So I've finally test packed! Here at Milltown preps I snuck up to the quarters today and fully packed this little bag for the trip. I was very sceptical about it being big enough and it isn't really, but we will make it work. I do have a small day pack inside it that I can unfold if I really need the extra space. For three months I don't think I did too bad... They said to pack light. 🙃 One personal principle: don't take anything that doesn't have a dual function, of course within reason. I can't really think of anything I'm willing to do with my toothbrush other than brush my teeth. 😉

So here we go! Departure is in the 15th of August right in between Milltown 1 and 2. Leaving Seattle and eventually landing in Torreón, Coahuila. If plans stay the same I'll be there with Ramón Guerra and Derek Hurlburt. Also Tiffany Sandon, Laura Brist, Yolanda Estrada, and Marcelina Antonio.

See ya there!!

Here's a kind of confusing list of what may or may not end up being my route. The first date is roughly how long I will be in that area, and the last date is the actual convention date.

1. Torreón, Coahuila August 15-20th convention 19th

2. Ciudad Meoqui, Chihuahua 21-27 convention 25-26

3. Jáuregui, Nuevo León Sept 1-11 Sept 2 Special meeting

4. Jáuregui, Nuevo León Sept 4 Workers meeting

5. Jáuregui, Nuevo León convention 6-9th

6. Monterrey, Nuevo León convention 6-9th

7. Felipe Ángeles, Tamaulipas 12-13 convention 13th

8. Los Medina, Nuevo León 12-17 convention 16-16th

9. El Cedral, Veracruz 18-25 convention 22-23

10. La Cienega, Jalisco 26-1 Oct convention 29-30

11. Guadalajara, Jalisco 2-8th convention 6-7

12. Tecuala, Nayarit 9-15th convention 13-14

13. Ciudad Obregón, Sonora 17-22nd convention 20-21

14. Hermosillo, Sonora 23-29th convention 27-28th

15. Insurgentes, Baja California Sur 29-4th November

And here is the speaking list for the first little bit. I won't paste the whole list as it has a lot of names on it for quite a few conventions. So I'll just include the lists that Amy Thompson, Kaitlin Thompson, and I are on. Amy and I have a similar route the first few weeks before she continues on in Central America. We will see Kaitlin as the Baja staff is coming over into Mexico for the first few weeks also.

And then with one of the easiest and quickest SeaTac security checks I've ever had I was off. Then just mostly a day of sitting in planes and waiting in Dallas, and \240THEN arrival in Torreón!

Just in time for the sunset and an 8:38 arrival.

Derek Hurlburt, Ramón Guerra, and a young boy named Brian (I need to find out if there's a Brian Getz connection) picked me up at the airport. And I promptly found out that it is indeed perfect weather here! But Derek says it gets pretty cold here in the winter, even down to freezing and no heat in the homes.

Anyway, a huge surprise was when we got here to the home where we are staying for two nights. Victor and Jania Roblero and we walk in and here I think I have known Jania and her family maybe longer than anyone here, now that was indeed a fun surprise! She's a Blakely, some of you would remember Joe and April Blakely from Washington and Alaska. They lived in Alaska some 17 years ago. I met Jania and her sister Jennifer on a road trip back in '08 on a road trip in Washington DC. I'll try and get a picture today.

Anyway I'm rambling on, it's great to be here, much reminds me a tiny bit of Panama. Is awesome to see my friend Derek! Lots to catch up on and we accidentally stayed up catching till 1:31 this morning... But ni modo as they say we'll take a siesta later! :)

Lunch today with Angelina Salinas, her sister Beatriz, and sister-in-law, Adela. And then meeting tonight, Daniel 3.

Chao for now 🙂

This is where I had lunch and also where the meeting was tonight. Casa de Angelina. As you can see, it doesn't seem to matter where these days, but when it comes time to figure out the next part of the day, out come the phones. 😏 It's actually quite a good way to communicate and figure things out, we are all on a group WhatsApp chat and that keeps us all up to date with any changes.

Enjoyed a thought from the study in Daniel 3. Maybe the three friends weren't standing together, maybe they were, we don't know. But one thing for sure is that when everyone around them bowed to the image it would have become very obvious to each other who and where they were. What a help and strength and encouragement they would have been too each other in that moment! More than likely no audible words were spoken between themselves, but a lot was communicated. They had themselves a little meeting, and it had a part in giving them the strength and courage needed to answer the king.

One thing I quite do enjoy here that I haven't felt in a long time is heat! :) It does get hot here and they say it's dry desert, but it still feels a bit more humid than Eastern Washington... Not like Panama though. :)

Hasta mañana :) thinking of Milltown and Olympia!

Derek y Laura

And this next picture is for Dane! :) It took me about a day and a half but here it is, the John Deere dealership of Torreón!

No siesta today and tomorrow promises to be fairly busy... So hasta mañana, que descansen bien :)

Exceedingly excellent dish called Discada. So names because it's cooked on a disk.

Workers lunch today at Sixta and Anita's. Anita is Rodney Loera's sister!

Caved in, in two different ways: went to Starbucks and then took a selfie 😏

It's been raining a bit and the desert is beginning to bloom

Juan Aldama town center

Bach.

Ok, leaving here at 6 o'clock tomorrow morning with the folks from this area. Hope to get to convention in time. :)

Felt like the biggest help to me in the meetings was our friends there. There really is something special about being in a foreign country and experiencing the same spirit. We've heard about it, I believed it completely, even experienced it a bit when I lived in Panama, but sure good to experience again, and perhaps in a more complete way then when I lived in Panama.

Here's a picture of Victor y Janía, es Janía who I met on a road trip in '08. She's a Blakley.

Anyway, going to get some good sleep tonight and off we go tomorrow about 8 o'clock for Meoqui. Maybe about a five or six hour drive. See ya there! 😊

Oscar and Esther Rodriguez. Just moved to Torreón from Monterrey

Ramón Guerra and Derek Hurlburt companion picture as they leave the field. New list in a couple of weeks.

This whole week I'll be here in this fancy room with a kitchen. Home of Richard and Rosalba Smith who live most of the year in Texas.

Just this for now, I need to sleep tonight. :)

This was our destination, a perfect little spot in nowhere. And where the pin on the map is showing.

I can hardly believe I haven't posted a picture of one of my most favorite things!!! Wonderfully delightfully warm palm trees! These ones happen to be on the convention grounds, which is not where we are staying for the week, I'll pin it on the map later. But today's map pin goes to where we had lunch and a meeting. Way out in old gold mining country. Dry, cactusy desert. It's been thoroughly enjoyable getting out to these remote places and meeting and spending time with the few folks found there.

