At the internet cafe' in Mexico again

I got away for a bit to try to write a little. My last entry was too long, but I didn't know how else to write about it all.
Yesterday after I left the intenet cafe', I went to pick up the girls from our friends' house. We ended up eating "caldo de pollo", or chicken soup. Very good. I miss Mexican food and how they cook it a lot.
When we left I did about #5 stupid thing. I locked my only key in the car. The car has a stupid dinger that drives me nuts, so I had thrown the keys on the dash, then forgot about them when I locked the car. I had something in my pocket that felt like a key, so I guess I had it. I could not believe I had done something so stupid.
Our friend, Uriel and I tried for about an hour to break into the Toyota Previa. That is one tough car to break into. All the gaskets around the windows were getting chewed up and I hoped that would be all the damage done. I really believed, eventually we could get in, but it was looking dismal.
Finally I walked to the store with Pati, and talked to the store owner to use the phone to call a locksmith. A young guy, around 20 or so was working in the back with the owner, Roberto, and he said he could get into the car.
So, after another 1 1/2 hours, using wire heavier than a coat hanger, he and Uriel got the lock button to push and open. I was so happy and relieved! I will have to buy new gaskets for both front windows, as they are destroyed. I'm glad he didn't take the small wing window (which doesn't open) out, which was next on the list.
After I got home, Petra and I took the rest of our belongings out of the rental house down the street, and went through it all, throwing away stuff and I decided to give most away. It was material and some clothes and yarn mostly.
That was yesterday. Today I have been resting and not motivated to do much. I am reading a wonderful book, but don't have it with me, so can't even remember the author. It is about writing and art. I was going to tell about it, but I think I will save it for when I can quote one paragraph that is changing my thinking about God. How we are not dull to him and what we say and write he is interested in. I need that now because I know that what I write feels boring to me. I hope that I can encourage you all later, when God has changed me more.

I'm writing from Mexico

Wednesday 6-24-09

I am writing all of this on Saturday evening from our house in Mexico. I haven't been able to get to an internet cafe' yet, but by the time I have this posted you will know I found one. I think I need to give an overview of how the trip went first though, before I tell about today. It is long, but there is no other way to tell about everything.

We left around 9 am from Tucson, Arizona. I would have left earlier, but slept until I woke up. I wanted to make sure I got enough rest before we left. Everything went smoothly most of the way. I drove about 70-80 mph a lot of the way. We went through several toll booths. We used to take the Indian roads around them, but it takes at least 2 more hours and the side roads aren't very good.

By the time we were in Navojoa, 1 hour from our house, everything seemed to go wrong. I had some boxes to deliver to a mutual friend from our friends in Tucson. I drove to their house, but they weren't home. I tried to call, but couldn't on my phone. We waited around for about 15 minutes then left for the store before going to the village. I bought a phone card there, and tried to call our friend again. I got a hold of her and she said she would meet me at the store.
I shopped until Becky got there. After she came, I gave her a laptop from her daughter and some DVD players another mutual friend. We visited for about 15 minutes, then I left.

I was excited about getting to our house, as I hadn't been there in over a year. But, unfortunately, I could not find the hidden key anywhere. Greg had sent me a text message and told me there were keys to the house in the ashtray. But, unfortunately, the top dead bolt would not work. It always had a problem sticking, and there was nothing I could do to get it to budge.

I finally decided to drive another hour to Los Mochis, where my daughter was. But, unfortunately, by the time we got there it was 1:30 a.m. And I didn't want to call. I was so tired by then that I wasn't thinking straight. I might have even tried to call, but I can't remember now. I am embarrassed to say it, but I ended up driving around for 2 hours, looking for a nice motel or trying to remember how to get to the deaf school.

Anyone who knows me well, knows I have very little sense of direction. I really wish I'd had a map of Los Mochis. I ended up going in circles .I had asked a person at the OXXO (store like a 7-11) if there was an inexpensive nice motel nearby. He directed me to two, right next to each other. I found them, but felt uncomfortable, not knowing what kind of motel it was, so I drove around looking for a better one. I never did find one. Eventually, I asked a taxi driver, and he led me to a “good hotel” By then I would have taken any kind of hotel. I gave him a dollar bill, but he wanted more, so I gave him a 20 peso bill and took my dollar bill back. He hinted for more, but I didn't give him any.

