tijuana, and all the mountains in the background. We spent a good 2 hours there, before heading to the rehearsal dinner for the wedding we were there for.

The next day, my little brother and I skipped the wedding to watch the Champion's League final (European soccer final). Our favorite team, Barcelona, won!

Early on Sunday morning, we crossed the border into Mexico and headed down the coastline. Although it took us awhile to find, we eventually arrived at the compound where we would be staying the next 5 days. It had a beautiful courtyard, with facilities not unlike what can be found at campgrounds here in the US.
Shortly after arriving, we headed into the church where we would be ministering. My family sang a couple songs, and then we did VBS with the kids. Only the American long-term missionaries that we were staying with knew both English and Spanish. But the kids didn't take long to warm up to us.

I don't know how long of a journal entry is needed for now. I would like to continue it later. When moving my things to my parents', there were several journals I came across from when I was teen and even pre-teen. It's amazing how many experiences can be forgotten over the years. Although I don't imagine I'll forget this trip anytime soon, I'd love to have the details written for years down the road.