An old story...but it is still funny. At my expense. The Cabo trip of October 2011

Friends and Family,

I wrote this post long before I started my blog. I wanted to bring it to life, as documenting this story helped me realize how much I like to talk about myself...and hope to make everyone laugh while doing so. -Heidi
 
Allow me to tell you the tale of the passport my 10 month old needed to travel(on my lap) to Mexico. Let this story be a guidance for those with children, those who are thinking about creating children, or those who will not have children, but think they know someone who happens to be long term roommates with said small and growing humans.

The simple fact is : All United States Citizens need passport books if they plan to leave the country by air. You could be one day old. You could be 36,500 days old. The United States Government says we all must hold a passport.
Somehow, I was under the impression that children under the age of 2 did not need to have a passport WHEN traveling to Canada or Mexico from the U S of A. But I only shared that impression with a few people;and looking back none of them needed to get an infant a passport in the last few years. Apparently, it USED to be under the age of 2 blah blah Mexico blah blah.

Back up a little: Why do I need to get Clara a passport for Mexico?
It all started when two people fell in love. In 1982. Roughly 30 years later, they decided to take a trip to Cabo San Lucas for some much needed alone time, after spending the past 25 years raising 5 children. (2 are not even fully cooked and booted out of the house) It was after their plans made that they talked with with second oldest child who is stationed in japan in the Navy. He was then cordially invited on their trip, as they stated "We would enjoy seeing our children that we never get to spend time with, especially if he cannot come home for Christmas this year".

The moment that statement filled my ears, I had already invited my family to Cabo. Andy knew he would not be able to attend, as he would not be able to get the days off. Sorry Andy, We're outta here.
While my parents, my brother, and Clara and I planning a trip to Cabo San Lucas, my three younger siblings at home in Alaska were planning a mutiny.
In the end they won, and now all 7 Hartleys, the one Grandchild, and Nici are headed to Cabo for a one week vacation.

So back to passports. I'll have you know that I live 31 miles from the Interstate 15(31 miles of sandy, dry desert), and then 5 miles to the nearest town of Barstow, California. I can't think of a clever way to describe this town. It is very dumpy, and I bypass it to travel 32 more miles south to Victorville, Ca. For the Alaskans, Barstow is like comparable to a few choice places along the Parks Highway. I'm sure there are nice people and nice homes in there, but they are most likely more meth houses and sex offenders filling the neighborhoods. It is also near Hinkly California. You know, the town Julia Roberts brought to our attention after her cleavge show in Erin Brokovich. Literally,

Dumpy town aside,  I go to the Barstow post office to get MY passport changed (From Hartley to Lean).Gas is not as expensive as Alaska...but it is certainly close.I read online that an appointment was not needed, so I traveled 31 miles to discover I DID need a passport appointment, and I had to drive 31 miles home.
The next day I made an appointment, drove 31 miles to the Barstow Post Office, to discover that they would not allow me to keep my appointment because I did not have the application filled out. This time I was mad, as I had called that very day to make the appointment, explained I was driving from Fort Irwin, and they did not bother to tell me I had to come with a passport. Shame on me for not thinking ahead I suppose.

The next attempt, I made an appointment in Victorville because I did not want to deal with Barstow. We arrive at the address given on Google maps. There is no post office. Their phone number was busy, followed by continuous ringing. Frustrated, We asked a near by gas station, and they directed us to the post office that does not do passports.

At this point, I do not want to even go anymore. Spoiled little Heidi Jo, has the opportunity to travel to mexico on a vacation, and I throw a fit because of passport agencies. I quickly got of myself, said a thankful prayer that I have the opportunity to go, the car to drive me to try and get passports...blah blah blah. Humble Heidi, I'm working on it.

my passport in Real Life

I make the 4th and attempt to get my passport in Barstow. The lady is well past her working prime and complained how all postal workers were being forced into retirement and their jobs were not given to white people.
 Not only am I highly offended (get over yourself lady, we are in America, the country founded by different nations moving right in) but I am HIGHLY irritated, as she cannot see what she is doing.
 She took my passport picture after she asked me a question, so I am featured mid sentence with gopher teeth as my identification to enter and exit my country of residence. She also pointed to the wrong line for me to sign on..twice...and then scolded me for not reading it properly.
I'm practically blowing smoke from my tiny nostrils, but I keep thinking to myself, this is the last time I'll ever have to deal with this lady in my life.

I tell her I'm traveling with Clara, how Clara will be 10 months old, how Clara is a doll and gets into everything....she talks about her grandchildren...I tell her Clara is the first grandchild and this is the first time she is traveling abroad...
And then I leave on my merry way.

9 days before our departure...I get a weird feeling in my gut. I pull the computer out just to make sure Clara's birth certificate is all I need to travel to Mexico.