It was old, but in it's time was a noble place with a courtyard. They also had a locked area to park my car. The hotel manager wasn't too happy I'd woke him up at 3:30 a.m. The hotel had a ceiling fan and a wall fan, but no air conditioning. It wasn't too hot, so that was fine. We had to get a room with 3 beds, for more money, as the manager said the others were all full. 2 of the beds were OK, but one was not very good – a little lumpy and uneven. I told Clemy she could sleep in mine, but she didn't. (The next day she told me she could feel the springs). I took a cold shower to wash the sweat off and went to bed. It was 4:45 a.m. By then.

Thursday 6-25-09

I woke up about 10:00 a.m. The girls turned on the TV and were watching a movie. It took me awhile to figure out that it was the “Flinstones” only with real people instead of in cartoons. It was also in Spanish.

I took another shower, as it was getting warm in the room and then we left.

I drove around about ½ hour before we found the deaf school. I had tried to call earlier, but no one answered.

I prayed last nigh and today for God to guide and protect us. I think one reason I drove around so much was I didn't know if I was in a good or bad area of town and I felt uncomfortable and wanted to find a safe place. At least there was hardly any traffic out. Mostly taxis and police cars. I'm surprised I didn't get stopped.

I finally recognized a street name and some landmarks. Petra was very glad to see us! We ate lunch at the deaf school. After that Petra and I did some errands, picking up kids, delivering more gifts to a relative of our friends in Tucson.

The weather was very humid, but not as hot as I was expecting. The air felt heavy and moist.

Even though my Spanish isn't very good, my mind was able to switch gears and communicate with people again. If I don't think about it too much, then I can talk in Spanish.

Petra and I stopped in a little outdoor cafe'. They served K-freeze and cappuccino's. Petra and I had a nice time visiting and catching up a little. We went to Wal-mart to buy cat food. It is cheaper at Sam's Club, but I don't have a membership card anymore. I don't want to get rid of our 2 cats. They get some cat food, and when it runs out they eat mice, lizards, snakes and bugs. They also get a few scraps from the neighbors.

Around 6 p.m. The 2 girls and I drove back to the village with Petra's keys. We made it there before dark. First we drove to our friend, Carmen's house, who runs 1 of the 2 stores there. She also takes care of our water and power bills when we are gone. Then we went to our house and were able to get in. I was surprised that it was as clean as it was. Petra has been going there every 2 or 3 weeks and has kept it fairly clean. Since she started leaving a window open, so the cats can go in, there have been less mice. The cats were skinny and very happy to see us (or the cat food).

I swept the bedrooms, living room and kitchen, then I took a cold “bucket” shower and went to bed. We have no running water in the house because the hurricane in September broke some pipes. I bucket shower works fine in the summer if you don't have to heat up water. I'm glad that I have trained myself to take cold showers.

I really am enjoying being in our house. I didn't realize how much I missed it. I hope we can come back soon to live.

Friday 6-26-09

I didn't get up till noon. I slept 3 hours for yesterday and 9 hours for today.

It is very humid here and a little hot. It gets worse in July and August.

Susannah has been washing clothes all day. It looked as if it might rain, but didn't.

Today I drank 2 glasses of carrot juice, ice tea, and water. I also put some beet and an apple in the carrot juice.

I spent most of the day cleaning my bedroom and looking through stuff. I found a lot of very dead mice and cockroaches. I have about 10 small bags of clothes from our closet to give away. I am finding some books I want to bring to Tucson, then I will mail them to our house in Oregon from there. I don't know when we will come back, so I want to take care of things.

I wanted to go to the internet cafe', but didn't have time. I need to get to sleep now. It's about 10 p.m.m

I found the lost keys. They were in the area they were supposed to be, but I just hadn't looked good enough.

I had a nice cool bucket shower and now I am going to bed.

Saturday 6-27-09

I got up at 8:00 I think. I feel SO tired. I did some laundry this morning and Susannah helped me hand it on the line. It is so humid here. It's hot, but not extremely so – but the humidity knocks you out. I had a glass of carrot juice with beet and apple again for breakfast. I tried out the little camp stove that Judah made, but it didn't work so well. It worked perfect when he tried it out 2 times. It took 3 times for the water to get hot enough for coffee. I finally made some, then made some tea to make iced tea later.

