H.A.R.T.U. #1

Rather than type out “Home Assignment Road Trip Update” I’ll use “HARTU” to save space.

We arrived in McAllen, TX on Friday evening after 600+ miles and about 11 hours, including crossing the border which required us to fill out some paperwork to leave Mexico and to have our car sticker removed, etc.

The drive was as long as always but went well at all the checkpoints and somehow escaped the speed traps on the Mexico side (thanks to God!). We passed a couple of bad wrecks and were thankful to have arrived here safely.

One of the two accidents would have happened about the time we would have passed through but I decided to stop for gas at a station on one side of a city rather than the other where I normally do. We were at the station for about 10 or 15 minutes and we likely missed the accident by that amount of time. It was probably the worst accident I’ve ever seen. The victims were still in the two vehicles when we passed by the scene and an ambulance had just arrived before we did. It appears a vehicle rear-ended a Ford Ranger at maybe 80 to 100 mph and they ended up about 50 to 100 feet off the highway on both sides. Both had flipped numerous times and were nothing more than scrap metal. The car that no doubt was traveling so fast had gone airborne and landed in an orchard and we could barely see what was left of the car from the road. It was totally destroyed and had left untouched a 5 foot fence that was about 20 feet off the side of the road. It must have flipped end over end and been catapulted over the fence. It was a sobering sight and another reminder of how excessive speeds on the highways in Mexico make them dangerous and deadly. Praise God that we weren’t on that stretch just a few minutes before and that our entire trip went well.

Thank-you for praying for our travels. We know that God is answering your prayers for our safety and health.

Fourth of July was a great experience for the boys with a symphonic band performance downtown and then the parade which was a new experience for the boys. The parade wasn’t too spectacular but they got the idea. The fireworks were good and the kids enjoyed that too.

Our hosts took us to their church and the boys enjoyed services (S.S. and children’s church for Dayton) in English which we haven’t experienced for 2 years.

Once again we’re enjoying brushing our teeth in tap water and being able to place toilet paper in the toilet! It is always a fun transition for a couple months. We’ve also enjoyed other little food (& junk) niceties like Mountain Dew, Root Beer, fresh cherries, Wheat Thins, BBQ, summer peaches, sno-cones…and we’re just getting started! We have some favorites that we’ll get to as we go.

Our health is doing OK. It takes a few days before our bodies will begin to adjust to the water and food here too. Today and tomorrow (when we travel again) would likely be the days we might have problems if we’re going to have any. My intestinal problems are still lingering but I think the medications are helping some. I hope by the end of the week I feel differently but so far it seems I have just taken the edge off the worst symptoms but haven’t really gotten notably better. I appreciate your prayers for this issue.

We leave tomorrow morning for Fort Hood in Killeen, TX to visit with good friends and supporters there. Looking forward to that as well. We’ll head on to Dallas on Wednesday from there. The road is just beginning.

Advertisement