I literally hit the ground running once I stepped onto the tarmac at the Manzanillo Airport (Dec. 18). I just had to get into aduanas(customs) before anyone else because my cousin Jeremy was going to be picking me up. I grabbed my bag, fishing rod and walked outside to find a line of taxis waiting for new arrivals. I was ready to be heckled instantly for a ride, but surely enough nobody bothered which was a nice change compared to Puerto Vallarta three years ago!! I was already in love with Manzanillo!!
So Jeremy was busy and wasn’t able to pick me up, so into a cab I went for quinientos pesos (50USD)!!

The following two weeks were filled with running around Manzanillo helping my cousin Jeremy out. You know standard stuff like driving to and from Guadalajara with 40 dive tanks that needed recertification or working for my dive cert by helping take clients diving whatever the case, busy, busy, busy…

A week or so into the 24/7 madness Jeremy says, “hey, we need to fly to LA and pick up a jet ski, buy a truck and trailer it back to Manzanillo.” To me, the more the merrier so December 23rd we found ourselves dodging mudslides in rainy LA and heading east to Nogales! Just east of Phoenix we had a tire blow out that delayed us just enough to make us drive in the dark.



Matter of fact two Arizona PD pulled us over for no trailer lights, but with the help of a nearby Wal-Mart and my degree in electrical engineering from MIT, two flashlights were purchased along with some adhesive red tape to give the lights a better effect (pictures soon to come).



We made it to the border around 10pm in the midst of the Christmas rush across the border, surprisingly the traffic cleared fast and we made it through the border without any problems, that is until we tried to get our vehicle permit. Any foreign vehicle entering Mexico needs to have, of course, all records accounted for, for entry, along with the purchase of insurance that is unless you’re staying within 600 miles of the border, there is some sort of buffer zone that allows you to drive freely. Once south of the border it is a must to have your permit purchased, for Jeremy’s friend was recently down near Ciudad De Mexico and had his brand new suburban stolen from the police ( so just slightly advantageous to have that taken care of).

The title to the truck (the biggee) was lost, but we had the temporary paperwork to “supplement it”… supposedly we had everything, until we were required to go and speak with aduanas about our missing title. They sure weren’t very helpful when trying to explain our situation, so 6 hours were spent back and forth, from one window to the next trying to figure it out with these guys. Long story short we found ourselves driving back through the gates to the US around three in the morning and staying the night. We went to the nearest DOL the following morning and found it closed, of course it now being Christmas Eve. Instead Jeremy said “screw it, let’s get into Mexico a ways to Hermosillo” There some of his wife’s family lives so acquiring the “necessary” paperwork(fake) would be easy. Around 11 that morning we were 60 miles outside of Hermosillo and Jeremy spotted a little sticker behind the bench seat of the truck. What was it? A temporary title registration (more or less) which would give us the go ahead to get our necessary permits. So we found ourselves driving back to the border to get our necessary paperwork finalized!! The main trip still hadn’t even begun! Essentially after that we hit the road straight for 24 hours singing Christmas songs all the way to Manzanillo…












Since then, the 24/7 lifestyle has kicked back into gear, my dive cert is out of the way and Michael has arrived… We’ve already found ourselves in Colima mixing concrete and slopping down mortar for a new orphanage being built through Hope for the Nations. Thanks to Greg Bird and crew we had the opportunity to volunteer there! Pics coming up for that too… that just a quick intro… love you all!!