Belated Post from 1-24-12

On the Tuesday that the Mason's were visiting, we decided to go on a "little" trip to visit a coffee plantation up in the mountains.  Now we had a brochure that said that la finca hamburgo was only 30 some miles away, but let me tell you, it took about 2 and 1/2 hours!  The road out of Tapachula was nice...and paved...  It's also where we stopped to take pictures of this natural arch of bamboo trees.

But then halfway into the trip when we really started to climb the mountain, the single lane road turned to dirt...and it became curvy and VERY bumpy.  The picture below doesn't really do the road justice.  And the bumps weren't helping those who had to use the umm, facilities either, but thankfully we were able to find some decent outhouses at a little school!

La finca hamburgo has a beautiful restaurant overlooking the mountains.  In the far distance, you could also see the Pacific Ocean on the horizon.

A classy restaurant in a relaxed atmosphere.  We chose to sit on the large veranda.

Beautiful flowers were sitting on each table.

La finca hamburgo - the coffee plantation.  We'd love to take a tour sometime.

Young coffee bushes.

Coffee being shelled at the plantation.

Even though the ride was seemingly long, we had a very fun day together (and the food at the restaurant was delicious)!

Cruise "Gawking"

Today turned out to be an interesting day! We had to go into el centro this morning, and while we were there, we noticed a few shuttle buses and coaches that had gringos in them! We figured they had came into Puerto Chiapas on a cruise. We decided to check it out.

We drove the twenty-some minutes down to the port, and sure enough, the cruise liner, Statendam (of Holland America), was docked. We were able to park not far away, and then walk almost right up to the ship. We stopped and talked to several people and found out that this trip originates in San Diego, then travels through the Panama Canal and onto Ft. Lauderdale. It then does a return trip back to San Diego.

It was really neat to see the ship up close. Below are a few cell phone pics.

I also looked online and found a few aerial pics of Puerto Chiapas. The red brick docking area (in the upper right of the pic), is where the ship was pulled in at.

Puerto Chiapas and the Pacific Ocean.

La Campaña 2011 :: The Day After

It was such a pleasure to be able to have Bro. Rigo and his wife Ana stay in our home during the campmeeting. They were a big blessing to us and our church people.

Monday morning we dropped them off at the border of Guatemala so they could spend some more time there before they had to return to Florida. But before we dropped them off, Bro. Rigo was really wanting a shrimp cocktail. So upon invitation, we went and visited one of our church families. The man, Isaac, pedals around Tapachula in his tricicleta (photo example) and sells shrimp/seafood cocktails for a living.

Seafood cocktail for breakfast anyone?

They also showed us their beautiful little pet loro (parrot).

After dropping Bro. Rigo and Ana off at the border, we decided since we were already halfway there, we would drive up into the mountains to about as high as they have roads. We went up past Unión Juárez to a place called Talquián. On the way back down, we pulled in to this little place to check out the view. This is a hotel, restaurant, and lookout tower.

This is to the right of the above picture. You can see the restaurant that hangs out over the mountain and the beautiful view, although it was somewhat obstructed by clouds.

Michael, Kyle, and Taylor. Parker was sleeping in the truck. :-)

And this is one of those great self portraits - you know, the kind where you hold your arm way out in front of you and snap a picture (sight unseen) and then wonder why you look kind of goofy!! lol

So now, after an exciting weekend, things are getting back to "normal." Although, we have plans to start a youth Sunday School class, and Michael is just starting teaching/tutoring some men in their Bible School classes... You just never know what great things will come to pass around here, so keep checking back!

Yummy!

Anybody up for some strawberry shortcake?

We've got tons of strawberries here! I've heard many statistics about this area being the # (?) strawberry capital of the world...but it's never the same number, so I'll refrain from misguiding any of you readers. Suffice it to say, I counted 35 of these little strawberry stands on our way to church the other day.

Come and visit! We'll treat you to some strawberries!

Sightings Out and About

Cristo Rey (Christ the King)

On Saturday, we took a drive and visited the monument of Cristo Rey. It can be seen from our house, and is not really far, but it took us an hour to get there. (We had to go through a few small towns with many small speed bumps...then slowly drive up the winding, mountain road.)

Here are a few stats about Cristo Rey:

1] It is one of the most important religious monuments in all of Mexico
2] The statue allegedly marks the exact geographical center of Mexico
3] It weighs about 80 ton, stands about 65 1/2 ft. tall, and is made out of bronze
4] It is located on top of Cubilete Mountain at about 8500 ft. in elevation
5] It was erected in 1950/1951 - it replaced a smaller, original statue that was destroyed during the final stages of the Mexican revolution

We stepped into this sanctuary (pictured above) and saw this lady crawling on her knees towards the front. Very sad.

Every Jan. 6, thousands of people journey here to celebrate Epiphany (here in Mexico: the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus). A lot of the pilgrims ride horses up to the shrine.

Family picture (below) with the statue in the background.

A scenic, mountain view taken from the perimeters of the monument.

This is a beautiful temple we passed on our way to Cristo Rey.