Unexpected Adventure at A Border

My Unexpected Adventure At A Border Crossing

By Lorenzo Vigil, Adventure Traveler for Global One Magazine

Do you remember planning your last trip. Where you were going to go, what you were going to do? The expectation of relaxing and having a drink on the beach or maybe in a mountain cabin, that’s where I usually end up. Well this story is none of those things….AT ALL!

My trip was full of heart pounding scared out of your mind emotions. One of my friends, who I refer to as ‘Juan took a trip where he rode his motorcycle from Dallas all the way to California down to the tip of the Baja and then ferried across to Sinaloa, Mexico. Once he arrived in Mexico he continued to Morelia, Michoacán where he rested a few days and visited friends and family. During that stay he was injured on his bike and sustained a broken foot where he had to have surgery and pins put in his foot. Don’t worry I’m getting to the part where I get involved.

After his surgery he flew back to the states but had to leave his bike in Mexico because his broken foot. After a few weeks of being laid up he gave me a call and asked me for a favor. He told me that he was having his bike and another he purchased while on his tour de Mexico shipped by a friend to the border.

The favor was to drive him to the border with his truck and trailer and pick up his property (the bike). Seems simple enough….right?! Short impromptu trips are my favorite. I agreed to his plan with the condition that I would pick up the kids from school the next day and then we could leave about five o’clock.

The next day as I was leaving work, B’ my travel buddy, calls and says, “Hey lets go have a beer”. So I tell him that in about an hour and a half I would be driving all night to the border to pick up a pair of motorcycles and would be driving back the next day. So, what does this fool say? “Hey can I go?” So, I said, “Literally grab what you need and start driving to Garland where were meeting… if you’re late, because we’re on a time crunch. I threatened that I would leave his ass behind!” Three minutes from my destination Brandon’ calls me and says come on hurry up you’re late. This guy!

We show up to the meeting spot and all the introductions are made, we fill up the cooler with drinks and snacks and away we go. So, for the next 8 hours it’s a normal road trip with three guys. We stop to eat, and pee, listening to the radio and a whole lot of singing. Getting close to the border we contacted the other party on the Mexican side who was transporting the bike north to the border and he wasn’t going to arrive until 10 or so the next morning. We got a hotel room and seeing how it was 3AM we decide to try and get some sleep a few hours. The next morning, I was woken up by my cell ringing. My girlfriend/fiancé had been in a car accident in Texas on her way to work and her car was totaled. She’s fine but Holy Moly what a wakeup call. To make situations worse I’m yelling at everyone that it’s time to get up – it’s 9:30 and if we don’t leave now, we are going to be late!

As we rush to pack our belongings and get in the elevator Juan says to me that I should leave my Gun in the hotel because if the border police find it, they will arrest me and take me to jail for smuggling firearms. For those of you that are wondering yes. I have a License to Carry. I very hesitantly took his advice. I mean jail is bad enough, but I’ve seen the documentaries of Mexican jails and you know what it’s probably a risk, so I decide not to take it with me. PHOTO CREDIT: LORENZO VIGIL

The Real Adventure Starts

We rushed and picked up a quick bite to eat and headed to the border crossing. This is where the real adventure begins to unfold. Let me preface this part of the story with this comment. “If you live anywhere near a Mexican border you‘ve either heard stories or been party to the corruption that Mexican police and officials take part in at the border and all over the country. ”

The main entrance has many gates that look like a toll booth here in the states, well before we got to the gate there was a “policeman” flagging our truck and trailer off to the side and around the corner. Juan said we don’t need to go this way, but the police were pretty adamant about getting us to stop where no one could see us. Four lookalike police were standing in this spot and asked us to get out of the vehicle and open the trailer. Juan kept saying keep driving don’t talk to them, but I was confused … we

can’t do that here in the U.S. So I drove off! I know bad idea …right! Nerves already on high alert and we haven’t even reached the gate yet. We go through the gate and there are two lights… red lights meaning you have to stop for inspection and green lights meaning you can just drive through.

Catching the red we stopped for inspection and had to open the trailer, which at this point, was still empty. They approved everything in a few minutes and let us go and now I felt better and thought to myself well that wasn’t THAAAT bad. These are always famous last words.