On the way there around Chihuahua you see these old stone fences! They go up over incredibly steep hills and on and on. I'm incredibly curious to find out their history, I can't imagine how many people over how long a time it must have taken to build all of them! They say, "they've always been, ever since any of us can remember."

Laura and I couldn't just blast by without enjoying it a little.

That's Tom Davis on the left. Always ready for adventure!

I'm finding that it has been encouraging these first few days as far as Spanish goes, because a lot of rust got scraped off. But now I think things are slowing down a bit and more real learning needs to happen. That means, here comes the slow plodding ups and downs of learning a language. It means you can't really see progress until enough days, weeks, and months have gone by that you can turn around and look back every once and awhile. A bit more rust needs to come off yet, but I want to be careful not to get discouraged by the process, and I'm glad to have the chance to really get a little more of a language I fell in love with over 10 years ago.

Ok, my friends, que les descansen bien y hasta mañana!

This may not look like much, but it's an exceedingly excellent meal. There's some confusion on my part as to what it's called. They called it chile ahogado (drowned chile), but when I looked it up online it seems to be more commonly known as chile en nogada. Nogada refers to a sauce of nuts (walnuts?) and spices. I’d really like to try and make it someday. Anyway so this was what we had for lunch or at the convention grounds today during our workday of sorts. Just a bit of cleaning and setting up chairs and testing the mic.

And now a little about yesterday. The pin for today's post is actually where we had lunch and a meeting yesterday. Five of us went out to the home of a lady named Yolanda. We weren't expecting to have a meeting, none of us really were, (though I'm leaning to always suspect there may be some sort of a meeting coming up around the corner) but when we went in Yolanda said she was ready for the meeting and wondered if it would be ok to have it before lunch instead of after.

So here we were, 5 of us workers on \240the rounds and one single lady who was feeding us all lunch. And then we sat down and began a formal meeting just like Wednesday study. I was having a little bit of a hard time imagining this happening in the states. :) Perhaps Yolanda is used to always having a meeting when the workers show up, I'm sure there's a little bit of history and tradition packed into the picture, but it really was a nice meeting and we really had an enjoyable time with her. It all seemed natural and not forced in any way. After meeting, lunch, some chatting, and a few pictures, we were off. Back to Rick and Rosalba's for a 15 minute siesta before leaving again for the official bible study of the week and dinner after. Was nice to meet most of the folks in the Meoque area. I haven't yet met most of the Chihuahua folk yet.

And now back to today. I better wrap this up as a bunch of the neighbor kids are supposedly coming over to sing some hymns and hear a few stories. Veremos....

I'll tack on a few pics:

Actual name of the town we are living in this week..

Well there really aren't any words to express Meoqui convention has been.... These last two days have been rich indeed, yes, the words shared, but much more the spirit felt. I'm glad it was a two day convention. One difference between this week and last week, is that last week I met almost everyone that was there before hand. This week there were many that I hadn't met during the week, so Saturday was spent meeting them and today felt a little more connection, so that by the time the "goodbye" came around it felt like it came a little too soon.

It's the kids! Always the kids, they break the ice first and then the whole family comes along with them and it doesn't really matter how well you communicate. This might end up being a favorite picture of the whole trip. This is Abril (April) and she's growing up on the Juárez convention grounds. There very much is something very special about her. She is completely oblivious to the difference in language. Tom became her friend and when I asked her if Tom spoke Spanish (which he doesn't at all) she looked at me funny and said "of course." So here she is, no English at all, Tom with no Spanish, and in her childlike, open, friendship, she wasn't even aware of it.

Both days, full and rich.

But I could paint a completely different picture.... On the surface we were a pitiful little group cramped up in an oven for hours on end. An oven which had been completely overrun by hungry flies, mosquitos, and no-see-ums. There were 5 meetings, and 17 speakers (a few spoke twice) \240only 5 of them had fluent Spanish, probably closer to 6 actually. Prayers and testimonies were long, the exact timing of each meeting was a very changing fluid thing, and a few interruptions such as a very flooding drain creating a small river up front. But that's just the surface picture.

Underneath the surface we found something undescribably rich, powerful, and forever. And that makes all the difference!

She probably wouldn't really want me to post this, but Tere is a very fun, helpful, amazing sister worker that you have to watch out for. :)

So on we go. Leaving here tomorrow morning at 5:45 to make it to Jáuregui hopefully in time for dinner, though I'm so full of the best tacos I've ever had that dinner sounds terrible. I think I way over ate. 🙄😏

See ya in Jáuregui!

A nice sunrise a few hours after we left Lázaro Cárdenas.

12 days in Mexico and about 1,600 miles down. Lots and lots of little drives here and there that add up.

Colorful hillside in Monterrey. Foto compliments to Amy as she was on the right side of the van to take the picture. So you may see this picture from her. :)

Made it in time for dinner. And in time to receive the "after-breakfast" speaking list of which it seems to say that Kaitlin, Pam, and I will be speaking. Seems we are to share a little of our testimony. I'm quite looking forward to hearing Kaitlin speak in Spanish. A fair bit less enthused about her hearing mine. :)

The pin on the map is right here where the Jáuregui convention is and where the whole staff and all the visitors will be for a bit. After awhile the Baja visitors head back to Baja, and some of us get some time in Monterrey. I've been told but I'm not 100% sure how it's all going to work. We'll find out soon enough.

Ok, just this for now. Welcome to Jáuregui, que descansen bien.

It's 4:24 in the afternoon (this probably won't publish till later when I go find some wifi) and I've been here in my room since 2:32! I got to wondering when I was last in my own room and when I last had a whole afternoon to myself. I write down in my calendar where I stay every night and it seems like it was July 11 that was the last time! So I've decided to take the entire afternoon today to just sit and think and rest and read and do nothing! But don't tell anyone 😉

The quarters here are amazing! Spacious, private, air conditioning, I think there's even hot water, though I didn't quite find it this morning. I think I might try a different strategy tomorrow to see if I can't get it to show up. :) It's really not necessary this time of year, my frozen bones have been thawing out quite nicely! Where I'm staying it reminds me just a little bit of the brothers quarters at Post Falls. It's more square, not quite as long, but a perfect little cubby for everyone, though here it's a curtain for a door and the walls stop about a foot from the top of the ceiling. Both the short walls and the curtain doors are extremely nice as it lets the cool air in from the air conditioner.

I was told that tomorrow we have a meeting, but Brett was told that it's Thursday. But either way we can be sure there's going to be a meeting. Daniel 5 here, and I'd be really surprised if it isn't a visitors-speak kind of meeting. Which is completely fine, it's tradition here, but behind it all is a really really good opportunity to give the local staff a little rest. Especially the sisters. It's hot, I like the heat, and it's hot, and almost \240everything the sisters do is done in places that are even more stifling.

