Our weekend trip to the beach and the mountains STARTED out nicely. I mostly dozed on the 3 hour car ride west from Caracas as my parent's chatted with my missionary friend Michelle. About 3 miles from the beach, I awoke to a loud, quick clanking noise under the hood as the car lost power. We quickly found the problem in this broken belt-wheel. Michelle sent us to the beach while she took a bus to the nearest city an hour and a half away searching for a replacement part. The part was installed by a small-town mechanic in the mid-afternoon. We were sorry Michelle missed her beach time but it could have been much worse. Although it caused unwanted stress, we were able to count many blessing including: A) The car was 50 yards uphill from a gas station. B) It broke in the morning, on a workday so it could be fixed immediately C) Michelle was able to find the part quickly. D) The car was no more than a half-mile from the mechanic shop.

 On a humorous note, take a peak at the photo of the swimming pool we saw near the mechanic shop. Wanna dip?