We have been talking about the “Trip to Chihuahua” for months & while the numbers had dwindled & the initial plan of going by train had been nixed, the time was now upon us & we were excited about the week ahead. The PLAN – meet with Emanuel church at 4 AM, pack up the vans & leave, drive 12 hrs to Chihuahua City, arrive early, stay overnight & the kids are on their way the 3 hrs to camp early Tues. REALITY – no brakes in our van, will travel together in their “new” van, left late, no AC, van troubles, overnight in Hermosillo, still van troubles, rent a van, left late, arrived in Chihuahua late & at camp ½ way through the week.
Often we don’t really know why God changes our plans, but how comforting to know that He’s in control. As we trusted God, we were able to enjoy our little adventure together & come home encouraged. Here’s the story.
It all started with discovering the brakes in the SC van needed fixing & a “new” van purchase by Emanuel church. What a blessing – we can all travel in this 12 (17) passenger van complete with luggage rack! Well, the planned early start was delayed for an oil change, temp license purchase & waiting for Omar to return from his Soccer tournament in Guadalajara – all happening in Guaymas, as Cesar, David, Angie & I very patiently wait in SC. When they finally arrive we contemplate taking my car, but find we all fit in fine so we{re on our way.
The 1 ½ hr drive to Hermosillo was sufficient to remind us that AC is pretty much essential in the summer heat, so we found this little workshop, got the AC working & with a bit of coxing the van, were on our way out of the city, through the first toll booth &... “we’re stopping for gas already? (This is going to be an expensive trip if we need gas so soon!)” Do you think maybe God drained the tank to make us stop? “Everyone out of the van, it’s smoking/steaming from underneath”. And my first thought – why are we dealing with this right by the gas pumps?
Omar cooled the van down, Mirna made arrangements to meet Oscar to fix the apparent leak & we piled into the van for our return to Hermosillo (H’illo). Back through the toll booth – now that was an expensive few kms & we take a more scenic route to the NW corner of the city where we find Oscar, tools in hand & space encountered near the bus stop to work on the van. Leaking transmission fluid, it’s determined & the repair time was a great time to talk about having confidence in God during situations like this.
Ahh – what a beautiful sunset! Yes, a 6 AM Monday alarm & I’m now 1 ½ hrs from home! What to do? Stay overnight in H’illo & get a fresh start early tomorrow. The evening with Mirna’s niece & family was a rather pleasant delay – shopping in her little second hand shop, Canada slideshow & evening lunch included shrimp tacos & very delicious, juicy mangos! With no desire to waste time in the morning loading luggage, we all slept in our clothes for a few short hours wherever there was space.
The 3 AM wake-up call was greeted with relative enthusiasm, considering the hour & we were on our way shortly after – down Solidaridad street, east on the mining road, believing the best but experiencing some weird van noises & a less than smooth energetic drive, prompting us to stop & check the van before the toll booth. Sure enough, there’s still something leaking & so we made our return trip – mining road, Solidaridad, back to our new home base! Realizing that we just can’t take this van on this long trip, we began searching for other options - not an easy task at 4:30 AM! In the end, the options were simple – rent a van or return to SC & if we couldn’t be on our way by noon, it was probably best to cancel the trip.
With Angie being especially convinced that it was important for us to go, we found a 15 passenger rental van. So, at 12:30 with luggage at our feet & really, no room to move, we found ourselves on that familiar path – But this time, with confidence, in what was obviously a reliable vehicle - Solidaridad - mining road - toll booth - past the gas station...yay, we are on our way!
Toll booths, construction, speed bumps & military checkpoints are all a reality of highway travel in Mexico, so delays should always be figured into your travel plans – just in case! So, really, with a van full of young people, headed to Chihuahua, it was no surprise that despite our innocent look, they chose to have us pull over at the military checkpoint near Benjamin Hill. Everyone out of the van, luggage too (& it was packed in so nicely!) Only Cesar’s bag merited review beyond the X-ray & I soon discovered that photographing our experience wasn’t a good idea, as they asked me to erase the photos. But in short time they found nothing of concern & we stuffed ourselves back in the van & were on our way!
