It’s been a LONG time coming but we’re finally on the road with the load of tools that will turn Vision Enterprises – the company my husband has operated for most of our married life – into Banderas Bay Enterprises – the company he will operate for the next part of our story.  It has truly been one of the most difficult – and annoying – things we have ever tried to pull off.  Trying to understand the rules of three countries we will need to drive through has been confusing at best, agonizing at worst.   But today we are loaded and headed for the first of the borders we will need to cross.

Because Grant sold his company in Canada, along with most of his equipment – we only have 1 trailer (okay to be fair it’s a really full trailer) of tools to take south.  It’s all of the things he feels he needs to be a Mexican building guy.  It seems like it shouldn’t be that big a deal.  But the regulations are many and seem impossible to navigate.  For instance:

• We can’t import our business truck into Mexico because of the type and year
• We can drive it in as tourists but we can’t leave it there if we fly out – so if we drive it in we must drive it out
• If we drive the truck in as tourists (the only way we CAN drive it in) we can’t pull the trailer because it will have to be licensed at the border and only Mexicans can drive commercial vehicles in Mexico
• We can’t buy a truck in Mexico and drive it to Canada to get our stuff because only Mexicans can drive a Mexican truck in Canada – even if we own it
• So we can’t drive a Canadian business truck in Mexico and we can’t drive a Mexican business truck in Canada – and who knows what the Americans have to say about it all

So we are heading for the Mexican border in our Canadian truck pulling our Canadian trailer where we will meet up with our ‘guy’ Ramses who will help us jump through all the hoops.  There is a good chance Ramses’ friend will have to drive with us all the way to Bucerias to keep everyone happy.

It’s not just the vehicles that have made us crazy.  The tools.  You can’t just show up with a bunch of tools.  Over the past few weeks we have documented every nail, every screw, every extension cord (why does Banderas Bay Enterprises need so freakin many extension cords???).   Over 800 items have been logged in a spreadsheet with Make, Model, Serial Number, Value and all translated into Spanish.   We have an Ebay printout for every one of those items to justify the values.  We have scanned and photocopied and hole punched all those lists and put in binders.  One binder for American customs, 1 or 2 for Mexican customs.

And now it is out of our hands.  We have done our homework.  We have made our lists.  I have copies of our company incorporation papers, copies of our house lease, copies of the deed for the land we have purchased, receipts for everything I can think of, passports and drivers licenses and car and trailer registrations.

Now it is time to trust.  To believe that this is the journey we are called to be on and everything will happen just as it is supposed to.  I think of my favorite verse “Whether you turn to the right or to the left you will hear a voice behind you saying ‘This is the way, walk in it’”.   It might be easy, it might be hard, but it will be good – because that is how God is.

In the meantime, first stop is to fix the flat tire before we even leave Regina…. Sigh…..