27 September ’04, Monday. Part 1..We were up early, because we didn’t want to make a nuisance of ourselves in the busy parking lot. As I walked into the “men’s” room, I was asked to halt by two ladies who were inside guarding the other 2 stalls. We even have toilet jams along with traffic jams here…actually, I think we have only been in 2 or 3 traffic jams since we started our journey. Teeth brushed, face washed and shaved and we were back on the road. We had time to make up after our day yesterday. Now on our mind is the border crossing. With the situation of our insurance papers, and some of the horror stories we have heard, we are not looking forward to reaching the border between Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Serbia. Well I guess I should wait for things to happen before I get into a sweat. As we approached the end to the “toll road” from which we have been on for over 18 hours (about 10 a sleep at the truck stop), we were floored when they told us what our “toll charge” was…$12. They charge for the time on the road not the length of the ride… Well, what do you do, but pay, pay, pay. Now we are on E80 and heading onto Sofyia…well, not quite…some how, we missed our turn…HOW FAR BACK???? DAMN !!! “HOW CAN THIS BE???”. Turn around (our middle name), and find the right road….done… Now all we have to think about is the border. An easy ride for 4 hours. We are really enjoying the scenery once again. As before, we have winding roads that mirror the winding rivers. The rock formations are incredible. The traffic is normal, although it seems we have more long-haul trucks on this road. Finally we enter the last town prior to the border and there must have been 150 or more huge long-haul trucks, all in line for the border…Oh My God…Now What ??? Just about that time, a car from Germany and a couple others took off around all the trucks, driving in the on-coming lanes, I thought they were crazy, but I put “Bumble Bee” in 2nd and took off with them. If they were going to find a way to the front, so were we…We were lucky because just as I came into the clear, a long-hauler was just pulling onto the road in “our new lane” but, we had already made it….to the front…what a feeling. The only thing was, the trucks were backed up from the truck only lane and that had over flowed for blocks on blocks. The car only lanes were wide open. Now to confront the patrons of the border. As we pulled forward, passports in hand, title for “Bumble Bee”, and the all famous “GREEN CARD”, we were met by the border lady. All the appropriate questions were asked and answered, the passports looked at, but not handed back, and then it happens…YOUR INSURANCE PAPERS ARE EXPIRED !!! I went into action and tried to explain how somehow someone had mistakenly transposed the month with the year….SHE BOUGHT IT….Thank You Lord !!! We were underway and already starting to worry about…
The next border crossing….
The next border crossing….