Greg called. He is going to a men's retreat and the 2 boys are going with him. They have colds.

I rested most of the day until Petra came with 2 girls who have been helping at the deaf school. They got a ride from some missionaries who live only 30 miles from us. They have been there 10 years and we have never met them. I guess Greg has been in contact with “Brian”, but he never mentioned them to me. They were very nice and visited for about ½ an hour before they left.

Petra went to Dyanas' kindergarten“graduation”. Dyana is Carmen's little girl, the store owner here.

While Petra and everyone else was gone, I drove to the village 5 miles away that has an internet cafe', but it was closed. I always get so lost and turned around in those 2 villages that are side by side. I don't think I should ever drive anywhere by myself at night anymore if I can help it!

2 more things happened that are not too good. I dropped my phone really hard, and now the screen doesn't work. I think maybe it works, if I can get the screen fixed. I'm glad I brought the go-phone with me too. I really don't need it now, except I can text Greg on it. The second thing is that the dead bolt in our front door won't work, so I can't lock it. We will have to try to fix it, because we have to lock the house when we leave. I think eventually we need to replace all the locks that are not working right.

It is late and I need to get to sleep. Tomorrow is Sunday. I don't know if Petra and the other girls will be going to church or not. I cannot go to a Mexican church unless I wear earplugs. So, I may stay home and rest. If I go I will be taking my earplugs.

Sunday 6-28-09

I rested most of the day and read a little. I had coffee, using the little stove made from a pop can that Judah made for me. It uses grain alcohol. It didn't work very good, but I finally got the water hot enough. I never did buy propane, as we aren't going to be here very long.

In the evening I took Christy and Jenna to church. Petra, I and Clemy went back home. Petra, Clemy and Susannah did dishes, cleaned and finished supper (lentil soup in the crock pot). After the 2 girls got back from church, we had supper with a couple of neighbors. It was SO good! I haven't been eating very much real food, so it tasted especially good.

The funniest thing that happened was when Carmen (the store owner) was explaining about how she was getting "injections" for her dog - so it wouldn't get pregnant. The shots are meant for the local ladies. "Lety" is in charge of the health care in the village and gave them to Carmen. We all laughed for about 5 minutes!

It was so fun to be with our friends again!

Tomorrow we are sleeping in and then Petra and I have to empty out the house we have rented for visitors. Some other people want to rent it. I am not looking forward to it, but it has to be done.

There are a lot of other things I have to get taken care of before we go back. We plan on leaving Mexico Wednesday morning early.

Monday 6-29-09

I woke up at 8:30. It rained quite a bit last night with lightning and thunder. I hope it doesn't rain again till after we get the stuff out of the rental.

I drove to Los Toltecas with Jenna, Susannah and Clemy. We went to my friend Pati's house and visited awhile. She talks pretty fast, but I can usually understand most of what she says. We had to "catch up" on the last year. She told me all the people that have died since we left and how everyone around is doing.

I left the 2 girls with Pati and Jenna and I are at the internet cafe' (finally). It works pretty good, but I finally plugged my laptop in, because I am used to it.

I know this is long. I thought about putting it all in different entries, but if I do that, it messes up the order, and I wanted it to be in order. I guess only the ones who are really interested and have time will read it. If you are busy, please come back and read it as you can.

I might be able to come back tomorrow morning, but only if I get up early. God bless you all and I hope to have time to read some entries before I leave here.

Tomorrow I leave for Mexico

I had 2 hours of rest today, making earrings and bracelets with my friend. She taught me how. It wasn't that hard. Finally I attacked the trailer and didn't quite get it done by dark. I can finish it up when I get back from Texas.

Tomorrow I leave for Mexico. I wanted to leave at 6:00, but I am going to sleep till I wake up. I might turn off my phone so I don't get a call at 6:00.

I knew this trip was not going to be all vacation. Hopefully I will not get overwhelmed in Mexico and can relax a bit. It is going to be difficult staying in our house without all the family there. But I still am looking forward to it, and hope I can deal with the things I need to quickly and not try to do more than I should.

