the map & the motorcycle | zacatecas, mx

We have arrived safely in Zacatecas, Mexico! We were able to find a truck stop that rented out some cots and we set them up in the nearest gas station's utility room, so we are enjoying the night here.

Just kidding.

We are staying at the CityExpress hotel here on the west side of Zacatecas. A very nice, clean place with a good lock on the door. No worries.

Our day began by taking Matt and Kim to the airport. We actually took two vehicles, because we needed to leave one at the airport for Marshall, who is arriving tomorrow from a week in Barra Vieja. Matt and I took the Jimmy, and Hannah, Kim, and the kids came in the other church vehicle. As you saw in Kim's post, we have been having some issues with the belt squeaking really bad on the Jimmy. And, as you saw in the Kim's post, we still had not resolved the issue.

So, Matt and I left a little early to see if we could find the right belt somewhere on the way to Guadalajara. At the first place we checked, they didn't sell the "quiet technology" belt we were looking for, but the guy wouldn't let us leave until he personally looked all over the Jimmy, couldn't find anything wrong with the pulleys, the tensioner, or the belt, and as a last resort offered to sell us a spray. We declined and moved on with life. The only thing else we found at the next couple places we went to was the advice to put Coke on the belt... "that will stop the squeak," he said.

We ended up at AutoZone, which didn't sell Coke or the kind of belt we were looking for, but we bought a belt anyway. Of course, it didn't fit when we tried to put it on in the parking lot, so we exchanged it for one that did and went on our merry, squeak-free, way. Hallelujah. 

We met up with Hannah and Kim for lunch at a restaurant and then proceeded to the airport. We were able to get the paper work done relatively easily for Ivory to fly with Matt and Kim, although it was hard to tell her goodbye. We did receive an e-mail when they arrived at Dallas with a picture we like so much that we are are going to post it here:

Then we hit the road! Then the new belt started squeaking! Then we took a wrong turn! Then we corrected the wrong turn! Then we arrived in Zacatecas!

We had to drive all the way through the big city of Zacatecas. It was a breeze because the highway was kind of separated from the rest of the city by concrete walls and very few places to get on and off (take note of this fact... it's important later on in the story). It's a really cool city. We passed a Domino's right beside the highway, a few other cool places, and a really big mall. Then we got to our hotel without a hitch.

We proceeded to get checked in and place an online order to Domino's for supper. A few minutes later, my cell phone rang... it was somebody from Domino's: 

Him: Um, we got an online order for Hannah Herrmann, but I don't have delivery guys.

Me: Oh (waiting for other options)

Him: says nothing

Me: Well, I guess I'll just come pick it up

Him: Okay... it will be ready in ten minutes

I hung up the phone at the same time I realized that I have no clue how to get around in Zacatecas, nor did I know if the Domino's I saw was the one I had ordered from. I took the problem to Google maps. Google maps came up with only one Domino's pizza in Zacatecas, but it took me on a bunch of backroads to get there and the location it showed did not look like the Domino's I had seen.

I decided to scrap Google maps and just head back and figure out how on my own how to get to Domino's. As soon as I hit the road in now-dark Zacatecas, I realized how ridiculous I was being. I began to pray for help in arriving. Did you know that God answers our prayers even when we do stupid stuff like drive into a Mexican city at night not knowing where we are going...just to get a pizza?

As I mentioned before, the main highway through town has very few places to enter and exit. There is also a high median between the lanes. As I was heading back into town, I saw the Domino's on the far left side, so I began to look for places to turn around and head back the other direction. There were none. For all I knew, the exits off the highway could have sent me to Timbuktu. I all of the sudden randomly took an exit off to the left. Before I knew it, I was in a narrow one-way tunnel underneath the highway. Then before I even knew that, it suddenly spit me out onto a narrow one-way street, in bumper-to-bumper traffic in downtown historic Zacatecas. The city is cool, but I wasn't in the mood for a tour.

As a sat in traffic wondering what to do, I randomly looked to my right... and saw a main street, one block away. I turned right (the opposite direction that I thought I needed to go) and got onto that street. It only took me a second to realize that I was back on the main highway heading towards Domino's. Wow.

Now, I needed figure out how to get off the highway at the right time to arrive at Domino's. I also needed to get gas sometime before tomorrow morning. All of the sudden there was a gas station that was accessible to the highway, so I quickly exited and filled up with gas. While there, I asked how to get to Domino's. Believe it or not, there was only one way out of this gas station... the road that went straight to Domino's. Wow.

I excitedly walked into Domino's and announced that I was there to pick up the large, extra-cheese, pepperoni pizza for Hannah Herrmann. They all looked confused. I explained that we had ordered online. They continued to look confused. Then they explained to me that online orders get delivered right to your door. Well, I then explained to them that somebody from Domino's said they didn't have delivery guys. Then they explained to me that Zacatecas is home to four different Domino's and the CityExpress hotel is in a different Domino's area. And that Domino's doesn't have delivery guys. They said it was easy... just go to Plaza Galerias. 

Well, I do not know my way around Zacatecas, and wasn't about ready to ask God to bail me out of getting lost again, so I asked if there was anything they could do. They were happy to oblige. They sent one of their delivery guys on his motorcycle as my personal escort to the other Domino's location.

We set off across town. Me in my Jimmy following the pizza delivery guy's motorcycle. All of the sudden I realized that we were going to the mall that we had seen earlier. He had me park the Jimmy while he parked his motorcycle, then he personally escorted me into the mall, up the escalators, through the mall... to the food court! where we found a Domino's pizza waiting just for me.

I finally made it back to the hotel where we wolfed down our cold pizza and laughed about all that had happened.