Hermosillo -Santa Ana – Magdelena – Imuris – Cananea - Agua Prieta - Nuevas Casas Grandes, construction, prairies, 3 sierra passes, 2 Pemex gas station, 2 Oxxo stops (7-11), 5 toll booths, several checkpoints, 1 time change & many kms later we entered the city of Chihuahua at the relatively quiet hour of 1:30 AM.
Driving through the Sierra is something one wants to do in daylight, for several reasons. First, meeting the many semis on the narrow winding road, is easier when not dealing with headlights, too. And second, the rock, the green & the layers – it’s all so beautiful! And, I’m told, the rain while it was sunny in the first stretch was romantic!
Pastor Lalo was bright & cheery as he welcomed us to his home at that very late hour. And after a short wind-down time, we all dozed off for another short night before sending them on their way to camp early Wed AM.
The trip home, on the other hand was very uneventful – at least to H’illo. We left about 4 AM, the kids slept most of the time, we made very few stops & arrived in H’illo in time to return the rental van without penalty. We transferred back to the original van, stalled our way through what seemed like dozens of red lights & arrived back in SC before sunset!
My personal Experience:
Hermosillo has changed so much. I was right there but couldn’t figure out where the Solidaridad families I used to visit now live.
The military guys, rifles in hand may look so serious, even scary but I was reminded that they are normal guys doing a job. One thing that made me laugh was that more than once, one of them, rifle in hand, would ask before coming closer, if Miri (Angie’s little quiet dog) would bite.
In one little town we passed Hotel Campo Real (The Real Field Hotel) – too funny!
David & Angie were troopers! David drove almost the whole long trip safely & without complaint. Angie sat on a cooler at his side the whole trip!
The 1 ½ hours that I drove as the skies darkened, was relatively uneventful on the narrow but straight road in northwest Chihuahua.
I was a bit ticked that at one military stop, the guy assumed I didn’t know Spanish &wouldn’t let me (the driver) answer his questions.
One advantage of traveling with youth is that as the older person, I always seemed to be given the most comfortable place to sit or sleep.
No one beats Mexicans at making you feel welcome!
Often we don’t really know why God changes our plans, but how comforting to know that He’s in control. As we trusted God, we were able to enjoy our little adventure together & come home encouraged. Here’s the story.
It all started with discovering the brakes in the SC van needed fixing & a “new” van purchase by Emanuel church. What a blessing – we can all travel in this 12 (17) passenger van complete with luggage rack! Well, the planned early start was delayed for an oil change, temp license purchase & waiting for Omar to return from his Soccer tournament in Guadalajara – all happening in Guaymas, as Cesar, David, Angie & I very patiently wait in SC. When they finally arrive we contemplate taking my car, but find we all fit in fine so we{re on our way.
The 1 ½ hr drive to Hermosillo was sufficient to remind us that AC is pretty much essential in the summer heat, so we found this little workshop, got the AC working & with a bit of coxing the van, were on our way out of the city, through the first toll booth &... “we’re stopping for gas already? (This is going to be an expensive trip if we need gas so soon!)” Do you think maybe God drained the tank to make us stop? “Everyone out of the van, it’s smoking/steaming from underneath”. And my first thought – why are we dealing with this right by the gas pumps?
Omar cooled the van down, Mirna made arrangements to meet Oscar to fix the apparent leak & we piled into the van for our return to Hermosillo (H’illo). Back through the toll booth – now that was an expensive few kms & we take a more scenic route to the NW corner of the city where we find Oscar, tools in hand & space encountered near the bus stop to work on the van. Leaking transmission fluid, it’s determined & the repair time was a great time to talk about having confidence in God during situations like this.