I don't know when I will be able to do internet again. There is an internet cafe' fairly close, so maybe I can take a break from work and slip off there for awhile. I probably won't be able to post any photos until I get back from Mexico.

It will only be me and the girls driving down, so we are taking several boxes for our friend to give to her friends down there. I am taking a large suitcase of clothing to give away.

Well, I need to take a shower and get some sleep. Please keep me in your prayers and I will update my blog when I am able. Goodnight and the Lord bless your sleep!

Marianna Inn...

A scene in Utah

I already put this one in...but this is with my camera, not the phone camera.

More Photos

This was the road by where we camped.

Day at the "Tinker" Camp

It's 11 pm here and I need to get to bed in a minute (or 2).

I slept well. Most of my day was spent sorting through our "stuff" we have stored in a horse trailer and some things in the 2 trailers we have stayed in. It probably was 100 degrees while I was working. I take the heat pretty well if I drink enough water. I still need to finish sorting tomorrow. I found a lot of "stuff" I threw away. Tomorrow I am taking about 3 boxes and a large garbage bag to the thrift store. I also will be taking 1 large suitcase full of clothes to Mexico to give away. We have more, but it's all winter clothes and I don't think they really need that right now.

I was able to get 3 loads of laundry done and hung on the clothes line. There is a washer set up by the trailers in a little shed and a nice clothes line. The skate ramp my boys used to skate on has deteriorated and needs to be restored. It is made from plywood, not cement like the one in Mexico.

Susannah doesn't feel good today. She is getting a cold I think.

In the afternoon I took my 4th son shopping. He was able to find a couple of pairs of pants and a shirt at Wal.mart and Ross. I found some very nice Teva sandles that I really like for 40% off. They should last for years, not months like the cheap ones I usually buy.

We ate supper at McDonalds'. No one was very hungry today, probably because of the heat. It's about 90 here I think. For Tucson that is pretty cool for June.

Greg called and seems to be doing OK. I think he is still working too hard. I hope after his construction job is done he can rest a little.

Hopefully the passports will be here tomorrow at 4:00 like they are supposed to be. We plan on leaving Wednesday early. If I don't leave early, we won't make it at a decent hour. I probably will drive to our house and then drive to Los Mochis on Saturday to pick Petra up. My 4th son is not coming down, so I could use an extra prayer. I am not afraid, as I think most of the problems are with those involved in the drug war. If I stay out of their way and mind my own business I should be OK.

I have to stop at K28 or K25 (I can't remember the exact #) to get our Visas and a Visa for the mini-van. Hopefully we will get a green light so I don't have to unpack the car.

Road Trip

I am still alive and well...

It's really late, but I took a 3 hour nap. I haven't had a chance to use internet since Friday when I was visiting my 2 new blog-it friends. Here is an overview since then:

Friday - I wrote this at 1 am (Utah time)

In the morning we had french toast with my sister and brother-in-law. I took a coffee for the road. We drove 1 hour and found Sam444's place. She has a really nice apartment, I think it's a duplex. She made us a wonderful lunch and surprised me by having Yellowrose55 there to meet me too! We had a nice visit discussing blog-it news for awhile.

When we left, I had planned on staying near Ogden at a nice campground we'd stayed at before. It was cloudy most of the day and sprinkled a little. When we were nearing the campground it was still early, so we decided to keep going.

We stopped in Salt Lake City at the largest Wal.mart I have ever seen. It was enormous! I bought food for breakfast, coffee on sale, and ice. We ate supper at Taco Bell.

After it got dark, we stopped at a State park near Provo, but it was full. So was the KOA there. The motels were full there also. We drove farther, and after maybe an hour saw a sign that said "Drowsy drivers exit here". My 4th son wanted to exit to see what was there. We did exit, but nothing was there at all. Then he wanted to see what was on the other side of the freeway. Just a 2 lane highway. We drove until we found a place to turn around. Then I saw a dirt road that ran along side the railroad tracks. We drove down that road and found a nice little place to camp.

I really didn't want to spend $70 on a motel and it's really nice here. I am glad that no snakes can get in my tent. It looks like there could be some in the bushes.

