The AIM bus pulled up to Matamorros town square on Thursday. All of the racers piled off, grabbed a years worth of gear and hit the road running. It was up to us to find our way to the bus station.
As we were standing in the middle of the road talking to possible taxis a lady drove up. She asked if we were with Adventures in Missions and said that she worked for their base in Matamorros. God moment number one – a free ride to the bus station and a great chance to talk with and pray for her.
Our team got on a 4 pm bus out of town, which meant arriving in Palenque at 10 pm the next night. The bus portion of the race stretched on for quite awhile. We enjoyed cards, made up games, attempted to read until we got sick, took random photos, slept, then played more cards. I spent a lot of the ride in a Dramamine endued coma. Can I just say AMEN for a medicine that puts you to sleep and takes away queasiness. How beautiful to watch the scenery change from Texas style flat to tropical jungle with long rivers snaking through and huge lush trees.
On Friday night, four of the teams got a hotel together in Palenque. It was 10 people to a room, but definitely one of the best nights I have ever had. How amazing to stop moving and be horizontal!!! Our team figured out that the national park we were going to would open at 8:00 am. We got in the ticket line first and impatientlywaited for the park to open. After that it was a dead sprint, through the park and up the giant stone steps of the temple.
We were first to the top, oh yeah!!! We think we won the race but the official results have not come in yet. What a blast! I loved planning as a team and the urgency that the race brought. The ruins were larger then life! At the top all the racers stopped for a moment to pray and sing praises to God. It was amazing to give thanks to God in such a beautiful, spiritually significant, location. Hopefully I will be able to post some more pictures soon.
Thanks for the thoughts and prayers, keep sending them my way!