They don't really want to see their visitors working too hard, but if you're persistent enough you can get some jobs. I'm sure it helps to be about the youngest here. 😏 (the young workers here (about three of them) don't have any idea what it's like to have peers and best friend's in the work, something I don't ever want to take for granted).

However, being young and yet being one of the few visiting brothers, I don't think they quite know what to do with me, or how to treat me (which I find exceedingly amusing), \240but there's always dishes and raking and tarps and normal convention things. And I'm more than glad to give them a little rest when it comes to the meetings and speaking part. I just wish I had better Spanish and of course there's always the part about it that you don't ever really feel like you have anything to say. But God is debtor to no man, and it all seems to end up ok.

All that being said, I'm really enjoying my afternoon alone. ☺️

Ok, just this for today... Chao for now.

Really good to be with some Washingtonians these days! And rumor has it that Brian and Sandi just can't stay away, and that has everyone here quite excited! They know much of the staff from their travels down here, although they haven't been to Jáuregui yet. Welcome down!! :)

And now I'd like to show you something they do down here that I think would be quite enjoyable to try up in Washington:

What I don't have a picture of is how the bed of charcoal easily lifts up and there is another grate inside the barrel. On that grate they put a whole bunch of chicken. And on top, where the gorditas are frying in the picture below, is where they seared thin strips of marinated sirloin!!

It's not that the food down here is better than in the States, it's just so different and prepared in such different ways that it begs talking about and taking pictures of... and it's really good too.... :)

Here's the new México/Central America workers list:

Pedro and I. Pedro started a few months ago in the Cancún field with Samuel. He's going to be with Derek Hurlburt this coming year. He's a great guy and I hope to keep in touch with him. Just had his 24th birthday yesterday.

Here's the Baja crew with Rob! What an awesome group! Except for Rob they all leave back to Baja this Wednesday for preps at Tanamá. We will definitely miss them!

It's raining out right now and still warm! Now that's what I call enjoyable!

Chao for now

Today was a good day, full day, but really nice to be with the whole staff! Highlight for me was hearing the three workers who have never been in a workers meeting yet. Their firs. Of course, I've had a fair few firsts here too. :) They are good for us. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking for today.

Tomorrow I'm off to the convention in Monterrey and I'll be there till after the afternoon meeting on Saturday. Then I'll come back to Jáuregui and finish off the weekend at the convention here.

So the speaking lists for both conventions. And the visitors you'll notice, appear on both. William has made things a bit easier on us visitors though, as this year we travel only once between the conventions. Apparently in years past there were more transfers.

These aren't the official pictures....

They are from one of these few hundred cameras.

My friend Derek Hurlburt. I'm sure glad he's been on this first part of the rounds with me!

And after supper walk:

And for those of you who know Salvador Figueroa, here he is in his element, telling us stories. :)

Hasta mañana!

Yesterday a bit of a storm came through! Not by any means think kind of storms you see in the tropics, but bigger than I've seen in the 10 years since I left Panama. It was great to see, hear, and feel a real storm again!

Just a couple of miles from here towards the city is a Walmart and this Walmart has a unique and enjoyable view!

Welcome to Monterrey! :)

Walked up to Antonio y Chayo's for lunch today. They have quite a food catering business. They also came out to Jáuregui last week and cooked all the food for us one day down there. Wish I actually got a picture of them instead of us just goofing off before lunch. ;)

And speaking about goofing off.... What happens when a Brasileño and a Gringo find a couple of Mexican sombreros?

I almost stepped on this critter last night out walking. He didn't seem too threatening but at the last second I thought that maybe I shouldn't grab his tail. :)

Looking forward to today. Just listening today and trying to get ready for tomorrow. Tonight is the visiting-worker transfer from one convention to the other. So I'll be back at Jáuregui tonight and for the day tomorrow. Then back here in Monterey for the night tomorrow night.

Monday I'm hoping to go visit Conchita, she is Kelly Chapman's abuela and she lives close to the grounds here. I'm not sure what happens Tuesday and I think Wednesday four of us head out to a kind of mini convention in \240Felipe Ángeles.

This is the family of the convention Fili, Olga, with some two couples that came up from Brazil.

Some of the group that rented a bus and came out from Torreon.

Or delightful Jáuregui convention family again.

Only some of Kelly Chapman's family :) some of you would know Kelly, some of you would know her folks Ken and Lorena. It's seems like almost every other person is a Valdez or a Muñoz but to get them all figured out will be a task for another time. :)

The rains have definitely arrived!

The picture is a little dark but these have been our Brasileños and we will miss them!! Of course Marciel in the middle will be continuing the rounds. In the left Claudio y Ginha, and Eli y Tania on the right.

Playing the Brazilian anthem.

Jonatan y Ruth Aceves. Brother and sister here on the staff, though Ruth is on the Central America staff right now. They are very fun to be around! :)

Fresh Costco salmon! Here in Mexico and cooked to perfection. You couldn't wish for better salmon anywhere!

We went to the graveyard of Juventino Valdez. The sweet psalmist of Mexico. This the plot for the immediate family. I've never been to a graveyard quite like this one where whole families take up just one plot. It must be deep, the lid is taken off and the next family member is lowered in.

Speaking list for this weekend. However..... Tomorrow we leave about 8:15 and head toward Felipe Ángeles. Once there we have a meeting. The next morning we have another meeting, drive about an hour and have another meeting. Then join the rest of the crew in Medina and that's where this list kicks in. So four of us, Rosy, Amy, Craig and I do this side midweek convention in our way to Los Medina. So it looks like our mostly restful two weeks in Jáuregui and Monterrey are definitely coming to an end. It's hard to leave, we've been spoiled beyond recognition and have really enjoyed getting to know some of these folks!

Bienvenido a Felipe Ángeles! Home of two incredible ladies, Juanita and her husband Felipe, and Rosa and her husband Tirso. Rosa has an incredible testimony, but I don't think I'll share it. It's hers to share, and when we were with her she didn't even share it all herself, much to her credit actually. Her husband hasn't always wanted her to go to the meetings. But today he was very friendly and welcoming to us. He used to be a goat herder and used to farm corn, but now he has what I'm pretty sure would be diagnosed as Parkinson's. Not the internal kind but the very visible trembling kind. And he has it bad. They are poor, and there really is no help to be had, it is terrible to see.

But maybe it can be a help.

I hope.

I told him about my grandpa and he looked up at me with fear and pain in his eyes and asked "what do I have?"

What could I say?

He told me he hurts.

