I so did not want to leave San Miguel but we must move forward. This is our last day on the road – for now.  Leaving Holt, Ontario many things crossed my mind. First what a crazy thing to do! Second, what the hell am I doing. Third and possibly the most important, I was following my dream. I feel that most people never ever thought that I would actually do it. How many women or men pack up and head out to a new life at 68? I too had my doubts whether I would grab that bull by the horn and actually go through with everything. Was I all talk and no action? Guess I was fool enough, strong enough, head strong enough, so why the hell not! In retrospect I wish I had taken longer to make the journey, taken the time to explore while I was travelling. But alas that also would have required more money which I did not have. Maybe next time.

The last leg of my journey was a sticky one for me. From San Miguel de Allende to my destination meant driving right through Mexico City. That I did not want to do. Not a chance. With my pigeon Spanish and trying to traverse through one of the most populated cities in the world it was not happening. What to do? I contacted a small tour company from San Miguel called Safe Trips SMA. Mara was supreme. The day before I sent her pictures of all the documents she needed. Mara was driving, Seven and I were passengers. What a joy that was going to be. The time was set for 8AM. I was awake way before that making sure I had everything in order and a couple of good cups of coffee. Mara was right on time. We loaded the few bags I had, put Seven in the car, said our good-byes to Hamish and paradise. And we were off.

Mara is Mexican and has countless years experience driving in Mexico and the US. But at the same time I was nervous. I have only driven this car for just over a week and to me it was like a damn truck compared to the Jeep I had driven for 17 years. But Mara climbed in and started driving it like she had owned it for years. I was unaware it was a holiday weekend in Mexico. Pretty hard to keep up with in Mexico because they have so many! Lucky for us because the highways were relatively quiet. Mara told me that usually driving through the city can take hours but we were sailing through. Coming closer to Mexico City she asked me what year the car is and the last number on my license plate. Kind of an odd question. I told her and she looked at me saying, really? All the information that I had read prior to the trip I cannot for the life of me remember reading anything about this. In Mexico City they are very adamant about keeping older cars off the road. And you must pay attention to the last number. My number was up. We were not supposed to be on the road. Holy Shit. If caught the car would be impounded, Mara could lose her license and I would be up shit’s creek with a bill that I could not afford. We purchased a pass for the over-pass. There was hardly any traffic and we booted it. Once safely out of the boundaries of Mexico City we did a high-five and fumbled through our bags to light a cigarette. Tense? Just a tad.

We are almost there. The road out of Mexico City to our destination is a highway that runs through the mountains. The highway gave us glimpses of the most active volcano in Mexico

Popocatépetl which has been more active since the devastating earth quake in September of this year.

Not far now. My friend Maria is meeting us at the only gas station in town to guide us to my new home. We made such good time everyone was amazed. Mara had places to go, people to see so there I was parked waiting for Maria. The clock was ticking. Maria was thinking the same, where are they. Finally we connect. She is at the other end of the station. It has been a year since I have seen her. We are both pretty speechless. I am in a daze.

Now it is time to follow Maria to the house. The brakes are squeaking. The road is bumpy. I have absolutely no idea where I am going. We arrive. Time to meet the landlady. Seven is sniffing every bush and we quickly make it to the front door. I am immediately told that I need to get water, I need to get gas. I am shown a room upstairs which has just been built. It is lovely. But I am told if I want it, it is and extra $1500 pesos a month. Whoa wait a second. You do realize that I have driven for the last 9 days I can’t take all this in right now.

Maria asks if I would like to get something to eat. Damn right, haven’t had a thing all day. I lock the door and get in her car. I have no idea where I am but I buy something to eat, buy some coffee and some things that I feel I will need. I had no idea. The plan was to wait for Maria to return but I needed to get back to the house. Order a taxi I am told. I did just that and guess what, we got lost. Just great. Luckily I was able to get Maria on her phone and she guided the driver to my house. I pay the driver and there is Seven in the yard. I forgot to shut the back door, thank god I shut the gate.

I spent the next couple of hours unloading the car and dragging everything to the house. There was no need really but this was it. We made it Seven.

Journey’s end. Tepoztlan, Morelos, Mexico.