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A couple years back, I found an old friend via the 'ol Facebook and both decided that we were going to connect after so long...about 10 years. They were traveling to Chicago for a couple days before heading to Europe and I was traveling to L.A., where they lived, the month after for work. While they were here in Chicago, we hit up the old spots, visited some friends, and somewhere along the way decided that it would be fun to meet up the following month after they returned from overseas in California.
My flight to LA was fantastic. I had nothing but great vibes and service from departure to landing. I love California. Los Angeles, Long Beach, the O.C. and of course the Kardashian Kounty of Calabasas. After I got my work done, I had a few days free to enjoy the city and visited my friend as planned.
It was great! We club hopped around the flashiest places, drank champagne and danced until the early hours ( even crashed a bachelorette party with strippers). Somehow, someway, we had convinced ourselves that I had enough time to swing down to Mexico for 2 days and hang out. I was down for whatever, afterall I was in vacation mode at that point and ready to P-A-R-T-Y....so I thought.
The ride from LA to the Border was smooth and only took like 2-3 hours. I was living the life! I was in Kardashian Land popping bottles and having access to the best. We got to the border and it was like a movie scene to me. Big 'ol barrier with mean looking men waiting to catch someone escaping the U.S. or vice versa. We had passed the checkpoint and were on our way to the resort we had booked in advance for our stay except....we made a wrong turn!
In order for us to get back on the right road, we had to leave Mexico and do a circle around again back to the border patrol checkpoint: BIG MISTAKE!
The border patrol had flagged us as they literally just let us go through no less than 8 mins prior. While I took my id and papers out for re-verification, the officers instructed us to put our hands on the dash, turn off the car and open the trunk. I didn't know what was happening. We both were scared. We literally had a pleasant experience a few moments prior. My friends father was an attorney and when we asked to contact them, they denied us! I just knew I was going to die. I was going to get shot up by the feds and no one would know, as people knew I was in LA, but not in Mexico.
The feds opened up our car (which was a rental) and hassled us about bringing a rental over the border. I explained I was on vacay and needed the car to get around while in Cali. They opened up my luggage, my purse and went through every inch of clothing and items in my luggage. During this whole time, my friend and I are being guarded by 2 huge guys with guns and weren't allowed to speak to each other. I blamed myself, my friend, the Universe for being in this situation. I kept thinking "why didn't I stay in Long Beach with the cocktails!" After 2 hours of them verifying our documents, my rental, and looking to see if the panels in our car came off ( as if my 4'11'' self was passing drugs across the border) they actually let us go. I gathered myself and my thoughts and we proceeded to head towards the resort. By this time, it was nightfall and the roads were difficult to read with no lighting on the streets. At this time, my Spidey senses are going off as we approached a long stretch of dirt road that our GPS said we had to go on.
There were no traffic lights, no people walking on the street (no street or sidewalks actually) and we were literally a straight shot 15 mins away from the resort. We braced ourselves as we began to cross this road. A few minutes went by and then we were in total darkness with the exception of the headlights. I looked around as we tried to speed through this darkness and in the distance saw headlights coming from behind us. I started freaking out immediately. The lights approached closer and it was clear this car was going super fast. They caught up behind us and I could see that it was a large vehicle, like a van or truck. We kept our cool and assumed they would go around us since it was a wide dirt road. Nope. Wrong again. The truck started to beep behind us and I could see silhouettes of people over the top so I was confused as to what was happening. The car sped super close and kept beeping and flashing their lights at us. We were going the limit and moved over to let them through but they still kept harassing us. We were instructed to pull over. HELL NO I THOUGHT but my friend in a panic started to pull over to the side of the street. I said this was a bad idea and it was clear they wanted something from us. We pulled over to the side of the road and prayed. The truck pulled up next to us and flashed their flashlights in our car for inspection. I looked up. I wanted to see who was going to take me off this Earth because I planned on coming back in my afterdeath with a vengeance.
As I looked up, I quickly realized this was nothing like the movies, this was real life. The truck was a huge pickup truck, there were 3 people in the front, the back had a large object with black tarp over it and surrounding this was 6 men with AUTOMATIC MACHINE GUNS and masks hanging on the back of the truck. I quickly realized we had come in contact with some sort of anti government group as they looked NOTHING like police officers. I tried looking around but couldn't see anything else beyond the darkness, hoping another car would pass this road. I could understand them, but my friend didn't speak Spanish so chaos & confusion was all over their face. I had never been so scared in my life...still to this day. All I could think about was my son, back at home, waiting for his mommy to come back from her work trip. After "clearing us", they told us to stay there until they drove away and we could no longer see the lights down the road. As soon as we got our souls back in our bodies and no longer could see them, we race-car sped to the resort which at that point was only 5 miles away. We started to see streetlights and buildings and people! We knew we had made it finally!
With no sign of the militia, we drove up to the resort entryway, lined with gorgeous chandeliers and greeters, a total different scene than we just experienced 10 mins down the road. I was so happy to hop out the car and go inside. What started as a great trip to catch up with an old friend and sight see, turned into one of the scariest experiences in my life. Despite the shenanigans and losing an entire day with border patrol and almost disappearing in the Mexican desert, I attempted to enjoy the resort the following day. There were infinity pools, pool bars and the sexiest men we could find...but the visual of those men and their guns is forever engraved in my mind.We drove back early the next day and made sure to keep heading straight until we got back to LA.
I learned a lot that day. For instance:
1. I definitely would not leave the country randomly. Stay where you said you'd be. LOL!
2. I would definitely just fly straight in to the airport and hotel in international trips.
3. I wouldn't be with just one person on a road trip and I would learn about the area first.
4. Don't make the wrong turn!!!!!
This was a classic case of being young, wild & free. I don't regret the experience because it's always a great conversation starter & I usually have the best story to tell new people I meet. However, I do suggest doing your homework when traveling. It sounds boring and a lot like "adulting" but it's for your safety. We laugh about it now...but trust me, it wasn't funny at all at the time! We will never forget this trip FOR SURE!
Any crazy vacation stories you'd like to share? Any comments about this trip? Let me know in the comments and subscribe to the blog to stay up to date on new posts. Follow me on social media & let's stay connected!
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