IT RAINS OFF AND ON ALL NIGHT and when I look outside this morning, I see that the road is flooded like a lake, as deep as four or five inches in places and it is still raining. Upon getting up, I go inside and find that both Dick and Bella are already up. Bella asks Dick to make some eggs for breakfast before I head out and we share one more meal. I have really enjoyed my stay here with this great couple, the feather of their hospitality is surpassed by few.

While I am here, I use the baño one more time. ²¹ Once on the road, I head west towards the coast expecting it to be warm when I get there. I drive on the libre highways through the mountains, first federal highway 15, then FH 80, and FH 70.

I arrive in Puerta Vallarta just before sunset, but continue driving right past this big city into the state of Nayarit (12) around the northern side of the Bahia de Banderas, a large bay and stop at Punta de Mita, the northwestern most point of Banderas bay. Puerta Vallarta is in the upper right of painting.

It is a small town and I park on the street for the night. When I first arrive in town, I drive over a large tope and the cable holding my spare tire snaps causing my spare to detach. I make a temporary fix in order to rehang it and will look at it later or again in the morning in order to make the fix permanent.

I was right about the temperature, it must be in the high 80′s here which makes it extremely hard for me to sleep. Early in the evening, two police officers stop and the first speaks to me in Spanish. I tell him that I don′t understand Spanish and he walks away and the second one returns and greets me in English. After a few questions, the officer kindly greets me good night and then they leave.

Later, it begins to rain and the rain continues for most of the night, so I don′t stop to work on my spare. I do check it several times while I am driving and each time, the bowline knot is still holding.

Such an amazing knot, one that everyone should know how to tie. (Day 39)

It was a rough night for me in this warm humid climate and the rain does not stop with the rising sun. It has been raining now ever since we finished planting the grass in Jocotepec and I plan to leave the coast today seeking the higher and cooler altitudes inland hoping that the rain will stop also. However, a couple that I have met suggests that I drive to San Blas, Nayarit. So I will drive north along the coast before I turn east for the mountains. First before leaving Puenta Mita, I drive to the beach, find a nice restaurant and buy something for breakfast.

The Anchor is the place for breakfast and is right on the beach with a huge grass covered hut. Afterwards, I walk around for a while, taking photos of the pelican, rocks and sail boats. Also, I meet and talk with two surfers from Quebec.

Finally, I leave this beautiful town and head north. It takes several hours to reach San Blas but I am not impressed at all, the town is in a back water bay and does not seem to have a beach. There may be some beach on the coast but I am not able to find any sand so I leave at about four in the afternoon.

Still, I drive around the area and see some birds that I have never seen before and find out they are called yellow-winged cacique and Magnificent Frigatebird.

I drive on the cuota (toll road) first southwest to Guadalajara and shortly after that, drive right out of the rain. It makes me feel good to be under clear sky and stop and eat two burritos from a road side food stand.

Then I begin driving west another two hours to just north of Morelia where I stop at a truck stop at 11:30 pm and set up my curtains for the night. The rain resumes after a short time here. The cost of driving the cuota is almost five hundred pesos so far and a lot more than driving the libre (free) roads, however, you can really cross the country a lot quicker on the cuota. (Day 40)

It began at about three pm last Sunday right after we finished planting the grass and hasn′t stopped for any more than a couple of hours. Actually, it has been one continuous rain storm which has inundated every community that I have driven through recently. Also, the inside of my van has a lot of moisture in it and it is hard to keep it dry; it fogs up really bad after sitting at night. Also, the outside has been dirty for over a week and since I have found no pressure washers in México in order to keep my engine clean, it too is filthy.

This has made me think how nice of a place Texas would be for me right now but I am determined to hang in here for one or two more days before making a decision about returning now. Or I could drive over the continental divide, which is not far from here and see how it is on the east side of México.

If there is any thing that might be this Wayƒarer′s Achilles′ heal, it is likely a long spells of heavy rain (fuerte lluvia, pronounced ′few-air-tay you-ve-ah′) and overcast, cloudy skies (y nublado cielos, pronounced ′e new-blah-doe see-ay-los′). Try to say all of that in one breath, without being a Mexican. ²²

I awake at a truck stop on the cuota and drive directly to the Los Azulfres National Park. The steam vents are huge and even though I don′t feel good this morning, I pay the fifty pesos to sweat in one of the vents.

Afterwards, I did notice that my sinuses are totally clear but I still have the sick stomach syndrome, probably caused from the two burritos I ate last night. Then, I drive to Zitacuaro in order to access WiFi but the hot spot is not active. So I take my biotic supplement and sleep from eleven am until after dark. At seven pm, I check the WiFi and it is still not active so I will spend the night here and try again in the morning. (Day 41)

It is five am and I still feel a little puny so I will take a couple more pro-biotic supplements and go back to sleep. Finally, after eighteen hours of sleep and rest, I get up, take three more pro-biotic supplements and begin driving to find a WiFi hot-spot. All along the road, there is flooding in the towns and along the highway. I pick up a signal in Hidalgo and log on to the internet, check my e-mail, upload the latest to my journal and even look at the weather channel for a possible break in this heavy rain. What I find is that the weather doesn′t look good anywhere in North America so I decide it will be best to endure it here for a while longer.

