Day 2- Thru Veracruz & Villahermosa!

Since we didn't get to sleep until 1 am the night before we slept in until 7!

Ryan, Ashley, Mandy & Grant slept upstairs. Grady, the girls and I slept downstairs.

 

Getting ready to hit the road

133 Behold, how good and pleasant it is
    when brothers dwell in unity!^[a]
2 It is like the precious oil on the head,
    running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
    running down on the collar of his robes!
³ It is like the dew of Hermon,
    which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
    life forevermore .Psalm 133

 

 

Water hauling

 

Street market

  

 

Since we had arrived at la Casita at near midnight this was our first glimpse of the ocean

 

We then headed up into more mountains, toward Veracruz

 

We had never seen terrain like this.. arid mountains..just breathtaking. So glad we got to experience this part of the drive in daylight

 

 

We all welcomed a stop at a little taco stand. We are so grateful to have Orlando with us. It isn't easy to find parking lots in Mexico large enough for 2 trucks & trailers. Since he has driven this route hundreds of times he helped us plan out eating and fueling stops. His wisdom has been absolutely invaluable to us. 

                                                                     Joshua King

                                                                     Jonathan King

                                                                       Matthew King

 

One of the three accidents we saw this day. Jeremy told Grady today that he thinks its not the cartel that is the most dangerous part of driving in MX. Its the road & driving conditions!

 

This trailer is hauling sugar cane

                                          This amazing bridge is located near Veracruz

 

At around 7 or 8 pm Jeremy had a leaf spring break on his trailer. We quickly dove off the side of the highway.. thankfully there was a dirt road that the Kings were able to swerve into. The shoulder where we were was very steep so we had to park with our trailer about 6" into the slow lane of the freeway. Because of that, we got all the kids out to stand on the side of the road instead of staying in the vehicle. Out of the dark immediately came a guy on a bicycle. The Mexicans are very industrious.. he knew that if we were stranded there for long the federalies would tow Jeremy and fine  him. Within minutes he was back with a jack. Orlando, who is a mechanic used a block and a tow strap to do a temporary fix. We then headed about 25 miles to the next town. Thankfully Orlando knew of a gas station/truck stop where he was able to do a more permanent fix in order to get us to Belize.We were then able to just park there for the night and sleep in the trailers. We were once again so grateful for Orlando and that once again the Lord provided for our needs and kept us safe in a potentially dangerous situation.

 

Jonna, sleeping in the car. So cute. It had been another long day..

Another delay & A harrowing drive

We were making great time, sure to make our destination near Veracruz.. UNTIL Grady noticed that our trailer was making a loud clanging noise. It turned out that the main bolt on one of our leaf springs had broken. The horrible roads in Mexico had caused so much damage that we had no option but to get it fixed.. on a late Saturday afternoon..? Once again, the Lord provided in such an amazing way! 1 mile from where we first figured out the issue was a fabricator/welder/mechanic that was open 24 hrs/7 days a week.

                                       

    They got right to work, removing the tire and the damaged leaf spring..

                          
                              
They went to work pounding out the leaf spring and reshaping the main spring while they sent a worker off to purchase a new bolt. The bolt that came back was a bit larger than the original one- no problem though.. they just heated the metal with a torch and pounded out a larger hole with an awl.

                           
 The shop had a dug out garage/shop  basement area where vehicles could drive up onto so that they could work on the underside of the cars.. kinda like a Jiffy Lube.. The saying 'necessity is the mother of all invention' came to mind. Reflecting on it later we were all marveling at how well these men knew their trade. Zero technology, fancy tools or google searches! :-) We were so grateful our children got to watch the whole process.
                         

 

After they had bored out a new bolt hole they fabricated 2 brackets to hold the leaf assembly together

                                      
                                             

A vendor stopped by-selling corn slathered in mayonnaise, homemade chili sauce and topped with quesa cheese. It was delicious!

 

We all enjoyed making new friends and practice our Spanish. Stephanie was amazing at translating and communicating. She made friends with one of the mechanics young wife. She was able to connect really well with her and speak to her a little about the Lord. The Kings came prepared and have a lot of Spanish tracts to hand out. We pray that the seeds Stephanie was able to plant will grow in that young woman's heart

 

Joshua and Jonna were able to enjoy a yummy coconut they found. The mama of the house helped them crack it. 

______________________________________________________________

The repair took over 2 hours. Unfortunately that really set us back. We had a chance to stop for the  night at around 10:30 pm but we decided against it because Orlando didnt know for sure if the area was safe or not. We opted for his recommended hotel but that meant driving until 11:30 pm on horrible,dark and windy mountain roads- having a few near collisions and some extremely tense moments. At one point,on a particularly deserted stretch of the drive a blacked out suburban got between Jeremy and us . We were behind and weren't sure if we were going to be stopped and robbed but thankfully the suburban only stayed there a few minutes and then passed. Whew! Suffice it to say, we were extremely relieved when we  saw large spotlight-type flashlights motioning us in to a huge sandy parking lot by a small, dimly lit hotel. Orlando had apparently alerted them of our arrival. The owners were so kind- even making carne asada  tacos for 16 at 12:30 am!!

We thank the Lord for his provision & protection!

Mexico! Day 1

 

Viva Mexico!

 

We so enjoyed viewing the Mexico scenes.. although we were travelling through the most dangerous part of Mexico on this day, we were all pretty peaceful about the drive which was a blessing. Everyone we met was so friendly and met us with a smile.

 

At first the military men and vehicles were a bit alarming to see.. this being a rough area we learned to appreciate their presence. Orlando reassured us  that they were there to help protect us from cartel and corrupt police officers.

 

One village we passed had so no pavement on the main road & so many potholes that it made navigating very difficult. We did appreciate that it was not raining! We couldn't imagine trying to get through there in a foot of mud!

 

 

 

A sobering reminder of the dangers of driving in Mexico. We had many close calls this day

 

So many fruit, veggies & goods stands. We all wished we werent in such a hurry so we could stop and do some shopping! :-)

 

 Coming upon one particularly dangerous town, out of no where came trucks & military men. They literally escorted us through the town and at one point got between us and some bad policemen. We were so grateful and knew that the Lord had sent them to protect us. 

 

 

Gracias Amigos!!!

 

Sleepy Heads 

 

We were making great time and thoroughly enjoying the day..UNTIL.. we had another mechanical problem!!