Fun fact. The passport is a necessity.HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS? Where there signs posted everywhere that I missed? Why didn't I see it when I booked the airline ticket?!?
WHY DIDN'T THAT LADY AT THE PASSPORT OFFICE IN BARSTOW MENTION I NEEDED TO GET HER A PASSPORT AFTER I TALKED ABOUT HER FOR 10 MINUTES?!?!??!?!?!

Caps lock off. You understand how upset I was. 

The blame can be placed everywhere. But ultimately it is my fault. I honestly thought Mexico was the exception for children under the age of two. Turns out, it used to be that way. I also had a hard time believing the photo taken of my 10 month old could be used 4 years later for the same child. She will look like 4 different people in between now and then. I do appreciate the security aspect, it will be a lot harder to steal my child and leave the country if they do not have her passport.
But come on. Perhaps if our next duty station is Alaska and we drive home (cross fingers and toes), then I will be so thankful for having her passport.

I'm getting ahead of myself. I figured out at 10 pm on a Friday that she needed her passport. I begin calling hotlines and whoever, and of course, the passport agency (you know, the state department) is closed until Monday morning.

margarita. baby shades. paci covered with sand. 

Another hiccup :
Parents: If you go to get your child's passport without your spouse, you have to have a notarized document of consent--they provide it on their webpage-- A Power of Attorney is not good enough. Even though it says.... "obtain all documents of travel as required by law". You also need a copy of the other parents drivers license.

After asking friends about weekend notaries and watching my question shoot up the chain of command, I realized I would have to wait until Monday to resolve Anything. Mostly because Andy was out in the field until Monday, so regardless I needed his notarized signature to move forward.

I found out there was a passport agency in San Diego. If you are leaving the country in less than 14 days, you can make an appointment and have your passport before your trip. That was the only information I knew about it, so I was hesitant to drive 180 miles without making sure I had all the right documents.

We left at 6:30 am on Tuesday, arrived at 10:00 (our appointment was at 11:30 but they let us in early), and I started the process. We had every single piece of information. I had even brought the power of attorney AND our marriage license, as they both had Andy's signature. The agent then tells me...As long as I have the photo of his ID faxed, I can pick up the passport that very day!

Wait...I don't have a copy of his ID WITH ME?!

IT was true. I had forgotten to make a copy of His ******** drivers license. I tried to show that I had TWO forms of his signature, as well as his notarized form of consent. NOPE. Needed his ID. No big deal, I can have it faxed to her right?

Wrong. Andy was out in the field that day, 20 miles from the company. His IDs were with him. After calling him 37 times, I finally got a hold of him. Frustrated with the system, he says "Heidi, You shouldn't need it. Tell the lady you don't need it". Frustrated with my husband I said some choice words. We then realized he wouldn't be back to the company--to a fax machine-- until 3 pm (the passport agency closed at 4).

Somewhere in the middle of the Mojave Desert....Andy found 3G. He took a picture of his license with his phone and emailed them to me. (I'm such an iPhone advocate right now...)
While waiting for the photos to arrive, we went to the dog beach on Coronado. My dog LOVES the water, and it makes me smile to watch him charge into the ocean and chase the waves.  Carrying a 27 pound baby on my hip through the sand is probably one of the best workouts I've ever completed...and it was a little too hard to manage both the baby and the over excited dog. I don't think I'll do a solo dog beach adventure again. (Looking back as Ju-Ly is no longer with us, I would do the dog beach every day with him if I could. Clara could have eaten sand and I could have not been such a complainer. It makes me feel better to know that Ju had a good time that day)

BUT AGAIN, complaining complaining...the ocean was beautiful. It was cold (60 F..i know, i know) but I saw a few dolphins and really enjoyed the crisp sea air. And the moisture! Goodness it was a nice change from the desert. I'm so thankful to be so close to an ocean.

2 hours later when I was about to give up and start looking for a place to stay the night, the photos came through. Thank GOD for my mother...who was home and worked with me.While sitting in the cell phone lot at the San Diego Airport (the only hassle free parking I could think of near downtown in my stress).....she printed the photos, and faxed them to the agency. It of course was more complicated than one sentence....but you get the point.

Finally at 3:00 pm, I knew that I had done everything in my power.

At 3:45...I was walking at my full 6 feet tall, out the door, to the car...with Clara's passport in hand.

After doing a round trip drive to Vegas to take Chloe to the airport on Saturday ( at least we were with a wonderful friend AND got this cute passport photo taken)...this round trip drive to San Diego was pretty exhausting. We did stop at Nici's house in La Mesa to let Ju-Lye stretch and Clara to crawl all over her grass. 20 minutes into our traffic filled drive, both kids were sleeping...and slept most of the way home. And for that, I think I am the most thankful of all.

Moral of the story: Get your children passports if you are even thinking about going on a trip that require International boarders. If you happen to live near a passport agency (sorry Alaskans), they will create said needed passport the very same day (still blows my mind) if you provide proof that you are leaving within 14 days, and ALL OF THE NECESSARY DOCUMENTATION. (caps necessary)


The trip was awesome. Here are some pictures. Enjoy :)