But we talked about the rain that has finally come, he smiled when telling me about his donkey, he told us (Amy and I) about how he used to farm with an old fashioned plow pulled behind what I think he said was a mule. This was where he was born and this is his land.

He told me this was his mother's room and pointed to another and said that's where she made the best tortillas. In the past he's been bitterly opposed to the gospel that has wedged it's way into his land. But today I didn't see or feel that bitterness.

I may not ever see him again.

But I hope I do.

This is the other lady and her husband's home. Juanita and Felipe. This green part is where Juanita and Rosita have had their meetings over the years.

Home.

A very tasty lunch that hasn't yet been tasted when this picture was taken. On our way to Felipe Angeles. About $10 total and we all had as much as we wanted.

Maybe one of these posts will have to be about the driving. It's not bad here at all. Actually there was a little more chaos in Central America when I lived there. But there are a few interesting differences here in Mexico. But I'll have to save that for later. I'm tired and we have a full blown convention meeting tomorrow. :)

Much much more could be said of this one single day and moment in time. But it will have remain just a memory.

Hasta mañana.

It's mile high desert here and the land and its people are old! It's a harsh land full of scorpions and snakes and rocks and spines, and here and there, goats with their shepherds. This is where José de la Rosa came from, where he and his flock spent hours and days and years, alone together. This is where Vicente, the man and his family that I'm staying with, is from. And his parents. And theirs. And back and back across the years and generations. All shepherds. It's looking like Vicente will most likely be the last shepherd of his family as his two sons aren't interested. But it's in his blood and his son says that he will probably go out into the desert with his ever smaller and smaller flock until he is forced to quit.

And they are off. Vicente talking and whistling to them as they go.

He doesn't go on horse back but had some horses in the area and was showing them to me before he left for the day.

The rounds so far. About 2,200 miles driving. Monday we drive north back to Monterrey and will complete the circle. Then Tuesday fly down to Veracruz. The starting point is in the center of the red track where it says Torreón. So as you can see, there's been a little bit of backtracking. Now, I better get ready for the meeting tonight. :)

These two pictures are of the folks we met with in Felipe Ángeles. You've probably seen these pictures on Amy's blog. She had her camera out and we both felt it would be less awkward of only one camera was taking pictures. So that means I get to use her pictures. ;)

Juanita and Rosita

See you in El Cedral, Veracruz!

Oh Veracruz! We are in the tropics and so much here reminds me of Panamá! There are even geckos crawling on the ceiling. It's a totally different culture here competed to the interior. All the way down to the way people drive and the colors of the street. It's not quite as hot and humid as Panama but not too far off. And what's more! I opened the drawer next to my bed and there sitting pretty as you please was a media Balboa, 50 cents traight out of Panama. :)

Today I took a walk down to the ocean and enjoyed watching the birds catch fish, and a spear fisherman too. Then after lunch Craig and I took off for the marcado and wandered around a bit. Accidently ended up at the world famous coffee shop the Parroquia! Tonight and tomorrow night Craig and I are here at Faustino y Elsa's home. Faustino used to be a shepherd, then he cut sugarcane for who knows how long, then he spent time hopping trains!!! Now they have a panadería and make quite delicious bread. They have to get up about two every morning to light the fire that heats up a huge brick oven. It's a swelteringly hot job. The bread is loaded onto a tricycle type thing and peddled through the neighborhoods.

Anyway, there was some special meeting-like visiting around the table today, more planned for tomorrow, plus a meeting tomorrow night. Not sure about anything about it accept that it's a guarantee that I'll be sharing something.

I'm less worried these days about sticking to script (ie the study, or if asked for something specific) I'm just kind of down to at least trying to have something to share, anything worth sharing. Sometimes when I've been asked to share something it's just felt too forced for my liking. So I just say a little something for about 30 seconds and then try to get the folks of the home to share something about themselves. More often than not this leads to really rich visits much more to my liking. It's not always that way, sometimes you just have to have a good few minutes of something to share.

I usually prefer casual conversation that leads to good things. I think that sometimes just getting folks to share their own story, to be able to tell their own testimony to fresh ears often encourages them more than anything I could say. Often it also opens the door for me to share something of my own story in return. It might not be the formal way of doing things but I often feel better about the results. And I also feel that, that way, a gringo from Alaska and a shepherd from the deserts of Mexico can connect and become friends.

Well here I am now in El Cedral, in my room with Dale De Raad. So I'll pin this blog on the map of you want to see where we are. I didn't take any pictures today which is a shame as it's an awesome little pueblo, well really it's smaller than a pueblo, tucked away in cane field country. I'll be sure to take some pictures tomorrow.

This picture is from yesterday when the crew left Veracruz for Actopan. Actopan is the other convention here in this state a little ways from here. I think they said an hour and a half, but I might be remembering wrong. :)

Today was a preps day and that meant pressure washing, benches, tarps, and all the normal stuff that happens at about every preps everywhere. It was enjoyable to work a little bit.

It's humid here! This really is the tropics! And it's quite enjoyable. :)

Ok, just this for tonight. I'll attach the speaking list, and tomorrow will try to take some pictures of the area. Hasta mañana.

So here's the map. It actually says I'm at 3,003 miles here in Mexico. One flight so far, one more this coming Tuesday over to Guadalajara, and then later on after Hermosillo I have a couple of flights getting over to Tijuana and then south to La Paz. Even with those flights, I'm pretty sure the driving miles will well outdo the flying miles, but I'm not going to take the time to figure it out. :) I've been in Mexico 37 days and I have 53 left. It's hard to comprehend all that's happened in the last 37 days, and a little daunting to think of the next 53. Or really, it's daunting to think of the speaking lists that will come out in those days. It's those lists, both the formal printed ones and the many not planned ones that are the stressful part of all of this for me.

We did some more preps today and I haven't been so sweaty in a long long time. Not since I left Panamá. It's seriously tropical here and it's miserably delightful! :) I hauled several loads of gravel with a wheelbarrow to make a walkway and you just get absolutely drenched. And for those of you who have had to put up with my complaining about being cold all the time..... \240that's saying something! 😉

Went out into the cane fields today, out to the home of one of our friends, Rogelia. In some ways it was a little like stepping back in time.

Now to think about tomorrow. Chao for now.

Yes, I do have a better picture of her, but this one is more her. She moves fast, talks fast, thinks fast, everything fast :) and she's a lot of fun. Today was a good day. And now to get ready for tomorrow. A good night to all, will be thinking of everyone tomorrow back home.

Lots to catch up on. :) Convention in El Cedral was wonderful! I will surely miss the folks here. A bus load of about 25 drove 20 hours (one way) to be here and the just arrived back to Monterrey at 4:30 this morning. It was great to see them again too.

