Day One The Trip Down

Whatch Out! PV's driving!!! Tony has given him the nickname Road Warrior. To catch y'all up here's what's been happening. Everyone met at Orchards around 5pm. Due to one hiccup after another, PV and I finally arrived around 5:50. Departure time was 6pm and we were on the road by 6:30. You should see the trailer! Next time it gets opened I will take a pic. It's literally busting at the seams. We actually had to ratchet it back together. There are 7 people in our van and 8 in the other. 2 people left Friday morning before us and 5 more are heading out at 3:30am Saturday morning. Scott crossed into Mexico early Saturday morning and drove around lost for 4+ hours in the sand. Poor things! They finally made it to the compound only to find out that the stores in Mexico only sell used wood and he has headed back to the boarder to wait in the 3 hour line into Yuma to get our lumber and sheetrock. We, on the other hand, made it to Woodburn around 7:30 for dinner and left around 8:30, hahaha, not even to Salem and it's 8:30! We had a good laugh and then everyone crashed. Next thing we know we were in Grants Pass and it was midnight. 5:30am I woke up and we were in Sacramento (I think!) There we switched drivers and PV took control. We passed Harris Ranch in the morning so the stench wasn't too bad. We jsut ate at Denny's near Newman and consensus is that we don't stop till we hit Mexico, except for gas.

WOW! Good Morning! So to catch you up, we switched drivers right before the grapevine, Tom at the wheel I finally got some good sleep. We prayed all the way down for a green light at the border. As we drew closer to Yuma, we switched drivers again, Tony got the honors of driving us across the border. Tom called 4 people asking them to start praying about our crossing with us. As he hung up the last call Rubber Duck came over the radio and told us to pull over, his van was over heating. (Yes we have named the vans, ours is Big Ben.) The van was actually completely out of oil! Praise God! We were within a mile of a gas station! All was good, back on the road, we hit the border at 10pm and got a red light. Upon opening the back of the trailer, the guards eyes got as big as saucers (it really was stuffed to the gills!) they said we could move along. Praise God again, I'll give you a red light and still get you through! We finally ate our first real authentic Mexican Tacos (or 3) at 11:30pm. Arrived at the compound only to find the gates locked and no one awake. No Problem! We took it off its hinges backed the vans in and unloaded them and trailer, I was asleep by 1am, to the sounds of air mattresses being filled, before the lights were even out. God is very Good! After 31 hours of travel, we are all safe and sound.