End of Day 6

Final travel day. We arrived at the Guatemalan border and were told we would not be allowed in. Then we were told that we could enter but our car couldn’t. Then we were told that a US plated vehicle could not enter, but a Guatemalan registered vehicle could enter. So.... we began the import process. We had hoped to delay this a bit and get our ducks in a row first but we kind of needed our car to get home. 

5 hours later we had our paperwork and were back on the road. A very long travel day.  We were able to beat our 9pm curfew by a whole half hour. We are exhausted but very glad we don’t have to get back into the car tomorrow. Thank you for following with us and praying for us!  

End of day 5

Uneventful day driving through beautiful southern Mexico.  Grateful to be getting closer to our home in Guatemala. All this way and not a single stop at a tire shop!  Very different from our last trip in 2015

End of Day 4

We have made it to Vera Cruz.  The trip around Mexico City was super easy.  And the scenery was beautiful.  

We are all tucked in for the night.  They are hyper-vigilant about covid here.  They took our temperature when we entered the hotel and sprayed down all of our bags.  We have been wiping down our door handles, light switches etc. when we enter our room before we touch everything but this place takes all of that up a couple notches.  They are also very much controlling the movement of people coming into the hotel as well as within the hotel.  They will bring our breakfast to our room in the morning in lieu of the breakfast buffet.  They are also giving us hand gel!  We each got our own little bottle! 😁

Thank you all so much for praying.  We are on the homestretch now!  

End of Day 3

We checked into hotel number 2 in Mexico this afternoon.  Hannah had an IHOPU class at 3 pm so we wanted to be at our destination by then.  We also all wanted a short day - only 5 hours of driving today!  And it was a very boring day - the drive was easy and beautiful.  

We are hanging out this evening.  Asian food and Netflix. 

We plan on a long day tomorrow and then one more day should get us close to the Guatemalan border.  

Thanks for praying.  

Monday in Mexico

Monday morning began with the hood open and a dead battery.  Not exactly how we had hoped to start the day but we found someone to give us a jump and continued the journey south.  

Eventually we got to the border. No lines, no people, no trouble getting across.  

However, in the midst of the process, we had to take a break to disinfect ...  oh, covid. 

We had not been watching the news and had no idea that hurricane Hanna had hit southern Texas and northern Mexico over the weekend.  In fact, originally, we had planned to leave KC on Friday which would have put us right in the middle of the storm.  We are very thankful that the truck had not been ready until Saturday delaying our departure. 

However, the storm and its destruction did affect our trip.  We got caught in a huge traffic jam in Monterrey that was a result of the flooding. 

Then we were supposed to take Highway 57 south to San Luis Potosi and our hotel. We found this news photo after we arrived at a different hotel still 3 hours away from where we were headed.  

Because of the landslide, we were rerouted a couple times.  We drove in rain on a non-toll road after dark without cell service.  Pretty much broke all of our 'driving through Mexico' rules!  We are out a non-refundable hotel room and 3 hours behind 'schedule' but we are safe and sound.

Thank you so much for praying.  We are 'recalculating' the plan this morning and then will continue the journey!