My friend Isabela, she didn't want any of us to leave and it was really hard for her to say goodbye. Dale snuck this picture of us, she's trying so hard not to cry. As I left I looked back several times about me each time me we'd wave at each other. I told her I was trying to learn Spanish and she took her job very seriously and would point to things asking me if I knew what it was called. She'd tell me if I didn't and then always ask it's name in English. I will miss her.

Here's an awesome family who has spent lots of time in Hungary and other places too.

This 90 year old (second from right) sang to me a beautiful song right after the last meeting. She didn't care at all that others were standing around.

Canto a la Amistad

Se va la luz, se esconde el sol
Pero siempre ha de brillar,
La antorcha que su fuego da
El calor de la amistad. 

Amemos al amigo de hoy
Recordemos al de ayer,
Amigo que lejos esté
Siempre amigo ha de ser. 

Adiós adiós, nunca quizás
Nos volvamos a encontrar,
Pero en la brisa volverá
Nuestro canto de amistad.

I checked quickly just now but want able to find a translation and it would take me too long right now to translate it well. I will not forget her.

Many more pictures and even more memories. Or flight to Guadalajara is about to board so I better get going. Yesterday we had lots of adventures exploring the city of Veracruz. Went to the aquarium, to a coffee place called Ímpetus, some of the best coffee I've ever had, and generally had a good time all around. Lunch didn't even happen till 5 o'clock and dinner was about 8. :)

See you in La Cienega!

Yesterday from the workers bach in Guadalajara which is right across from the convention home where the sisters stayed, we headed out for dinner and to find some mariachi bands. We found them and let someone else pay to get them going and listened in. A totally different culture over here yet again. It's fun to see some of the differences in culture even within Mexico.

I'll put a pin on the map for this entry.

This picture is from the pueblo of La Cienega, and it's looking up to what promises to be a delightful hike this Friday!

It's been really good to be with Ken these days. Today we went on a three mile hike around La Ciénaga with parts of it being very much quite jungle-ish. I was reminded of a time eleven years ago when I followed Ken into the jungle all the way to Palmarazo. Ken has led many people into the jungle, to forgotten and unknown places where souls are found.

The pueblo you see half hidden behind the rock is the La Ciénaga, where the convention is.

Tonight is the first meeting.

Another week down, and already La Ciénaga is over. It's been really good to be here and now I can visualize Keith and Melinda's home.

This is one of the few grounds in Mexico where people can come and stay on the grounds, some came all the way from San Luís Potosí.

Checking the air in the tires before tomorrow's trip back to Guadalajara. Salvador and I will go on the bus though.

Finally found a cat that was actually welcome in the home as a pet! And a spoiled one at that. :)

Learning how to count beans. Actually I was surprised to find out just how many little stones have be to separated out of them.

Walking to my home for the night after it was all said and done. Till next time La Ciénaga!

No picture today so here's some kids from yesterday.

Today Salvador and I jumped on the bus near La Ciénaga and came up to Guadalajara. The others came in a Nissan Sentra.

After we got settled in the bach Salvador and I decided to go explore the city. It's a pretty big one and although Salvador has been here he doesn't really plan things out. You just kind of walk to the nearest corner where you think a bus will stop for you and wave it down. When one stops you get on it, after all it's pointed in the right direction. It was a lot of fun! So our goal was the very center of the city and once there Salvador pointed out a lot of neat things and places. It was full of people and vendors and statues and old buildings and construction and homeless people and cars and buses and horses and smells and sights to behold!

After walking around for awhile we jumped on another bus, this one was 12 pesos instead of 7 and so a little bit more plush. And this time Salvador asked lots of people nearby about which bus we wanted and after gathering many different answers he managed to come up with a couple of different busses we could actually take. So off we went, I'm not sure where we went this time but it was another active and alive part of the city. After a little bit we snuck \240into a Starbucks for some coconut water and then we figured it was time to go home.

But we weren't really sure how to go home. Salvador is great for just walking up to someone and asking them what we should do, but he's even better at figuring out which answers we actually need. And so we ended up on an exceedingly full bus which wove it's way back to within walking distance of the bach.

The bus was full, I've been on full buses before and this one reminded me of many a Panamanian rush hour bus ride. In Panama you just kind of cram in, here in Mexico there's actually a little bit of order. The seats are full so the aisle fills up two abreast. So two people stand back to back in the aisle each facing out toward the window, which also means you are towering over whoever is sitting in the seat. There's no wiggle room but it's actually a little less crammed than some in Central America... This one anyway.

One thing that happens here and in Central America, is if someone gets on through the rear door, they just pass up their bus fare. And up it goes, passed from passenger to passenger until it finds wherever the bus driver might be, and pretty soon the receipt get passed back in the same way. And that way the passenger knows his money got to the right place. It seems to work well.

Hasta mañana.

And here is our room.

Today Ken and I took a bus to one of the several bus stations to get everyone's bus tickets for heading to the next convention on Monday.

Yesterday and today have been really nice, with time to breathe, and actually read my bible without pressure, and nap, and explore.

Ken and I thought it would be nice to remember Panamá tonight so we are having fried fish and patacones! :) Hasta mañana pues.

Patacones 😊

Today was an interesting day. But first here are a couple of delightful pictures of what probably is an Australian Redback. It's almost identical to, and related to our Black Widow, but this one is supposed to live in Australia, not Mexico! How she got here in our bach in the little walkway to the door at the street...? Who knows. But that she's here probably doesn't matter as it seems their venom is almost the same \240as Black Widows and we have lots of them. I've kind of gotten to enjoying checking to see how she's doing whenever I walk by.

So today we went to lunch at Ricardo and Lendi's and Ricardo's brother Edgar was there too, actually he was our transportation. They live about 30 minutes from the bach here and on the way back I dreadfully discovered that I left my bible there. Luckily tomorrow, it's easy to go by bus, or I can drive if the car is available, or there's a chance Edgar can swing it by. I feel like I'll kind of need it Saturday. Speaking of that, here's the speaking list.

So when we got back from lunch about 4:30 or maybe closer to five, we saw that the police were here at the convention home across the street. Come to find out that Jaco the man of the home was driving home and about five minutes away some hooded men stopped him at gunpoint and stole his SUV. They also got his cellphone, and all the keys to his business and their home. These days the thieves know that nice cars come with anti-theft systems, so they drive them as far as they dare, and jump out and wait in hiding to see if anyone comes for it. If not, then off they go with a new car. So they tracked it down and got the car back, but now in need of changing some locks in case the thieves know Jaco's route.

