What a memory our 10 day drive has created. Anthony, Josiah, and Dad drove the Toyota down the west side of North America, over 6700 km! From the wonderful vistas of snow capped mountains in Alberta to the reds of the Bajas, the I-5 highway straight aways to the dangerous curves of the Baja with missing gaps knocked out of the guardrails everywhere, we enjoyed a long but blessed journey. We couldn’t have asked for better weather for the complete trip! Thanks for your prayers.
We were able to stop and visit family and friends on the way. This was a great way to take a break from the driving, as well as to find a great place to sleep and visit. Thanks to them for opening their homes to us! :)
A high-light was catching up with my brother Mike, Tammy, Gabriella and Jessica, who live on Vancouver Island. We were able to have lunch and then went bowling for an afternoon of fun.
When we crossed the border in the US, we expected an interrogation, especially since Josiah was with me and Karlene wasn’t. All the guard wanted was our passports and asked a few simple questions. The Mexico border was similar, except they were only interested in what was in the vehicle. The lady wanted to open the back of the vehicle, I grimaced and told her she could but I hoped a whole bunch of things didn’t fall out. She then asked if she could look in the side door instead. I said sure, so she poked around for a bit. She asked what was on the roof, which Josiah thought was funny. It was a hockey net boxed up. He thought everyone should know what hockey is:)
She waved us through, and I thought that we would find a border post wanting our passports and issue visas. But we got going and soon were in Tijuana, Mexico.
I was sure we needed visas, so we pulled over to ask at a convenience store. The guard who helped told me we didn’t need visas for the Baja. Dad remembered driving 12 km before getting visas at another border crossing, so we went on. After an hour of driving, we stopped to call a team missionary, Martin Gonzalez, who advised us that we needed our visas from the border, so we turned around.
We were almost there when we got stuck in a traffic jam due to an accident. It was dark. We were wondering where we would find the office.The GPS didn't help. At an intersection I talked to a police officer about our predicament, and found that if we stayed on route, we would be in the USA in 5 minutes. He drew a map for us. We got to a certain point, but had to ask another police officer for directions. He was kind enough to provide an escort to the office, which if he hadn’t, I don’t think we could have found, and doubt the lady in the office would have helped us. At this time it was almost 8:30 PM, so we needed to find a hotel, as we didn't want to drive after dark. The GPS didn’t find a hotel nearby, so we decided to head for Ensanada, a 1 hr drive away. Tijuana didn’t feel the safest place to stay anyways. We had a safe journey and were certain people were praying for us, for we would not have received our visas if it hadn’t been for God placing us there at the time of the accident.
A place we stopped for a night had an angel watching over us once again. I left my backpack outside the vehicle while grabbing suitcases, and forgot all about it. 3 hours later when we returned from supper and exploring a little, a man had my bag (with important documents in it!!) They knew it was ours. God bless them!
When we arrived in La Paz, we were able to find our Missions area leader without the GPS! We had a blessed time meeting TEAM missionaries that evening and getting acquainted. We are excited to work with them soon!
A ferry trip of 6 hours was filled with practicing Spanish with a boy that seemed to find Josiah interesting. I can see why our children can be so helpful in connecting with others when we are in missions.
An 8 hour drive to Guadalajara the next day found us in the biggest city I could imagine. The different ways the streets are designed were mind boggling, circle drives unlike I have ever seen. We managed to get through the rush hour traffic and the GPS was definitely helpful this time. We rejoiced in being reunited with Karlene, Keyana and Mom, who had there own adventures in getting there. They had arrived one day earlier. Again, thanks for praying us through our journey!
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