Ahh – what a beautiful sunset! Yes, a 6 AM Monday alarm & I’m now 1 ½ hrs from home! What to do? Stay overnight in H’illo & get a fresh start early tomorrow. The evening with Mirna’s niece & family was a rather pleasant delay – shopping in her little second hand shop, Canada slideshow & evening lunch included shrimp tacos & very delicious, juicy mangos! With no desire to waste time in the morning loading luggage, we all slept in our clothes for a few short hours wherever there was space.
The 3 AM wake-up call was greeted with relative enthusiasm, considering the hour & we were on our way shortly after – down Solidaridad street, east on the mining road, believing the best but experiencing some weird van noises & a less than smooth energetic drive, prompting us to stop & check the van before the toll booth. Sure enough, there’s still something leaking & so we made our return trip – mining road, Solidaridad, back to our new home base! Realizing that we just can’t take this van on this long trip, we began searching for other options - not an easy task at 4:30 AM! In the end, the options were simple – rent a van or return to SC & if we couldn’t be on our way by noon, it was probably best to cancel the trip.
With Angie being especially convinced that it was important for us to go, we found a 15 passenger rental van. So, at 12:30 with luggage at our feet & really, no room to move, we found ourselves on that familiar path – But this time, with confidence, in what was obviously a reliable vehicle - Solidaridad - mining road - toll booth - past the gas station...yay, we are on our way!
Toll booths, construction, speed bumps & military checkpoints are all a reality of highway travel in Mexico, so delays should always be figured into your travel plans – just in case! So, really, with a van full of young people, headed to Chihuahua, it was no surprise that despite our innocent look, they chose to have us pull over at the military checkpoint near Benjamin Hill. Everyone out of the van, luggage too (& it was packed in so nicely!) Only Cesar’s bag merited review beyond the X-ray & I soon discovered that photographing our experience wasn’t a good idea, as they asked me to erase the photos. But in short time they found nothing of concern & we stuffed ourselves back in the van & were on our way!
Hermosillo -Santa Ana – Magdelena – Imuris – Cananea - Agua Prieta - Nuevas Casas Grandes, construction, prairies, 3 sierra passes, 2 Pemex gas station, 2 Oxxo stops (7-11), 5 toll booths, several checkpoints, 1 time change & many kms later we entered the city of Chihuahua at the relatively quiet hour of 1:30 AM.
Driving through the Sierra is something one wants to do in daylight, for several reasons. First, meeting the many semis on the narrow winding road, is easier when not dealing with headlights, too. And second, the rock, the green & the layers – it’s all so beautiful! And, I’m told, the rain while it was sunny in the first stretch was romantic!
Pastor Lalo was bright & cheery as he welcomed us to his home at that very late hour. And after a short wind-down time, we all dozed off for another short night before sending them on their way to camp early Wed AM.
The trip home, on the other hand was very uneventful – at least to H’illo. We left about 4 AM, the kids slept most of the time, we made very few stops & arrived in H’illo in time to return the rental van without penalty. We transferred back to the original van, stalled our way through what seemed like dozens of red lights & arrived back in SC before sunset!
My personal Experience:
Hermosillo has changed so much. I was right there but couldn’t figure out where the Solidaridad families I used to visit now live.
The military guys, rifles in hand may look so serious, even scary but I was reminded that they are normal guys doing a job. One thing that made me laugh was that more than once, one of them, rifle in hand, would ask before coming closer, if Miri (Angie’s little quiet dog) would bite.
In one little town we passed Hotel Campo Real (The Real Field Hotel) – too funny!
David & Angie were troopers! David drove almost the whole long trip safely & without complaint. Angie sat on a cooler at his side the whole trip!
The 1 ½ hours that I drove as the skies darkened, was relatively uneventful on the narrow but straight road in northwest Chihuahua.
I was a bit ticked that at one military stop, the guy assumed I didn’t know Spanish &wouldn’t let me (the driver) answer his questions.
One advantage of traveling with youth is that as the older person, I always seemed to be given the most comfortable place to sit or sleep.
No one beats Mexicans at making you feel welcome!
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