It happens. Maybe a little more here then some places, a little less than others, but no place is immune. Jaco says all is well, "I just need to collect my nerves, and get a new phone." 🙃

I randomly decided to but some corn off the street. 15 pesos, maybe a little on the spendy side, but with all the salt and tajin it was really good. 🙂 Hasta mañana.

Found a tie actually being worn here in Mexico! Horror of horrors! Apparently if you are a lawyer or a lawyer-in-training, you wear a tie. Good thing we aren't lawyers! 😉

Beautiful countryside on our way from Guadalajara to Mazatlán. I've gotten behind on writing and it would just be impossible to catch back up.

I just have a feeling it would be pretty fun to hop a train here in Mexico!

After the last meeting in Guadalajara.

The girl on the right, her name is Abigail and she is Alex and Exie Romero's niece. Her mother of sister to Exie and so she's related to all the Aceves family. :)

I enjoyed this little tienda just down from the bach in Guadalajara. You can hardly for in it, and it has about everything you don't need, including high doses of diabetes!

One last shot of the Benjamin's, sure are going to miss them!

Goodnight Mazatlán

Mazatlán is yet another place I'd love to spend more time in. I think a gringo does need to be a little bit more careful here than in some places, but it's sure been a nice just over twenty-four hour stay here. Full hours to be sure, but quite enjoyable. The meeting tonight with the folks here was really nice and of course dinner afterwards at whatever hour it happened to be. I've never really realized before that dinner doesn't have to be between 5 and 6:30. Major meals have no problem whatsoever taking place anywhere between 5 and ten. Usually closer to ten. It all seems to work just fine.

Usually:

Desayuno (breakfast) is the cup of coffee between 5:25 to 6:06.

Almuerzo \240(lunch) is meet, eggs, beans, cheese, and tortillas, sometime between 7:30 to 9:30 (usually closer to 9:30).

Lonché is the sack lunch you carry with you on the bus.

Comida (food) is a heavy meal of much variety eaten somewhere between noon and 3, usually 1:30 or 2.

Merienda (snack) is an assortment of drinks, pastries, and fruit at anytime of the day as long as it's not taking the place of any of the other meals.

Cena (dinner) is another heavy meal with lots of variety eaten anywhere from 5:00 to 10 o'clock. Most often after, after the meeting, after the visit, after, it's always after. And so it's usually 9 or 9:30 unless the gringos have their hands in the pot. I find that the late meals haven't bothered me so far. Tonight after the meeting I had completely forgotten that we hadn't eaten but all of a sudden out of nowhere came all the fixings for tacos. With lots of fresh salsas and lime. 🙂

This is in the room where we had dinner last night, and breakfast this morning. Reyes and Ofelia who live across the street from the bach, and own the bach. Reyes is in Monterrey working these days. But you can see the green wall, that is theirs, but the brick wall, that's the neighbors wall. I'm not sure what used to be there though the opening before the neighbors moved in. I guess we don't need so much space between neighbors after all. 😉

So tomorrow at eight in the morning we head out for the bus that will take us about two hours back south to Tecuala where we meet up with the rest of the crew for convention there. See ya there!

Welcome to Tecuala. I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow. Today Ken and I came south on the bus from Mazatlán to Tecuala, just in time to be a little late for lunch. Then to the convention grounds for a little nap and some prep work for the convention. At seven we left walking almost a mile to get to dinner and then back to the grounds.

This is convention number 10 for me with three more to go after this one. I'm somewhere around 4,000 miles of travel in Mexico so far (driving and flying), and one of these days I'd like to count how many states here I've been in. So conventions left including this one are Tecuala, ciudad Obregón, Hermosillo, and Insurgentes. They say at least to Hermosillo it's nice and hot and so far they are right, and that's just alright with me! I can't seem to find anything wrong with warm weather! 🙂

We didn't all fit in the pickup, almost, but another small car was in the mix too. :)

Tarps for shade.

The meeting room.

And here's the speaking list.

A good night to all! 🙂

Weather's been absolutely perfect!! 😊

Goodnight and goodbye Tecuala. You've treated us quite well!

I'll post more later, but for now it's nap time. Early and long bus ride to somewhere tomorrow. The next convention is Obregón, but we all split up to three different areas and don't all get to the grounds till Thursday. They've told me where I'm going but it's a funny name that I can't remember, nor am I sure if it's my group that doesn't get to the convention till Thursday. I think I actually get there sooner. We shall see! 😄

As far as I know this was the last picture that was taken off him in Mexico. He's off to Australia for convention rounds and is to return to the Dominican Republic to labor sometime in January I believe. The last several weeks he's made sure everything has gone the way it should, getting bus tickets, making the early morning and afternoon coffee, and taking care of us along the way. The next few weeks will sure be different without him! Thank you Ken!!

The boy on the left became my friend. I met him first in Mazatlán and he had a moose stitched into his shirt and that's all it took. 🙂 He asked me what my favorite hymn was and the next day came to me and told me what his is - 63 in the English book. I'll miss him too.

Salvador had a birthday on Sunday too! Although apparently according to the government it isn't till the 24th. He assures is though that he's not trying to get cake and "nieve" ten days early. 😂

Ok just this for now. Was a pretty long day starting about 4:34 this morning and ending now, with a nine hour fridgedly cold bus ride in the middle of it. It feels good to be laying flat on a bed back in the warmth of Mexico!! Que descansen!

This lady is amazing. She's somewhere around 90 but has had uncontrolled diabetes for who knows how long and can no longer see, can hardly hear, and has no legs. But she's pure happiness. She's one of the highlights for me of this whole trip, her name is Doña Conchita. I'm glad that she can hear at least a little, so if you shout in her ear you can have a wonderful conversation with her. Last night and tonight have been in her home, but really, it's her daughter's that are making it all work.

Here's who we had meeting with tonight, minus one man who had already left. Left to right: Marta, Armida, María, Yolanda, the three are sisters behind Doña Conchita their mother, and right now I can't remember the last lady's name. We've had a very enjoyable time here in this little ejido. Tomorrow Jonathan Aceves and I go on to ciudad Obregón, while Salvador stays tomorrow night in yet another little ejido somewhere down the road.

This girl is from Tecuala and she's two going on three I think. After the convention there were some older kids I was taking with when she came up to us. The older kids wanted to hear some English so I was taking in English and she listened for a few moments before commenting that my Spanish was really ugly. So the other kids told her that I was not speaking in Spanish. So then she and I had a great conversation, she spoke gibberish and I spoke English and we name friends. One of the best things about kids is they don't need to really be able to talk with you to become your friend. Words are nice, but they aren't really that necessary or important. It's the kids that that are always the same everywhere. And it's the kids that are always the bright, little, pick-me-ups that help us so much along the way.

