Day 13 – Friday, 23 Nov

The first thing I managed to do in Loredo, Texas was get lost in a rough part of town. Luckily, I attracted the attention of a border guard because I stopped at the side of a road.

"Hi sir. Are you okay?" He called from his SUV.

"Well, I'm okay, but I don't know where I am."

"Where are you trying to get to?"

"I don't really know. I just want to find a post office, but my phone says I'm nowhere near one." At that point, I had the bright idea of getting out of the car to cross the street. I figured it would be easier to have a conversation.

Well, it was certainly easier to talk, but we were also doing a good job of blocking traffic.

"Listen. I need help, but we're obviously blocking traffic. Would you mind terribly driving around the block and meeting me over there?" I said, pointing to a side road that seemed to have less traffic.

"Sure. Go ahead, and I'll meet you there."

We were facing in opposite directions, so the border guard had to drive all the way around the block to get back to me. I stopped the car, and jumped out to go talk with him again. He must have been just about convinced that I was a crazy tourist. At that point, he really wasn't far off the truth.

He gave me directions, and helped me find the location in Google Maps on my phone. It was quite a distance away, but he told me it was in a much nicer part of town.

The reason I wanted a post office was to mail my phone, wallet and other personal possessions back to Maria. She had everything else; I figured she should have the rest of my stuff. I was still fixed on giving up, but things started to change when I turned the last corner to get to the post office.

Now, I'm not much for organised religion. I trust that God exists, and He is in control, but people do a lot of strange, contradictory things when it comes to religion. So when I turned that last corner and saw one honking big church behind the post office I jumped on the brakes and stopped in the middle of the street. Fortunately for me there was no car behind me.

I sat in the car, looking at the church, thinking WTF. It was the only building on the street, and the street was a dead end.

A quick check on Google Maps showed there were three post offices between where I had been and here. Over that day and the next I went to those post offices. None of them are next to a church, but I didn't know that yet. I only knew there were other post offices, and this was the last one before the edge of town. What would possess that border guard to send me all the way to the other side of town for a post office, right? That's what I was thinking.

It's Friday afternoon. For the first time since Tuesday morning, it occurs to me it's time to maybe start thinking about what I'm doing.