Trip

We are all back - safe and sound. At one point were were 2 miles from the Dominican Republic boarder. The end stop was Cornillon (through Bouchon and Thomazeau).


Joas and I took the Blue Isuzu at 5AM (because the big trucks can't be on the mountain roads between 6 AM to 8 AM or 9 AM). We couldn't get all the supplies into the Ranger so we took the Isuzu, too. We dropped the wood and four workers off at a newer school that didn't have windows/shutters - it just had the holes in the concrete for them. Joas took the Isuzu back to the Mission and Pastor Rob and I left in the Ranger to go further out with boxes, two generators, a corn grinder, and a motorcycle.


This was the first "road block" - the concrete bridge collapsed but it wasn't too deep to successfully pass on the right (before we dropped the guys and wood off):

Here was the second road block. These bovines (because I can't remember if they were cows or bulls, Becky) were in the way for about 15 minutes. They were so tangled up in their rope that some of them had their heads twisted and others had their heads stuck (with horns) against the underside of another. The owner(?) was having trouble getting them by us. There was a steep mountain drop-off to the left and a steep hill up to the right. They had to pass by on our right and as they went by, there were bumping and moving the truck.


We made it to the final destination and on the way back, we ran in to this road block:


There was one more road block that I didn't get a picture of, unfortunately. These roads are sometimes not wide enough for one vehicle let alone two. There was a big truck with rear wheel/axle problems and we had to get by. I got out to direct Pastor Rob (because I was scared) around the truck and NOT off the side of the mountain. The only thing stopped me from protesting fiercely was because if he went off the side of the mountain, there was a ledge about 10 to 15 feet down that would have stopped him from going all the way down (maybe). It had rained the day before and the ground was moist. Right where the tire was going to go on the drop-off side there was a chunk of ground that had loosened itself downward - if it were up to me, I probably would have waited the hour or longer until they fixed their truck. This story has a good ending because he made it with an inch (two at most) to spare on each side.

Interesting Stuff...

I think that I saw this picture in the Guinness Book of World Records for how many people you can fit on a Chinese-made 125cc road motorcycle used primarily on off-road terrain. If a motorcycle could be a school bus, it would look like this. I saw this guy drive by twice with 5 other people with him on the motorcycle.


Can you find all of the items on this device (hint: There are five)? I think the only thing that it is missing is the kitchen sink.


Justice of the Peace/Courtroom/etc...


There may be more to say - I am just too tired right now to think of it...