Definitely working our way north. A few visits today and done adventures in Cuidad Obregón. It's a rough city, fairly large. I've been told different numbers by different people but somewhere perhaps between 400 and 600,000 people. It's evident everywhere that the drug wars have taken their toll here. Even the people who live here shake their head and say with a sigh, "this poor city is in such a state of disrepair." And it is that. Holes, some of them huge gaping inescapable canyons, everywhere in the streets, dirt and dust everywhere, graffiti, it's just been kind of abandoned as far as the infrastructure goes. Yesterday at least three people were killed here, today by breakfast we had already heard of one, I haven't heard of anymore today, but there's a war going on here that's for sure.

All that being said, I've felt safe. Most of the bullets are flying back and forth between some cartels and between them and the police. The only time it seems to be a little problematic for the rest of us is if we accidentally get in between, and we're pretty good at not doing that.

This is called Comote Curtido. I had it for the first time that I can remember anyway and it about does a person in. I don't know how it's made but it's got to be something like this: boil sweet potatoes and cut them up. I wonder if they might freeze them to do that like they do with yuca. Anyway then they must make some sort of pure liquid sugar and drown the potatoes in it till they are completely dead and then set out to dry. It's a dessert that is really good, but if you ever see it, partake with care, as I'm sure it's got enough diabetes in it to do in several people at once. 😉😩

Ok, tomorrow is preps and maybe I'll remember to take a picture. Hasta mañana.

And here is the meeting area before anything happened to it this morning.

And here it is this evening, almost ready for tomorrow.

And here's the speaking list. I'm feeling a bit ready to not see any more of these things. ;)

Oh and here's a picture of the grapes we've been eating here these days! They are super delicious! They just call them grapes, but if anyone knows what they are actually called, email me or text me the name. And if you ever see them, they are really good tasting. 🙂

Muriel and I spoke in the same meeting this \240afternoon and we both noticed this girl. Her name is Catalina (I need to double check tomorrow and make sure I heard it right). She was sitting in a row a little off to herself right in the center a few rows back from the front, and she gets the best listener award hands down. She was a lot of help to me in the meeting! Really listening, finding the verses, sitting still, eye contact, she is amazing, and she doesn't really even know how much she helped us today.

And now, to think about tomorrow. 🙃 A good night to all.

It was fairly warm and not much of a breeze but I didn't really have trouble with the heat. They say it's far cooler now than it was just a few weeks ago. The high the first day was 103 and yesterday hit 106. Actually it was quite enjoyable. I've become increasingly worried about everyone back home battling with hypothermia, hope everyone is keeping warm! 😉

So today was a travel day up to Hermosillo with a stop for some of us in San Carlos. San Carlos is an expat community and it's located in a really enjoyable little spot. I don't know anything about the town itself, but the location is delightful! We visited Connie Folks, the daughter of Erma Richardson. And come to find out she is a cousin to Ernie Walker, and my cousin married Ernie's son.... So we are almost related! Ha! So here's a few pics from there.

And now we're in Hermosillo! The land of giant flour tortillas and handmade chili grinders. They are made out of iron wood and meant to crush dried chiltepín. I have some chiltepín ready to bring home and hope to get a moledor tomorrow.

Here in Hermosillo they are highly affected by the proximity of the States. I've only been here a few hours but have heard the phrase "El otro lado," over and over and over again. It means literally, "the other side," and the other side means the USA. They talk about how the beautiful, rugged Sierra's have been emptied of the people who have lived there for ages, forced out because of the cartels moving in, and how all the young people left for the "other side." They talk freely about how they used to "pasar mojado," or roughly, "cross over wet," but how much harder that is now.

And I've only been here a few hours.

It's pretty rough when a cartel moves into town. Depending on the area, it doesn't leave you with too many options.

The route so far. Just now at 5,000 miles, Hermosillo is convention number 12, thirteen if you count the special meeting day snuck in there back in Jáuregui.

A few miles to go yet, but thoughts begin to turn back to Washington and our own special meeting rounds. Lots and lots of good memories, and wonderful friendships made in the last few weeks, one hardly knows how to even begin to comprehend it all.

Welcome to Hermosillo! 😊

We've discovered a spare car in the field, that's not really spare but has been loaned to us for this week, and I've somehow become the driver of it. Which I like, it's been a long time it seems since I've driven and it's always fun to drive down here. Today our first meeting was with these folks, all siblings, and all quite enjoyable to be around.

The lady second from the right has something, maybe some form of very bad chorea or dystonia and it's been a seriously difficult road for them.

Life here in Mexico can be very raw. The reality of being human, and all that can go wrong, and the suffering that some people have to bear, is all far more visible here than in the US. In some ways life here feels more alive and vibrant and real. The smells are sharper, the sounds are closer, the rush is more last minute, and seemingly less organized.

From the home to the street and everywhere in between, the realities of life are not hidden here. And while that can sometimes be amusing, it can also sometimes be an inconvenience. It can sometimes be fun, and sometimes it's scary and shocking. Sometimes it's something that brings joy, and sometimes it's something that causes profound sadness.

And in it all, such as we have, we give.

This is the path leading to and from the meeting.

You constantly see people peddling goods on the street. But this one, his name is Ángel and he's the son of one of the professing ladies here. It was really fun to quickly chat with him and see his smile to see us. Life has been rough for him, and so has alcohol.

The folks where I've been staying, Analicia and her brother Manuel, own a candy shop and it's a candy shop like I've never seen! Four aisles like this one (that green arrow is an evacuation route sign), full to the brim with more diabetes then I've ever seen! Anything sweet you could ever want is here, and it was pure luck that I got a picture without any people in it as it had almost as many people as candy.

Here's the more alive picture. 🙃 Preps day tomorrow so I'll get a look at the convention spot.

Have a good night.

The whole crew at lunch today.

I forgot to take a picture of after it was all set up, but here's the "before."

The picture below is the view from my front door for the next few nights. The bach here consists of a few little rooms built on the roof of the home of one of the friends here. I'm not sure, it was probably a planned thing by this or the previous owners. Often you see rebar sticking up out of the roofs, signaling the hope of future rooms. Here, somewhere in the past that hope was realized.

And of course, this weekend's speaking list. I get off easy this week and I'm glad for that! 🙂

I'm hoping to be able to walk to the town center tomorrow. Find a coffee shop and some chiltepineros. Hasta mañana pues.

Today was mostly a few day, so after lunch I hailed an Uber and got a lift to the town center. I enjoyed randomly wandering through hoards of people mostly doing the same thing. I did find some chiltepín peppers and a chiltepinero too. 🙂

I decided to walk back and at one point was wondering why the street was so empty. Come to find out there was a bit of a peaceful protest going on. I'm not sure what I was protesting, though I could tell it was political. Hopefully I chose the right side! 😉

I don't know about you, but here the moon rose very big and very yellow! "It must be October," everyone was saying.

