I love camping. Let me repeat myself, I love camping. So whenever Luke told me that we would be spending two days camping roughly 20 miles from the Mexican border I was thrilled to say the least. So we packed up the 15 passenger van, left the frozen snow filled grounds of New Life Ranch, and began our 20 something hour drive. The first night we stayed at a camp in west Texas which was a really neat experience just to see others who have similar interest as myself and how God uses them in different ways. It was a short stay and we made our way further south and eventually made it to Big Bend national park (not Big Ben, apparently someone who will remain anonymous thought we were going to London). We arrived at our camp site around 8 P.M and after leaving the snow and seeing sand and cacti I was ready to get my tan on. I stepped out of the van and it hit me, freezing temperatures and a sickening wind chill.
We make camp, cooked dinner, and went to bed. You may remember that I love camping, what I failed to mention was that I hate tents, and cold weather. I got in my sleeping bag and tried to fall asleep, little did I know I was about to experience one of the strangest nights of my entire life. I awoke around 1 A.M and my pillow was frozen. I guess I drool a lot in my sleep which froze my pillow case and to my face. I felt extremely claustrophobic and I could not feel my feat. As quietly as I possibly could, I got out of the tent and made my way to the van. Before I opened the door I heard the scariest noise of my entire life, seriously. It sounded like a Lion giving birth to a Rhino, horn first. I decided to sleep in the van for the rest of the night. My plan did not work at all. When I packed I packed like someone who was packing for a camping trip in Northern Mexico, so I had plenty of shorts and tshirts but one or two jackets. So I put on 3 additional pairs of socks on to my feet which I couldn't feel, a few pairs of shorts, and a pair of furry boots I found under one of the seats. I fell asleep for about an hour and woke up again and my mind was playing terrible tricks on me. My first thought was that I most definitely had frost bitten feet. So my next thought was Mr. Deeds and that my feet are going to be black the rest of my life. After that thought was I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO GET A CHACO TAN EVER AGAIN!!! So I knew the only way I would be able to survive this was to either use the lighter in my pocket to light a section of the van on fire, or go to the bathroom where the heater was.
I decided to go with the bathroom. This bathroom was about 100 yards away with Lions, Mexicans, and Bears! Because of all the socks I was wearing I could not fit my shoes on my feet. So I put them on high heel style and made the dash for the bathroom. I finally made it and it felt like Christmas morning. There was a giant heater and the smell of Lemon Pledge filled the air. I began to strip and placed my feet under the hand dryer. Once I had feeling in my toes again I knew if I was going to survive I needed to get sleep. I could hear Same Moreton in my head telling me I had all the resources necessary to stay alive. Whenever you are dying with hypothermia you do not think straight, much less think about comfort. So I grabbed 6 rolls of toilet paper to act as my pillow and slept on the floor of a public restroom at a nation park. As gross as this sounds you have no idea until you actually experience it. I woke up every 20 minuets all night thinking someone was going to come in and kidnap me. My mind works great at 4 A.M so I was thinking of excuses of why I would be on the floor. My first thought was to pull a Jason Borne and pretend I had no idea who I was and spit out random facts but I thought I could do better. So I decided to pretend I worked for border patrol and was on a very important stake out. Clever I know. Luckily for me and everyone else no one walked in. All throughout the night I honestly thought I was going to die. I could not get warm at all and I could not fall asleep. I decided if I was going to die I might as well say goodbye to a few friends. I whipped out my phone and sent some pretty awesome text messages. I'm sure people have gotten drunk text before, but I bet very few have gotten "I'm dying of hypothermia outside of Mexico so I'm in a public bathroom so I won't be eaten by bears" text. Luckily I didn't have service so only a few of those messages got out. I finally made it to morning, and knew that I needed to do something different that night. We spent the entire day hiking/modeling in one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. We made it back for dinner and the night was slowing creeping in. We decided to play cards in the van with the heaters full blast. I knew if I slept in the van after the game it would still be warm and might make for a better night. After the game I kicked everyone out of my "bed" took enough Tylenol PM that would knock out Snuffaluffagous and prayed I wouldn't wake up until morning. I started my prayer with God if you really love me and then I woke up and breakfast was already made (thanks God).
This was our last day so we decided to drive to the Mexican border and check out a hot spring right off of the Rio Grande. I had a great night sleep so I decided to drive. Before one can get to the hot springs one must drive through the mountains on a very narrow road. When I say narrow I mean it. I mean so narrow I'm surprised my Rosey O Donald sized ego made it through that pass. I would not feel comfortable riding a bike on it but here I was in a giant van. I couldn't let someone else drive because I was from North Carolina, we invented driving/ NASCAR. So we begin driving and it's seriously a 15 foot drop on my left and jagged rocks on my right all the way through the curving mountains. I finally make it through alive and we started our walk to the hot spring. Driving out was even more dangerous. I made it through only to find out we left some of our stuff so I had to drive the entire thing all over again. I think I peed a little bit each time so at the end of the ordeal I was glad I was still wearing my swimmies. Just kidding, but not really.
The hot springs were awesome, the water was so warm and it was such a nice day. As I was soaking in the spring right next to the Rio Grande and could see Mexico right across the river. I have never left our country before and do not have a passport but come on how hard could it be to swim across the Rio Grande and sneak into Mexico? Without much hesitation I dove into the freezing cold water and made my way to Mexico. I stood on foreign soil for the first time and felt so far away from God. It was like He could no longer hear me because I was no longer in His favorite country. I stood there long enough to get a picture and I swam back. Guys sneaking into the US is so much easier than I thought. We continued to soak in the warm waters when all of the sudden a man across the river appeared. There he was, a real live Mexican! Usually whenever one see a man of that nationality on his or her own soil we tend to be annoyed. Whenever I saw that man I felt cultured. Whenever I was swimming across the Rio Grande I experienced something deep. What right do I have to enjoy these freedoms I take for granted everyday? And Why do I get to have these, because I was born here? I felt sorry for that man who does not get to experience the things I get to everyday. Things like name brands, hats that aren't circles, the English language, and the always delicious Taco Bell. You would think more would swim over, I mean seriously guys its pretty easy.
After my trip I learned a lot about myself and a lot about those who I will work along side of for the following months to come.
"I want to change the word, and do something valuable and beautiful. I want people to remember me before I'm dead, and then more afterwords" -Russell Brand
Later, JG
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