End of the trip

Our last night in Huatabampito we had a pleasant surprise when Al & Carol showed up quite unexpectedly. We had hoped to run into them in San Carlos, but this was just a bonus. The 4 of us travelled on to the Hotel de Cortez. It was fun to spend some time with them before they headed for Yuma and we were to go to Kino. Unfortunately, on Friday night, Merle experienced a tightness in his chest and arm pain which escalated into a tachycardia topping out at 240 bpm. We checked with the hotel desk for directions to the hospital and even better than that a young man named Luis accompanyed Merle and I, and directed me to the hospital which I would have never found otherwise. He stayed until they had Merle's heart rate down and was able to translate and help us communicate with the doctors and nurses. He left around midnight and returned the next morning to be sure we were ok. It took 36 hours to stabilize Merle's heart so that he could be transported to Hermosillo to a much more modern facility. I even had to bring Merle's meals to him in Guaymas and he was never moved out of the emergency room. In Hermosillo they were able to take EKG's and more sophisticated blood tests. They kept him for two days before they felt he could fly home. Our son, Randy, had flown in on Sunday and was able to help me get the 5th wheel and atv trailer moved to Hermosillo ... 100 miles closer to the border. He had never pulled anything bigger than a U-Haul trailer, but he did quite good and got his training on Mexican highways. On Tuesday, Randy's father-in-law, Bob, flew in. On Wednesday, Randy and Merle flew to Denver, while Bob and Tris took the rig out of Mexico and on to Denver. I had to stay with the rig in order to comply with Mexican import paperwork and to keep our insurance valid. At the vehicle station, they would not accept our import paperwork as they could not find the ID number on the atv trailer. After consultations with the Aduana and then the Hefe Aduana, we took the rig about 5 miles down the road to a welder who literally tattooed the number on the tongue of the trailer. Back to the vehicle station and everything went smoothly. It took us 36 minutes from the time we got in line to cross the border at Nogales until we were through the US side and on our way. There have been horror stories all winter about the long waits at the Nogales border, but you wouldn't know it when we went through. Bob pushed through and we were at our home in Indian Hills by 4:30 pm on Thursday. Many who know the route have been amazed that we made it in that little time. Merle will pursue his heart issues with his cardiologist here and we have every intention of being on the road next winter. Our winter travels were a bit abbreviated from our original itinerary, but the part of the trip we got to do was wonderful. Hasta la Vista ... until next year, Adios