Then, at about ten am, while driving west on the libre federal highway 15, through the nacional bosque (national forest), I see twenty or thirty places where the road had very recently been totally blocked by a tree fall or a rock slide but the federal maintenance men had got right to work after the storm and probably doing so very early this morning.

As I drive west, I see several crews that came through after a storm are are now working; the first crew is the one who makes the initial cuts in the trees in order to allow a car to be able to pass. This first crew is the one I saw when I first entered the forest from the east. They must have been working since before daybreak to make the numerous initial cuts all along the forest highway. After passing this first crew, I see many places where the road had been blocked but just barely get by because of the efforts of the first crew. Even so, it is tricky to make it through a few of the cleared spots, some of the trees are just barely high enough for me to pass under. Soon I come on a front-loader tractor cleaning up a rock slide, the second crew. Then, there is a third crew that is cleaning up the remaining tree debris on the road, cutting up the larger pieces and moving them aside. At one switchback, it seems that the entire mountain has collapsed onto the roadway. Even thought the mud and debris was still a foot deep, the trees were cut and moved aside as well as were all the large rocks. The path through this section was narrow and about fifty feet across the mud and debris. It was tricky for my van to get through and a bigger vehicle would have a much harder time. As I drive on, I see several more trucks with workers and another tractor heading in to help clean up the storm damage. Finally, as I approach the outskirts of the national forest, there coming into the forest on the libre is a large bus and a eighteen wheeler. Methinks, well, as least the road workers are all out there to clear the road and get these vehicles by.

There are a few sun breaks today but the weather remains extremely wet. I arrived in Morelia a little after one pm and drive directly to the d-mart to park. Then, I buy crackers and a small bottle of mayonnaise to make tuna salad for lunch, this being the first food I have eaten since the burritos that made me so sick.

Later, I go to the hall to see when the meeting will be. Then it is back to the parking lot to go to sleep. Note to self: Don′t eat crackers in bed. (Day 42)

Amazingly, the daybreak awakes me this morning and I got right up to watch the sunrise even though it is rising in the city and then walk into the d-mart for the baño. Except for yesterday buying some crackers and mayonnaise, I will not need to buy any more food while I am in México simply because my pantry is full. I know, however, I will eat out a few times but I will try to limit even that in order to loose a few more pounds before I get back to Texas.

When I get back to my van from the d-mart, I notice that there is ice on the side facing away from the sun. It was hard to get up this morning because it must have gotten down to well below freezing last night. However, now as I sit in my van in the parking lot to read and write, I am comfortably warm. A little later, I spend time in my ongoing effort to compile photos for this journal and hope to begin uploading some of them soon.

Then in the early afternoon it becomes to hot to stay in the van and besides, the sun is out and the sky is completely cloudless, so I put on my work jeans and go looking for a water spigot. (I only noticed the cloudless part this afternoon.) In no time I find the spigot on the north corner of the d-mart as if is was there for the overnighters and fill my water bucket. I then move my van to a spot in the shade (sombra, pronounced ′soam-bra′, om sounds like oam in loam) and begin washing.

It is amazing to me how dirty my van got in just a short week and the engine is still dirty but it will have to wait until my crossing the border into Texas. After my van is once again green, I then clean my self up, put on some fresh clothes (ropas, pronounced rope-ahs) and park my van in the shade to get ready for the meeting tonight. The circuit overseer is visiting the Morelia English congregation until Sunday and will next go to Patzcuaro (pronounced Pots-cwa-row, ua sounds like wa in Washington [this being one of the diphthongs mentioned earlier])

After the meeting, I return to the parking lot, go into the d-mart and buy a container of vegetable juice because I did not feel like cooking anything heavy to eat tonight and all that I have to cook is brown rice and canned goods. I will try my regular foods tomorrow. Now, it is after eleven and I can already feel the temperature dropping fast, so I will get in the sleeping bag and go to sleep. Note to self: Life after a long heavy rain is worth the wait, so much so that I should consider this to be one of my life lessons. Wait, after looking at my list of life lessons, I find that Life Lesson Seven already covers a long heavy rain. (Day 43)

Again, I awake before the sunrise, go through my routines and have a hot breakfast. Next, I spend the rest of the morning working on my computer. Then, early this afternoon I have a Spark drink to keep awake while I do my personal study for tomorrow and mid-week′s meetings; the study lasts until the sun sets.