Ok. Just this for now. Have a good night. 🌖

Hard to say goodbye to the the workers we've been traveling with the last month here on the west route.

In the airport just down to the five of us, and all going our separate ways except for Muriel and I.

And here the sun set in Tijuana. I don't know a thing about Tijuana accept that it seems pretty big. I thought Hermosillo was big, I could be wrong, but Tijuana feels way bigger. I'll have to look it up. It's yet again a totally different feel and culture and way of driving here than anywhere else I've been so far in Mexico.

Anyway, just a quick night here at the home of Mari Chuy and her family. Tomorrow off to Insurgentes! 🙂 See ya there!

We went a little different route this morning to the airport in Tijuana than what we took last night from the airport, so we got a good look at the border from this side.

And look who we found in the airport!

Muriel Molina is taking the picture, Jonathon Wright, April Pierce, and Eric Hahn.

The border from the air. Tijuana in the foreground and San Diego in the back ground.

And this last picture is coming in to the little town of Loreto. From here or was about an hour and a half to Insurgentes. Welcome to the Baja! 😀

Can't say how awesome it is to be here in Insurgentes with this crew! I need to get them all herded into a row or two so I can get a picture. It's really a wonderful way to end the rounds, being with them all, a very pleasant mix of California, Washington, and Mexico.

Ended the day with a little sing and now off to bed and hopefully to think a little more about the speaking list tomorrow too. Oh that reminds me, I'll post a picture of it.

Convention starts tomorrow night - Jueves.

Have a good night.

I had to take a picture of when I was taking my bookmarks out after my last meeting of the rounds.

José y Elvia. They are such an amazing couple. She is blind and you'll often find her sitting quietly alone, but all you have to do is sit down next to her and you'll find someone who makes it easy to have quiet conversations with that mean a lot. And pretty soon José comes along and joins the visit, and you become good friends.

The two on the ends came from mainl Mexico. Davíd on the left and Pablo on the right. They are cousins and added a lot to our convention. I will miss them.

Then Carlos, I didn't get to know him as well, but right at the end we got a little chance to chat. And of course Brett and Mark.

So tomorrow we finish cleaning up and Mark Simmons and I go to Loreto with a few who fly out Tuesday. We'll all stay the night there. Then Tuesday, Mark, Brian, and I head to an abandoned island (at least that's what I'm calling it) by the name of Espíritu Santo. We'll be there through Saturday. We'll see how much I post. It sounds like there's not much to do there other than swim, read, sleep, walk, and be lazy, and all that sounds really good! 😄

So see ya in the island!!

It's beautiful out here, beautiful and deadly. It's bone dry and the sun is hot. If you really were on your own it would be a serious fight for survival.

A few of these pictures are from a little hike I did this morning. I was curious if I could find some fresh water. We figured there has to be water as Brian saw some goats on his hike yesterday. I found some, actually I found a few little pools like the one a few \240pictures down, but I think there must be another source, as none of the goats are near the water I found. It would be a lot of fun to explore this island and try to find the spring or whatever source the goats are using.

I kinda like watching these guys sun themselves every morning. They probably are watching me wondering when I'll be ready to eat. 😆

More than once walking across this brutally dry, red rock, I marvel that anything can live out here, but there's life all over the place. Most of it is prickly and pokey, or can sing, but so far so good. :)

Found this scorpion under a rock I wanted to use to weigh my tent down better.

One thing totally impossible to get a picture of is the stars! I've quite enjoyed staring up at them each night.

Another thing impossible to photograph is the bioluminescents! We went swimming tonight surrounded by hundreds of green sparks! It was a lot of fun and way warmer than the last time up in Alaska!!

So tomorrow morning we think we will get picked up. 🙂 And I'll get this posted.

The sunrise this morning in La Paz was amazing, it even had a double rainbow in it at one point though I didn't get a picture of that.

A few hours after the sunrise I went to my first Sunday morning meeting in three months, and that was followed directly by a gospel meeting. So now, the rounds really is over. Tomorrow I think will be a sleep in day, if I'll even be able to, and pack (which will take about six minutes and thirty-six seconds), and maybe explore La Paz a little bit. Tuesday Mark Simmons and I fly up to Tijuana and from there we will walk across to San Diego. Wednesday I'll fly up to Seattle and then Spokane, and my 90 day adventure in Mexico will be over just like that.

I'll try and get in one or two more posts before it's all said and done, 🙂 but for tonight... it's siesta time! Hasta mañana pues!

Walking along the boardwalk in La Paz I found this little coffee shop. Kilometer-0! I think that's about right. In one sense were a bit farther down the road than we were yesterday, or three months ago, but in another sense we just gotta start again and again at zero. Gotta start each day, well, at the starting point, and that's often with a streaming cuppa joe. 😉

La Paz to Mead! See the temperature difference??! I'd hafta say it's one of the more stressful things in my life these days. I'm not quite sure how I'm supposed to navigate this temperature swing! 😳

This is looking from the very dirty plane window lot to the island we camped on! It was great to see it from the air.

Just for fun I started a timer when I landed in Mexico and stopped it when I crossed the line back into the States. So here's the time in Mexico. I must say, although I've never thought so much to go to Mexico, I feel that it will be impossible to forget ask the hospitality, connections, and friendships made. Now I have yet another place I look forward to returning to. :) Thank you Mexico!!

So now I'm supposed to be in the car heading to the airport but procrastinating like usual! I better go find Mark, next stop Seattle and then Spokane. In some ways it's very hard to leave Mexico, in others ways it's easy. Always lots to look forward to! See ya in Spokane!

It's a bad picture but we were right over lake Tahoe looking west, lots of smoke over California these days.

The sun setting coming into Seattle.

Spokane, actually more or toward Airway Heights twinkling on arrival.

There's the rounds... 7,578 miles, though a decent amount of that was flying.

Lots I feel like I need to process. It was a wonderful trip and I feel like some of the lessons in it for me I haven't even discovered yet. It was good for me. I don't know really if my walk, and words, and actions, were all they were supposed to be, I hope so. The whole thing was way bigger than me from start to finish, but somehow that's not an obstacle to God, and for that I'm very thankful.

There's a wonderful work happening in a wonderful country, in spite of it all. I think we can say the same for just about everywhere the world over... and I hope we can say the same for ourselves.

Thank you to all for your thoughts and care along the way. The whole of Mexico thinks of \240us often, and sends their greetings. And I won't forget them.

Until next time, Hasta Luego.