Puebla

Tonight will be our 6th (and hopefully, final) night in Puebla or really, Cholula, Mexico.  We limped in on Friday night with transmission issues. We had a great day of travel but then due to construction etc. got lost looking for the campground in the dark. We called the office and someone came, found us and then led us back. We picked a spot, pulled all the way forward and then found out that our truck would not go into reverse.  It was a little bit of a rough night.

 

But everything always looks better in the morning! One of the staff at the campground took Don all over town, inquiring about transmission work.  He found a couple options but because it was Saturday, no one would even look at the truck until Monday.  Then the owner of the campground found us.  He recommended a mechanic that he had worked with before and trusted.  He called him and the mechanic agreed to come find us on Monday morning.

 

Because we are in Mexico, 10 am does not mean 10 am!!  Thankfully we knew this and had appropriate expectations!  He arrived with a fancy computer diagnostic thingy (technical term!!) and then told us that he wanted to make sure that he could get the parts before he agreed to the work.  He had no doubt about getting the transmission but we have a fancy off-road package that made things a little bit more complicated. 

 

Once we heard back from him, Don drove the truck to his shop (it could still go forward!). Don was very impressed with his shop.  It was very busy and professional. While he was there, a guy in a Porsche drove up requesting an oil change.  This pretty much sealed it for Don! ;)

 

Don talked to the mechanic this morning.  He expects that the truck will be ready late today or tomorrow morning. He is really not wanting to rush the 4x4 part of the transmission and we agree with him.  He doesn't want us to get 1000 km down the road and have trouble.  We agree with that as well!! We hope to be back on the road tomorrow!

 

We have actually settled in here nicely.  The campground is within walking distance of so many things - a mall, Pizza Hut, KFC, Sam's, movie theater, Walmart, hardware stores etc. etc. We also walked to some ruins on Sunday.  The climate is beautiful.  We are at 7000 feet so it gets warm during the day but then really cools off at night.  I thought I would share some pictures of the campground.

 

This is the gate from the inside of the campground.  It is most often locked and requires the guard to give you access. 

 

 

This is a view from the back of our camper toward the office and bathrooms.

 

A view of our camper from the front gate.  We are on the wrong side of the road because we couldn't back the camper across the road.  There is only one other camper here now but we have seen several come and go.  It is very interesting to meet others camping their way around or through Mexico. Who knew??  One couple from France, shipped their camper across the ocean and are now on their way to visit all the countries of South America.  Another couple has been camping around Mexico for 6 months and plans to do it for a whole year. We have met French Canadians as well that were passing through. This campsite is not easy to get to but it comes highly recommended and people continue to return to it time and time again.

 

 

An orange tree close to our camper.

 

The courtyard.  This is the only place that we can get wifi. You can see Caleb sitting on the fountain doing his school.  When we started out he was a week ahead of schedule.  His class has now caught up with him.  Since we plan on leaving tomorrow and are not sure about wifi over the next few days, he is working diligently to get his work for this week done (while he is texting and on facebook, of course)!

 

We were also introduced to some missionaries that serve here.  They live very close to the campground and yesterday invited us over for lunch!  It was such a blessing! We are very thankful that we landed here to wait on our truck.  There are so many ways that we can see the Lord's hand in all of this.  Thank you all so much for praying!  We really appreciate you!