Our Year of Change

As of today, we have been in Cholula, Mexico for one full week.  We rented an Airbnb for two weeks so we would have a place to land and tour houses to rent with our realtor. When we vacation as a family we are usually only in one location for three or four days before moving on. Being in one town for a week is a pretty different experience from our previous vacation experiences. We have spent a lot of time driving around and finding the grocery stores, the local Walmart for supplies, pet stores, and tried out several restaurants. In all of this exploration we have found some really high end, vibrant, family friendly malls and the most incredible grocery store we have ever seen. The Chedraui Select grocery store is somewhat like a Target in that you can buy home goods, children's toys, clothing but it also has in store dining options including a revolving sushi bar, made-to-order pizza, premade sandwiches and a deli with hot items to eat there or take home. But the in-store dining i...

I have been completely in shock that we actually pulled it off! Dave and I will be talking or driving somewhere and it suddenly occurs to me that we are living in Mexico. It feels like waking up from a dream and finding out it is real and I'll spontaneously announce, "We did it! We are in Mexico!"  Our first night in Cholula! After 8 full days on the road with two dogs and three cats, we arrived in Cholula, Mexico in the state of Puebla, on Sunday October 18. We hired a company to help us get through the border and drive down with us all the way to Cholula. It went very smoothly at the border and we were grateful to have hired someone fluent in Spanish for that part! I confess I was a little anxious about having all the right paperwork for all the pets and ourselves and car, but we were fine! It was surprisingly easy! We have spent the week decompressing from the journey and gently exploring the town and surrounding areas as we look for where to buy the supplies that we n...