First, we have to say thank you to all you ... our friends and family for helping make this trip possible. Without all of your help we would have been lost - walking in circles. We received much help in packing, moving, selling our stuff and much, much more. Thank you to all who encouraged us to expand our ministry by your example, encouragement and experiences. Many of you also showed us the ropes and held our hand along the way. Thank you, we love you all.
So one of our big scares was sticking out like a soar thumb. Which really is unavoidable since well, we're white in a dark skinned country :-) But any way we can avoid this further is helpful. For instance - we thought we would need a trailer for all our necessary "living" items. But we were happy to realize we did not need it - all our priorities fit into our 95 Toyota Corolla. That's right, we brought our not-as-nice car to also avoid sticking out further... After cramming and stuffing items into nooks and crannys our car is packed to the gilds!
Notice the low rear wheel-well ^^^^^^
A big thank you to our friends in Manzanillo Trevor and Tiffany Bryant for helping setting our mind at ease from concerns we had with numerous details, including our drive down, places to stay along the way and they even let us stay with them as we looked for our place and prepared our household - you two are great!
We realized that after our Unassigned Territory assignment to Utah in October [see that post here] we spent all our time getting ready to go to Mexico. We had been going non-stop for about two months straight. So after a much needed decompressing in Palm Springs visiting family we headed down south.
So, the plan was to leave Palm Springs early in the day and get to Nogalas (Arizona / Mexico border) with enough time to drive to Hermosillo and stay with a brother and sister there (Joe and Colleen Way). Well, needless to say we didn't quite make it to Hermosillo.
We drove off early Thursday morning from Palm Springs – hoping to get a couple of hours into Mexico before nightfall. Everything was going fine until we stopped in Phoenix Arizona. We had to have one last meal of In-N-Out Burger before we left the states (grilled onions and peppers on the burger are awesome! Thanks Coodeys for that tip). We had gotten our lunch and were about to get on the freeway when Dane noticed the car heat gauge was in the red! We pulled into a gas station and lifted the hood. Nothing looked wrong – no steam, no dripping, the radiator tank was full. Then Dane noticed he couldn’t turn the radiator fan. As he was talking to his Uncle Jeff to help him troubleshoot he noticed a man in a mechanic’s uniform walking across the street. Dane walked around the corner to find a mechanic’s shop right there. They were able to take care of us right away because their hydraulic lift had just broken and they had to cancel their other appointments. It was the best of the worst case scenarios. After a few hours and $170 we were back on the road.
Initially we were disappointed because we hadn’t wanted to pay for a hotel in Arizona but it turned out to be a blessing. The brother we were going to stay with in Hermocillo (2 hours South of the border) told us that since it was right before Christmas the lines at the border would probably have been really bad in the afternoon which meant that we would have been driving through there in the dark. The brothers in those areas haven’t heard of any incidents with people passing through during the day but they do caution the friends not to travel at night. So instead we delayed our travel a day and stayed in the US Thursday night. We got to the border a few minutes before 6am Friday and had no issues at all. Except that in the early morning it was FREEZING as we stood outside in line to get our paperwork done!
We had been told by the friends in Manzanillo that everyone has their stories on their travels down to Mexico – we were glad ours happened before we crossed the border! The rest of our trip through Mexico went as smooth as silk.
There was some interesting sites along the way :-)
Wait, what's in the back of that truck?
After a long 12 hours we arrived in Los Mochis. We stayed with a wonderfully hospitable family – Gloria, Carlos and their mother Yolanda.
They made dinner for us and had friends over from the local English congregation. After several hours of laughing and eating we had to retire to bed. The next day was a shorter drive so we were able to relax and enjoy Gloria’s homemade Chorizo and homemade flour tortillas. She even made us burritos for our lunch on the road. It was filled with their traditionally prepared meat – it is dehydrated and shredded before it is cooked in spices and lots of garlic. So yummy!
That day we made it to Mazatlan. We stayed with the ever-so-famous Joe and Emiley Young. A hilarious couple that made us feel totally at home.
A shout out to Chloe for being such a sweet pooch.
They talked us into staying with them an extra day - not that it took much convincing. We got to meet many of the friends in the English Congregation at the Sunday meeting and had a much needed relaxing day before our last marathon drive day.
This restaurant inspired me to go on. It's a quote I can get behind!
The drive from Mazatlan to Manzanillo was very beautiful. We wish we had time to stop and enjoy it but we wanted to get to Manzanillo before dark.
After 3000 miles we arrived very road weary at our destination for the next 5 months - Manzanillo, Mexico. Our friends Trevor and Tiffany greeted us with hugs and tamales before we collapsed into bed.
Their place is right on a great beach so our first morning in Manzanillo we took a walk on their beach. As we walked on the sand toward the ocean Emily kept stopping and saying “WHAT!?! Are you KIDDING me? We LIVE here??!!?? I don’t believe it.” It seems impossible.
There’s lots to do to get a place and get settled. Trevor and Tiffany have been amazingly generous and helpful. They are such great researchers so they have lots of the information we’re needing. They are such an answer to our prayers.
We have been looking at different places to rent and trying to figure out whether to pay for a furnished place that is more expensive or a cheaper place and buy the stuff. What is considered a rent ready, basic apt here is very different from the States. Especially the kitchen! The pic explains it – that sink – that sink IS the kitchen! No fridge, stove, cupboards or counter!
We had been warned that would be the case but standing in front of it was still daunting.
We left it in Jehovah's hands and were sure it would all work out... And it did. We are happy to say we found a place.
More on that to come... :-)
We’ll keep you posted as we get settled!
Much Agape,
- Dane & Emily
