This past weekend we loaded up our vehicle and headed out on a little (much needed) road trip. I cannot even put into words the excitement we were feeling! Some friends had invited us to stay the weekend with them in Coban. In addition to that, David had been needing to make a trip to Chiquimula to pick up receipts from our food distribution there. Instead of making two separate trips we decided to combine them into one longer trip. We headed out Thursday when we finished school.
I took this picture as we crossed the bridge at San Cristobal. It is just on the edge of Guatemala City. We had not traveled past that point since March. It felt a little strange to see Guatemala City again.
We stopped to eat at Carl's Jr. in Guatemala City. We love eating there and have missed it so much. They were allowing people inside. We were the only ones there at the time. It was our first time to eat inside a restaurant since March. How exciting! Before entering, they take your temperature, make you clean your shoes on a mat, and then give you hand gel. They are also not allowed to run the A/C. Most all of the tables are marked off and the ones left are very spaced out. We will endure any and all safety measures if it means we can get out again.
Yum!
We then got on the road headed to Chiquimula. It felt amazing to see the views again. Until we moved back to Antigua we had always traveled this highway to every location we have lived in Guatemala. It felt like home to be riding those roads again.
This truck gave us a good laugh.
We arrived late afternoon to the hotel in Chiquimula. How fun to see it again! This hotel is the one next door to where we used to live. The boys spent many afternoons in that pool when we lived there.
Some missionary friends came to visit us there. The kids enjoyed swimming together in the pool and then they all stayed to eat supper with us. What a joy to see friends and have face to face fellowship with them. The kids sat together and the parents had our own grown up table. I am not sure which table enjoyed it more.
The next morning David left about 5:30 a.m. headed up the mountain to visit our pastor and his family there. When the boys and I woke up we enjoyed breakfast at the hotel. They loved getting to eat tortillas. Ben said, "This is the first tortilla I have had in years!!!". It sure felt like it.
We then did our schoolwork out by the pool. They had two incentives to finish fast 1) they could go swimming again 2) their friends were coming back to join them.
Fun in the sun!
A highlight of the trip was getting to see Miguel. He stopped by the hotel to visit us. He was our ministry partner when we lived there. We miss him so much!
He is like a big brother to the boys.
Mid-morning Brandi and the kids came back for another visit. While the kids swam we enjoyed adult conversations. We all had lunch together and then got back on the road.
Just a few miles down the road he was out. Traveling is hard work.
I almost squealed when we made this right turn. We love Coban and I think we will always miss living there. The drive from El Rancho to Coban is one of my favorites in all of Guatemala. The scenery is so pretty.
We arrived that afternoon and were greeted by our sweet friends the Rozyckis. They have a beautiful property! They have a few guest cabins on it so we had our own place to stay. Being there felt like we were on a retreat. They cooked a delicious supper and then we spent the evening catching up. We became friends with this family right after we moved to Antigua and we spent a lot of time with them. Several months later they moved to Coban. We have been sad ever since.
Our view on Saturday morning. It is so green and lush there.
The boys got to help collect the eggs.
They also enjoyed getting to play in the hot tub. I took this photo before the other kids joined them. There are hiking trails through the woods that the kids also enjoyed. It was a great outdoor adventurous weekend for them.
While there we celebrated the birthday of two of their kids. Here are my boys waiting their turn to hit the pinata. That was another fun, normal experience.
In addition to seeing Brandi, another highlight of my trip was visiting with these two sweet ladies. Leah (in the middle) was our host and Julie (in the gray) lives close-by. During this quarantine time God laid on my heart a desire to start a virtual mom's group with missionary moms in Guatemala who live out in isolated areas. It is a podcast club. We listen to a podcast on our own during the week and then meet online to discuss it. All three of these join me weekly for a time of sharing, encouragement, and prayer. It is one of my favorite times of the week. I am thankful to get to share life with these moms even if it is virtually.
A photo of the kids on Sunday morning before we drove back home to Antigua.
We had received news on Saturday morning that a section of the highway
to Coban had collapsed during the night. We had been a little worried
about how we were going to get back home on Sunday. We ended up leaving
extra early to give ourselves time in case we had to take a long
detour. The collapse happened near Purulha after a hard rain. It is crazy to think that we had just driven on that road a day earlier.
Thankfully the road crew had been working hard and had a bypass cut out by Sunday morning. We were able to drive right around it without any issues.
We were home by lunchtime. I spent the afternoon catching up on laundry and getting things ready for a new school week. We were tired but so thankful for all that we had been able to experience. It seems like forever since we have had that much human interaction outside of our home. It was the most normal we have all felt in months. We cannot wait to do it again!!!
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