Finally in Mexico

Got up yesterday at 4 am (having slept only 2.5 hours!), got packed, loaded up, ate complimentary breakfast at the hotel, changed some dollars for pesos, crossed the border, got permits for the ninas and I to stay in Mexico, and were finally truly on our way around 8 am. It was a pleasant drive with no incidents whatsoever. This photo is at the halfway point in Matehuala, Mexico. We stopped here for lunch. We finally arrived a la casa de los Abuelitos just before 9 p.m. This is a fairly new home for them and it is just so charming!! I'll get more photos today in the daylight. Here's the fam just getting ready to eat some yummy dinner. Abuelitos are at the head of the table. Erika is also in the photo (between Brianna and Whitney). She is their cousin who was going to school here for a semester.
Their home is in Tula, which is just northwest of Mexico city. We are clear down into the heart of Mexico. It has been an eye-opener for the ninas. The buildings and homes are so different--all made of bricks and/or concrete, many of them very run-down and not well maintained. And building codes are few or none, so you can imagine how odd some of these homes a businesses look. Quite a mishmash.

There are stray dogs all over the streets. Last night we fell asleep to the sound of dogs howling and barking. We woke up, though to the songs of birds I had never heard before. That was fun.

The tempurature here is just like that of San Diego--cool and balmy. It is lovely.