We met our friends from Haiti, moved the magnetic LDS Charities sign from the 4Runner to the pickup, tanked up with diesel, gave everyone a quick hug and we were back on the road again.
Yesterday we went to Santiago to get one of the Toyota Hilux pickup trucks. The other one is waiting for us at the area office. So today we are ready to drive both trucks to the Haitian border town of Jimani and swap them out for two Toyota 4Runners. They need the trucks to move materials more than they needed the SUVs for people moving. We asked Elder Berkley if he would go with us and he willingly consented to drive one of the trucks 4 1/2 hours to the border with us.
We met at the temple at 6:00 am and drove out the gates of the temple grounds, through the busy streets of Santo Domingo and down the highway to the border. The first few towns were quiet, but as the morning dawned the shops opened and the streets filled with people and the roads filled with the usual mix of cars, trucks, buses, vans and donkey carts. We went from busy downtown boulevards to 4-lane highway to 2-land roads to 2-lanes with lots of deep pot holes. It was a fun drive with cars, kids, carts and trucks coming at you at every turn. It's not unusual to have a big seim-trailer rig coming at you head-on in your lane to pass another car... all three of us meet at the same point at the same time and the cars sandwich the truck in the middle as the cars run the apron of the road and the truck continues down the middle of the highway. There are lots of crazy driving stories to share when we're together.
With the trucks delivered we were ready for our journey home. Elder Berkley would get back to Santo Domingo for dinner, but mom and I were headed to a little getaway on the beach before we returned.
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