We set up the tent. The girls and I slept in the tent and my 4th son in the mini-van.

Saturday - 1:30 am

In the middle of the night it started sprinkling. My son woke up and helped put the rain fly on the tent. Then I went back to sleep until 7:30 a.m., Utah time, when the train went by. The girls slept soundly through the noise.

I walked around and took some nature photos. It began raining a little more, so I woke everyone up. We took the tent down and packed the car. I had wanted to try out my little camp stove, but it was too windy.

We drove to a store nearby and I got hot water to make my coffee. We ate our fruit and cereal in the car and then left to start another day. We drove all day. We were going to stay at a campground near Bryce Canyon. That is where my husband and I had part of our honeymoon. It is a very cool place. As it was very early in the day, we decided to just hike around and see the sights, then drive farther. We didn't even go to Bryce C., but some other canyons 15 miles before it. They had the same type of rock formations. We climbed up a steep hill with loose rocks where there was an arch made out of rock.

It was really strange driving all day, as it felt like we were "going home". We had always driven this route and going towards Tucson was "home". Now it is the reverse. I had mixed feelings all day driving here again.

We left tthe canyon and made it to Flagstaff, Arizona. It was still cloudy and it looked like it could rain still. We checked out a KOA and then I did check out a motel. I probably would have stayed there, but even though it was clean it smelt funny. After talking to my son, we decided to drive until we got to our friends who live near Tucson. I was pretty tired, so bought a coffee. It was pretty bad coffee, but kept me awake until we got past Phoenix, when my 4th son drove.

He did very well driving, handling the van well, even when a motor home cut in front of us, going around a semi-truck.

I pulled into the gypsy or "tinker" camp, as Greg preferred to call it around midnight, Arizona time. (The time changed on us again, but back and hour) We thought we were going to stay in the trailers, but we stayed in their guest room.

We showed up at our friends' around midnight, Arizona time. Arizona does not do "daylight savings time", so the clock went back an hour.

Sunday - today -

I was planning to go to Mexico on Monday or Tuesday. But.... I totally forgot all about our passports. The most important thing to bring, and I forgot them! Greg will be mailing them tomorrow - overnight express and they will get here Tuesday, so we leave Wednesday for Mexico.

My 4th son, decided to ride a bus or train to San Antonio, Texas where my son David lives with his beautiful wife.

I called Greg to tell him Happy Fathers' Day and see if he got the card and dark chocolate bar by the bed.

We went to a "home meeting" with our friends. They meet with one other family for worship and reading the Bible together and fellowship. Both families go to other churches off and on also. The meeting was so........Refreshing........... 2 guitars, music from the heart. I love to hear our friend Paco pray. He is talking to his very good friend, The Lord, and with a love flowing out of his heart toward Him. Listening to him pray causes my heart to want to know our wonderful, amazing God better.

They continued where they had been reading at in Genesis. It was a very interesting passage about when Abram took his servant/soldiers to rescue Lot and others. They had been taken captive. After they won the battle, Melchizedek and the King of Sodom came to them. Melchizedek was a mysterious King, who brought bread and wine with him. He blessed Abram and encouraged him. In the New Testament it says that Jesus was a King forever, after the order of Melchizedek. Interesting...

Melchizedek blessed Abram, "Blessed be Abram of the most high God the possessor of heaven and earth."

After the meeting, we visited and then I took a 3 hour nap.

Some friends came over for a barbecue. They brought steaks and we had salads. Both families have a lot of children, so it was a blast for all of them. After awhile one of the girls got thrown in the swimming pool. After that they all swam for a long time.

It is late. My plans for the next few days are: 1. rest 2. shop 3. go through our "stuff" we have here, hopefully taking some of the clothes to Mexico to give away.

Getting ready for my trip!

Well it's been a long time since I said anything here. I'll be leaving on Thursday for Mexico with Gordon, Clemy and Susannah. I have a lot to get done before then. Gordon will be here today or tomorrow.

I am resting today and trying not to do anything much. Then, tomorrow, I will be going like crazy to finish getting ready.

I was going to try to do mobile upload to see if it works. I may do that before I leave. Then I could do a small amount of updating while we are traveling.

Not much more to say today.