Traveling to Mérida

On July 11, 1008 at 1:oo PM we began our great adventure. The Saenz family made a big deal out of our departure in the "covered wagon." The GPS was the help Gerhard hoped for, although we found out a couple of "her" idiosyncracies, such as not recognizing one-way streets, and on new stretches of highway she had us traveling off the road until she found out where we were.


We were cautious about taking pictures, but some were too good to pass up, such as the hotel grounds in Camargo, the clever "autotels" in Leon and Campeche City where the car was inside its own garage and the room above it was completely locked away from anyone coming in.


We traveled on the toll roads which were very good. Our route took us south through the states of Chihuahua, Durango, Zacatecas, San Luís Potosí, Aguasclientes, Jalisco, Guanajuato, Querétaro. the D.F., Estado de México, Jalisco, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, and into Yucatán



The weather was perfect for traveling, since we missed the evening rains until a storm caught us outside of Campeche City. We could see it coming in as we crossed the LONGEST bridge,
so stopped under cover at a gas station while the heaviest part of the wind and rain passed.




The next morning we drove along the Playa de Campeche
and saw the blue water of the Gulf of Mexico that shone green where the sunlight hit. Before noon a road sign showed a right turn to Mérida and Gerhard said "YAY!"


We arrived at our new home about 2:30 PM Merida time, 12:30 PM in Chihuahua. We took the parking place next to Pres. Dyer's car with Pres. Oropeza's vehicle on the right. Our apartments are just through a gate to the temple. They are new and furnished very nicely. It didn't take long to get everything unloaded so we could begin to feel at home. Pres. Dyer was authorized to set apart his counselors and the assistants to the matron on July 16, 2008, so that was when this calling became reality.