follow the yellow-lined road

The Day finally arrived.  As do all days.

The day I was to pick up my new vehicle, that is.

On Tuesday I received an email from Mario, the Ford salesman in Guadalajara.  The wire transfer from BanamexUSA had arrived.   And I could pick up my spiffy new Escape whenever I could get to Guadalajara.

Oh, and I needed to bring along some more pesos.  My bank required me to fill out the wire transfer request in dollars, but the exchange rate was unknown. 

So, I padded the dollar amount by using the rather bad rate my bank gives me for transferring dollars to my peso account.  It turns out what I thought was a bad rate was generous.  The exchange rate the bank used was 11.72.

But, I had a new vehicle waiting.  I was not going to quibble.  It meant, though, I had to raid several of my cash-dwindling accounts to make up the difference. 

The positive side is that I will not have to worry about coming up with a ransom if I am kidnapped.  My money will all be in the Escape.

I booked an early trip to Guadalajara for Wednesday morning on one of Mexico's deluxe bus services.  According to friends, ETN is the best.  And they are probably correct. 

Because it was a cool morning, and I was in a rather jaunty mood, I decided to walk the three miles to the bus station.  And a refreshing walk it was.  About half of the walk is on a relatively new walking-jogging-biking path.  That is it at the top of the post.

And the bus?  It was everything everyone said it would be.  Seats that are the equivalent of business class seats on international flights.  Music.  Movies.  Headphones.  Internet.  Assigned seating.  It looks a good deal like a stylish aircraft cabin.

But all of that was the journey.  And yesterday's trip was about the destination.
 

When I arrived at Plasencia Ford, my Escape was sitting on center stage in what is labelled as the "departure zone."  Mario had taken care of the registration issue and my plates were being installed when I arrived.

There were lovely parting gifts to be bestowed.  A year's worth of insurance -- paid by the dealership.  A jar of honey.  A box of cleaning materials.  A roadside emergency safety kit.  Plus a thorough briefing on the vagaries of my 2013 Escape.

I had considered staying in Guadalajara for the night.  When I drove away, it was just before 5.  If I pushed it, I could be in Melaque just after dark.

But I could not pass by Costco without a stop.  And that was all that it was.  Walking through the store, I could not find anything I needed.  (Yes, Darrel, I found some of Those, and I walked on by.)

So, how do I like the Escape after four hours of road time?  It is a nice ride.  And I will write more about it as I get to know it better.

The bottom line is that I now have a new vehicle and the Mexican economy is a bit richer.

Now, if I just had some cash, I could take it out for an adventure.

But that will come in time.