Tepic Adventures

Well, we made ​​it.   The flight was uneventful after we finally got in the air. The delay was really only about 10 minutes, while we waited for all the other jets to clear the runway.  Customs and Immigration were a breeze they were both empty and we whipped right through.    Dave and Olivia were waiting at the exit to pick us up .

Dave has an old van that used to belong to Mark Brians. Those from El Camino would know that name. It seats eight, but it was very tight, even though no one really noticed or complained.   The guys had fun trying to get all our luggage in; Dave had a roof top cover where we put some of the suitcases.   Watching three engineers and  a pilot strap it down ... :)

 We had dinner at a wonderful seafood restaurant! The huge portions of shrimp were delicious, and the pico de gallo was to die for; I need to make mine more like that from now on - less tomatoes, more onion, more cilantro, more lime.  They had an appetizer of a seafood soup with a meatball that was very good, as well.

Then we were finally on the road.   It took about four hours to get to Tepic, driving along the coast for the first hour or so, with glimpses of the ocean off and on.   We turned north into the mountains, and were greeted with beautiful views of the hills and valleys. It was a cloudy day, and I was in the back, so I did not get too many pictures of the drive. We passed through numerous villages that really do not look much different that Nogales. Stopped for gas and a potty break at an Oxxo station - think Stop and Go or 7/11 type store   Prices are surprisingly low; a 20 oz coke rough that would cost $ 1.75  in Arizona is $ .75 here.

The road, which is the only road between Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, is a two lane, winding, well paved road.  They were working on part of it, so we did have one construction delay; other than that the drive was uneventful.   When we were within five miles of Tepic, we encountered an accident that stopped us for roughly 40 minutes. 

We arrived at Olivia's co-worker, Debby Mellberg's house.   It. Is. Beautiful.   Think colonial Mexican hacienda.   The yard is beautiful. As I sit out here on the porch writing this, there are birds chirping,  hummingbirds feeding, a light breeze blowing.   So very restful! 

Debby shared her story - we have something in common - she graduated from Southwestern, Matt's alma mater!  I really think that she needs to write down her story for others to read; certainly God's hand orchestrated things for them to begin their ministry to the Huichol people. 

Today's plans -. The men went with Dave to a village (flying!) to fix a runway and install a windsock.   We ladies are going to go to Olivia's for breakfast, go through the things we brought for Awana and begin assembling the goodie bags, and meet my friend from CHF, Mary Jo Hansen, for coffee.

Afternoon update:


The ladies spent the morning packing 80 goodie bags.  The things for the goodie bags were provided by Jan Coleman, Teri Wood, Dana Adams, and Jill Field.  We also put wordless book bracelets with explanatory tracts in Spanish, that were provided by El Camino Missions Fellowship.


The guys in the meantime flew out to a village where they dug holes, painted rocks, did runway maintenance, and installed a windsock.


We all met back at Dave and Olivia's for a wonderful lunch of chicken toastadas, fresh papaya, watermelon, and tomatoes.  The guys loved the "valentine" sauce, that apparently is available at Fry's, so I have a suspicion that we will be getting some of that.

More to come.......