Devil Car

The Windstar shall go by no other name except the "Devil Car."

So we actually did leave on Sunday at about 2 pm. The car had taken exactly a week to fix and we've been staying at the Plaza Continental Hotel for that entire week. It started to feel like home. The car's engine pretty much got rebuilt yet . . .

It broke down again.

We were about 6 hours into the drive to Jerez from Juarez and it crapped out again. We tried to do "mickey mouse" repairs to it but it wouldn't get going. Jerry even suggested we bust a Little Miss Sunshine maneuver (push the car and try to start it). That didn't work either, but it was fun trying.

Thank God the car stopped only about 4 miles from Camargo, which is a fairly big city. We also, by God's grace, ended up right across from a farm house. There were no houses for probably 5 miles in either direction, yet we broke down right across the highway from that house. The guy in the house, thank God again, had oil for us and water. But the water and oil replenishing didn't seem to make a difference.

Jerry and Rubin tried to find a mechanic, but at that time it was getting late already. They went to a Pemex gas station and the man working there actually took them to a mechanic's house. But the mechanic was sick and sleeping and not able to come out so late at night. That is something that is awesome in Mexico. I keep questioning people's motives (they want money right!) and whether or not people are trying to con us, but apparently in most cases, people just want to help other people out. In America we've been trained to be so distrusting that its good to know that there are still good people out in the world. Of course, it's still good to be careful, since we've been duped a couple of times on our trip already.

There was nothing else for us to do but sleep in the car and wait until the morning. It was extremely dusty where we were and very windy at night. At times it felt like were in a sand storm. Nothing like sand in your mouth and eyes and all over you and your clothes. The shower I just took never felt so nice. It was also really cold like it always is sleeping in a car in the middle of nowhere on a highway in Mexico.

We woke up found a mechanic and the car is being fixed as we speak. It should be done later today and we should be in Jerez later tonight. It's about another 7 hours to my new home. Of course it didn't happen without a quick scare. When we woke up the other minivan, the Previa, didn't start. It turns out the alarm was triggered (by me) and it has something like a kill switch that activated when the alarm gets set that prevents the engine from turning on. We somehow managed to get it to reset. I don't think we're surprised anymore by these roadblocks.

Its fun to be around faithful people. Non religious types would say, "What a stroke of bad luck."
Faithful people wonder if the devil is trying to prevent them from getting to the Mission to do works for God. Or perhaps God is protecting us from something? We just don't know, but its interesting to think about. Just gotta stay faithful.

Original scheduled date of arrival: April 17th
When we will most likely be in Jerez: May 1st

One week of getting Devil Car registered. One week of getting Devil Car fixed. And that would amount to one heck of an adventure.

Something to be thankful for. We didn't get stopped and harassed at the border check. That was a big worry of ours.