Sunday Drives

After services on Sunday we enjoy taking family drives. We try not to drive too many miles since gas is running about $5.40 per gallon (yes, in USD! :-O) Normally we try and limit our longer drives to the weekend although permit and immigration takes us to Belmopan frequently also. Gas is just an expense here.. definitely at least twice the cost of housing.

On this drive we enjoyed seeing the colorful homes in this village

A crop of beans.. this field stretched for hundreds of acres..

Such a beautiful area!

Can you see the Wish Willy lizard in this photo?

 

The famous Hawksworth bridge is a one lane suspension bridge in San Ignacio, Belize. Built in 1949 and imported from Middlesbrough, England,  it crosses the Macal River linking San Ignacio to its sister-town Santa Elena. It is currently the only drivable suspension bridge in Belize

 

The river is still pretty muddy after an unusual 6 months of constant rain. We arrived just in time. It has been warm and is raining less and less.. and drying out! In a month or so this water will most likely be crystal clear.

San Ignatio low lying bridge.. across the bridge and up the hill on the left is where the Saturday market is held. The bridge links Santa Elena and San Ignatio, just down from the suspension bridge. They are both only one way bridges.

Many little home based stores sell cold cokes.. mmmm.. tastes so yummy on a hot day!

San Ignatio

Santa Elena

We never get tired of just looking out the window while daddy drives us places..

 c

Saturday Market Days

Have we really been gone from Belize for a year and a half? In some ways it seems as though we have never left. The Saturday market has quickly become a reinstated routine. We like to head to 'Cayo' (San Ignatio/Santa Elena areas) early Saturday to avoid the heat and crowds. We purchase most of our weekly produce at the market, beef from Running W, our corn tortillas from a local Spanish lady and other weekly provisions from a Chinese supermarket. Occasionally we will also take a drive out to Succotz Village to visit friends or out to the DePlooys Jungle lodge area where there is a lovely botanical garden.

 

On this day we took the ferry which connects the west side of Spanish Lookout to the Western Highway. There was quite a line up heading into Spanish Lookout this day..

The ferry has received a facelift since we last saw it! New paint, railings and plates. Looks nice. Grant had brought his line and stick to try and catch a few sardines but didn't catch anything. :-)

San Ignatio Market

These lovely glass mosaics are all composed from butterfly wings..

 

Following a Horse N Buggy home. :-)

 

When it rains, it pours!

It is so fun to be back to the warm showers of Belize. We just love it, especially after an especially toasty day to see the black clouds roll in! for the most part, we are heading into the dry/hot season here in Belize.. but there are still some showers here and there.. and it doesn't just rain here, it RAINS here! :-)

Showers are coming!

Rye takes shelter under a banana leaf

Just a short wait and then it will most likely end.. normally the showers come and go quickly

 

This beautiful butterfly takes shelter in our house..

Isn't it beautiful?

The girls take cover under the umbrellas..

So much fun! Anyone have a bar of soap? :-)

The guys' road trip thru Mexico..

The guys were blessed enough to have our friend Ivan Page drive down to TX with them. He read them scripture while they drove and was a great encouragement for the guys. He also helped drive which was a great big help!

Visiting the Redwoods!

Look how tiny Grant is in this pic

replacing the battery

Ivan sports a new look! :-)

Somewhere in Texas, they discovered that the back end and rear side of the trailer were coming apart! They had to do some serious repair work in the Home Depot parking lot. Thankfully the fix is really holding up well.

 

This tire shop provided the spare they needed for the van. They had run out of time to purchase one in WA

In El Paso, TX they took a few hours and handed out tracts at this complex. They had a great conversation with a young man who was washing folks' headlights.

Look at Grant's new hat! Very cute Grant!:-)

 

Through the southern states they saw such beautiful cactus

 

They guys spend quite a few nights in this Walmart parking lot near the border as their paperwork was being prepared to cross into Mexico

After getting to the border, Grady found out that the driver who he would be following through would not be able to meet him after all.. the idea of driving through MX without knowing a route to take was a bit daunting. However, the LORD provided a very kind and helpful Belizean who agreed to let the guys follow him through Mexico. You will have to ask Grady the details of the trip.. there were a few harrowing experiences that had they not had their new friend, they would have been in a dire situation. What a blessing that the Lord provided him!

 

 After finding out the guide could not meet them, they spent a day trying to figure out what to do.. then the border crossing was closed over the weekend.. so Grady and his new guide planned to cross on Monday.. but then the border was also closed on Monday due to an incident.. so finally Tuesday morning, the guys and their new Belizean friend were able to cross, after being in Texas for 6 days.

 

 

 

They pretty much drove day and night. While driving through, you normally find a group to travel with. You are less likely to be robbed if travelling with a group of cars.

 

And passed through many tolls.. notice the pig truck in this pic (this one is for you Justin! :-)  )

 

Ryan says there were so many of these little stands along the road, curiously many of them sold the same exact types of statues and trinkets. Not much variety he said..

 

The group they were travelling with took a wrong turn and ended up in a run down  little town..where some very bad things had recently happened. Grady's new friend was alarmed once he realized where they were.. but they had been driving straight for 11 straight hours and really had no other choice but to stay at this hotel and sleep for a few hours. Let's just say the boys didn't get a lot of sleep that night..

 

They saw the most amazing things.. this flatbed has dumptruck beds, quads, three tractors and a car. Unfortunately this vehicle crashed on it's way through. We are unsure if the driver made it or not..

 

This is a semi, hauling three other tractors and a car

 

This is their friend in front.. they had to stay very, very close to his bumper the whole time so as not to get cut off and separated.  Sadly a car who was following my guys ended up being separated off from their group and robbed at gunpoint. The people were not harmed thankfully.

 

Grady couldn't believe what his van and trailer were able to pass through! Washed out culverts, mountains steep hills, 2 1/2 foot potholes at 50 mph and more! The guys are standing behind me saying this was one of the better roads.. their description of the trip does not compel me to want to follow that route any time soon!

 

They made it all the way through MX to Chetumal MX, which is just on the other side of the Belizean border in just 3 days! With the road conditions taken into consideration, that was really fast! Over 1500 miles.. They parted ways with their Belizean friend and stayed over night at this hotel

It had a nice safe yard to park the truck and trailer in

 

Grant walks the dog

 

Bright and early they left out for the border. They spent 5 hours in customs where the trailer and truck were inspected and they figured out what duties were owed. They spent that night in Corozal, BZ and were so happy to finally arrive in sunny Belize!