We were only going maybe two or three miles past the border to the International Temporary Property Exchange building. Two blocks south there was a canopy set up and another checkpoint on the side of the road. Juan says to us, “Ok from here we don’t stop for anybody not even uniformed cops, here’s where people try to rob you!” This statement causes my nerves jump back up on high alert!

As were pulling past the “checkpoint” men that we did not know were yelling in Spanish “Para! Para!” which means stop! Juan says don’t stop keep going. So, I keep driving but I can see this guy right away in my mirror get on his phone and immediately makes a call. He is calling the bad guys. Juan is in the back seat giving directions and he says two more blocks were making a hard left it’s almost a U-turn. We get to the turn and its only two lanes, one coming and one going. On my right there was a tall chain link fence, and on my left, I could see a river. Also on the left was another drivers lane and another fence.

I want you to understand that were in something called a fatal funnel. Juan says were two blocks away and just then three trucks pass me on the left side and get in front of me and slam on their brakes. Keep in mind I’m pulling a cargo trailer that is 8 feet by 16 feet long. He said don’t stop for anything, so I jump in the left oncoming lane and punch on the gas, but they get in front of me again and the lead truck turns and blocks both lanes. We can see the building from where we are but now were stuck! I was going to hit the truck in the rear axle and push him out of the way, but Juan said just stop they got us.

My emotions are all jacked right now. Brandon looks at me right away with eyes wide open and says, “What’s happening?! I now see two more trucks behind us. I left my gun why did I leave my gun? Now the assailants are surrounding us of which I count eight guys with guns. The apparent lead guy keeps saying in Spanish to get out of the car, another guy keeps hitting the hood of the truck with a gun pointed at us, the others are on lookout, my heart is racing out of my chest, and I grabbed B’s arm and tell him no matter what don’t get out of the truck. I rolled down my window and the guy keeps yelling at me in Spanish asking where were going? What are we doing there? What’s in the trailer? All I can think to say is, “What I don’t understand you? Were from Texas, what? (Side note I’m completely bilingual) After an exchange of about 2min of horrible communication he said ahhh these are white people (gringos) and they finally spoke with Juan in the backseat.

They finally let us go with the understanding that they were going to see what we were picking up after the transfer of property on the way back. I realize now that no, this drama is not over! They cleared the road for us, and we headed to collect J’s bike and property. I asked Juan’ WTF was that about? He says it’s probably the cartel in this area running everything.

We spent about an hour and a half there doing the paperwork for Juan property release. We’re now loaded with two motorcycles and a very expensive dining table and are substantially heavier than before. This is awesome; I’m driving a heavy load that a bunch of armed guys want to take from us. Just then a policeman was getting off duty and was about to leave the parking area. He turned his lights on and began to pull around us. Juan still on crutches hops over in a major hurry yelling, “Let’s go hurry up that guy is leaving, and we can act like he’s an escort to get out of here!” So everyone jumps in, and I stay so close I can see the bugs on his license plate.

I decide that no matter what goes down on this time no one will stop me come hell or high water were getting home! We get to the turn and drive by the trucks that stopped us where all this started, and I flip that right turn back north and I hit the gas steadily watching my mirrors. We get on the bridge crossing back over the Rio Grande River and I can see the border. As we pull up to the gate and the officer comes over a sigh of relief and the sight of the American Flag comforts me.

I’ve been all over Mexico, 99% of the time they have all been wonderful memories. This particular trip it hasn’t changed my mind about vacationing in Mexico, but I’ll never drive across the border again. That’s a fact, and for anyone planning a trip south of the border I would recommend flying to your location.

What is has reminded me of is the Freedoms that we have and often take for granted in this country. Our constitution and freedoms that have been fought for, and won, by our brave men and women and we sometimes forget the sacrifices that our ancestors old and new have made and continue to make to secure these freedoms. Not until your personal freedom and rights are in jeopardy do you realize what it is to be an American. What powerful value it is to love this country and love your neighbor. I love the fact that I can travel all over this land free at my will and share it with my family and friends. I will forever bleed RED, WHITE, and BLUE. This a true story told and written by Lorenzo Vigil, Global One Adventure Traveler

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