After my study, I go to the street side of the parking lot to cook supper in order to avoid all the people walking by. I use a can of chicken broth to cook a cup of brown rice and in the last ten minutes, add a can of peas with carrots and fresh cut onions. After I pour the liquid into my cup (to drink because it is really tasty) I add some pepper and begin enjoying this meal while I type. Tomorrow′s study concerning "Making your advancement manifest" from 1 Timothy 4:15 was a powerful lesson for me, and especially the article referencing Acts 16:9 when the man in a vision entreated Paul to ′Come over into Macedonia, and help us.′ Well, it has been a long day for me and I need to get up early tomorrow. So, I will park closer to the d-mart and it′s to bed for me. (Day 44)

This day begins as usual, first daylight makes it way into my van, I awake, get dressed and record the temperature. Then it changes just a little because instead of going into the d-mart, I go across the street to a fast-food restaurant (US chain) to buy coffee and use the baño. I am running my engine so as to charge my electric shaver but the twelve volt cord does not work as good as the 110 volt one, which I did not bring. I have one more hour before the meeting and I hope it charges enough to be able to shave, especially since the CO is visiting this week.

I had a dream last night and it was one I felt worth writing about in my journal. We are living in critical times, yes, and we are restricted in many ways, often in ways we do not enjoy and some times in ways that limit us to large degrees. Still, strive we must to do what we can, especially in our spiritual endeavors, regardless of how we are limited. Too, we know that soon, these constraints will be lifted and we will be free to soar. In the dream, I was an eagle that was shackled with a chain and could not fly far and when I did try to fly, there were power cables overhead and everywhere that prevented me from soaring. Even with the restraints holding me back, I was able to see far away into a place and time when these constraints would no longer keep me from soaring in the wind. I know of this freedom, I can see it clearly now, it will come without much delay and I will do anything now so as to arrive there.

Arriving at the hall clean shaven, I walk in and begin greeting the friends. Many say welcome back and I thank them. The CO′s talk, although very familiar in done in such a new way that it was a completely new approach on how important the resurrection hope is for Christians. After the meeting, I let the CO know that I hope to move to the area and ask where is the greatest need. He begins by telling me that I need to consider where best I will be able to live, what my needs are, what my financial status is and several more what if′s. In reply, I ask, "All that aside, where is there a need in this part of México?" He says that he know of three, the first one being Patzcuaro which I expected him to say. The next two came as a complete surprise, that being Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta. He said that in both cities, there are English congregations which need help desperately.

Upon leaving the hall, I went searching for a WiFi hot-spot and what I found could not have been better, it was a full five bars of unsecured signal. My phone doesn′t work with three bars or less and four bars work intermittently at best. I was looking for the coffee house that I often use in the states for a WiFi connection but suspected it to be inside of a shopping mall so as I was turning around in an alley, I decided to check for a signal and found the five bar. The alley was actually a parking lot for a bakery and cars were pulling in and out the entire time I was there, and I was there for six hours, on line and on my VOIP phone most of the time and the signal strength never wavered. When it got dark, I returned to the parking lot of the d-mart and set up for the night. (Day 45)

We must learn self-sufficiency, not self-reliance. Methinks, this is an important lesson! (1 Timothy 6: 6, 7, 8; Proverbs 3:3; 4, 5; Jeremiah 9:23, 24.) (Day 46)

This day begins before daybreak when there is just a hint of light in the east. I go inside to the baño and then come back outside to watch the dayspring progress. The colors begin with deep red and slowly progresses to lighter shades over the next hour until the color right before the sunrise is a golden yellow.

I will continue here the rest of this day and then head south to Patzcuaro for the evening. The wanning moon is visible, high and in the fourth quarter and will be a new moon on the fourteenth. The last full moon occurred on the thirtieth of January but was invisible to me as it happened during a very cloudy period.

After the sunset, I drive south to Patzcuaro and park on the street just off the main road near my fiend′s home. (Day 47)

At six this morning, I arise and then decide to stay up and do some reading and writing. Then at eight-thirty I put on my tie and coat and ride with the friends to meet for field service with the Circuit Overseer. There are ten people who meet and we all go to the territory to search out those who speak English. It is about twelve thirty when I am able to speak to someone who does and this person really enjoys the scripture I share with her and agrees to a return call. Afterwards, we go for coffee and soup and then back to meet again at for the two pm afternoon service meeting. However, we arrive early and I am allowed to pick some fresh citrus fruit. We then return to Ron and Jemi′s home for some supper and tea. At nine, I retire to wash my hair and upper body and then climb into my van for the evening. (Day 48)

Today is a repeat of yesterday in that I make it for the morning field service meeting but then when told about a sister who cuts hair, I ask if I can go to have mine cut. Rafael and Gwyneth drive me to the hair salon and wait while the sister does a wonderful job cutting my hair. Rafael and Gwyneth are part of a troop of English speaking friends who have come here from Delores Hidalgo a little north of San Miguel de Allende to work here in the territory for a week. The names of the others are Ellis, Gabby and Corban. I believer Ellis has decided to move here to Patzcuaro and will return next month. I have been able to visit and work with each in this troop, several whom are need-greaters, and have in all sooth, I have enjoyed their company.

At four in the afternoon, we all get into a van and go to the meeting at which we hear a very good talk from the CO. Afterwards, we go to a get together to bid Ron and Jean farewell because they are leaving to move to Arkansas. Then we return home at ten pm and I head for my van, exhausted. (Day 49)