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| Mexico flag flutters across the border. |
16,000 km by
tandem, nearly 18 months and we have come to the end of the road – for now.
We pulled up
on the U.S. side of the border with Mexico and stood the camera on its mini
tripod to take a picture of ourselves and a sign saying “No Return U.S.A.” and headed off to
find something to eat.
It was
hardly a celebratory lunch. We pedalled around the small, hot and somewhat
dusty border town of San Ysidro looking for anywhere that sold coffee. No joy.
In
desperation we settled for a KFC . It had no coffee and neither of us could stomach the thought of the Colonel’s chicken. Judy went for mashed potato, I went
for what I thought would be a slice of chocolate cake.
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| At the border - "No U.S.A. Return" |
The cake
turned out to be a whole cake, 16 oz or 454 g of it, and we tucked in
hungrily.
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| "Celebrating" with chocolate cake and soft drink. |
Judy gave
her soft drink a half-hearted ok, but my iced tea wasn’t iced. When I tried the
ice dispenser, two soft drinks gushed over my hand. The restroom was locked
with a sign telling customers to take their receipt to the counter to get the
door opened. The queue at the counter was so long I gave up and rinsed my hands
with water from one of our water bottles.
The
chocolate cake was sickly sweet and gooey and at the very least needed cream or
ice cream to balance the flavour. We were both so hungry we ate the lot but
left feeling queasy.
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| Judy at the KFC at San Ysldro |
We pedalled
north, back towards our campsite at Chula Vista, south of San Diego. It felt a
bit strange. We have become used to cycling through borders when we encounter
them, and it was an odd feeling to know this was the end of this particular
trip.
But the
feeling soon went.
We have a couple of weeks to relax before we return to New
Zealand and we mean to enjoy it by putting our feet up, catching up on some
reading and beginning to organise our lives for when we get back. And planning the next trip.
.jpg) |
| Chocolate chip cake - how many ingredients does it need anyway? One of those listed is titanium dioxide which is found in sunblock. |
Will it ever be possible for Americans to make a cake without all those chemicals? No wonder you felt queezy!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure our mothers would never have felt the need for all those ingredients - just butter, sugar, eggs, cocoa/chocolate, flour and maybe some milk.
DeleteThe end of the road! Congratulations, and have a well-earned rest! Looking forward to welcoming you back home in a couple of weeks. Take care and see you soon xxx
ReplyDeleteWell done dear, adventurous friends and thank you so much for sharing your travels with us along the way. You have made it vivid and alive, full of humour and sang froid! I hope to see you in NZ perhaps next year. A bientot, Helen and Bob x
ReplyDeleteHi Helen and Bob, Great to hear from you and thank you. We often remember our stay with you both with fondness - it was a wonderful few days. Already looking forward to the next catch up - this one on this side of the globe. Kind regards, Mike & Judy
DeleteHi Guys,
ReplyDeleteAnd welcome back very soon. I'm in awe of what you have done. Makes my little stroll across France seem quite inconsequential. I'll catch you all of a sudden. Ado
Thanks Ado, it's nice to be back, especially with the thought of a kiwi summer approaching. Hope to catch you very soon. Cheers, Mike n Judy
ReplyDelete