Truck........Tow Truck and Tuk-tuks..................

What a day we have to tell you about. Our guardian angels worked triple time for us today and we are very thankful for that!!

We met in the lobby this morning and then our adventure began! We had no idea what would be in store for us today.

Lisa and Kemmel dropped me off at the US Embassy this morning. I wanted to get more pages added to my passport. I really did not know where to go but once I got into the secured area, they took my phone, x-rayed my things and searched me.......I was fine! They told me that the passport would be ready in the afternoon and that is unbelievable!! If I had done it in The States, it would have taken several weeks to get it back.

I met up with Lisa and Kemmel again. We went to the HTI office, to Office Deposit and then decided to have lunch. We ruled out the places that we did not want to eat and then decided on Chinese. It was wonderful. We shared some egg rolls and then I had shrimp and vegetables.

We returned to the US Embassy, I was searched again and then I obtained my passport. It looks great and there are enough pages to last a few years.

We stopped to fill the Nissan with gas and get a Diet Coke for the ride home. The guys were real nice, while they washed the windows, checked the pressure in the tire and inflated them to the proper pressure. Then we were on our way. Lisa decided to drive a little and let Kemmel rest. He let her know that he had felt a little difference in the brakes and that he would get them checked in Chichi.

After we were on the road just a few minutes, the Nissan did not feel right. It felt out of alignment and had an odd sound. Lisa thought maybe she had a flat tire. She calmly pulled over and then Kemmel got out to look. NO flat tire.
There was an area ahead that was coned off so Kemmel suggested that we push the Nissan to this area to get it in a safer spot.

After pushing just a few short feet, it sounded like the axel had broke.......and the back, left tire was at an odd angle!!

This is the area that we pushed the truck to.

You can see the odd angle of the tire.

There are NO lug nuts or bolts to the tire!!

Someone had stripped the tire!!

The brake fluid drained out on the highway.

It is unbelievable that the tire stayed on as long as it did!! Unbelievable!! The only place that we had been where the truck was not guarded was in front of the HTI Office.

Then a tow truck pulled ahead of us and offered to help. He told Lisa that he would carry us to Chichi for, "less than $200!!" Kemmel has insurance on the vehicle so that came in very handy today.

As we were getting ready, we did not think that all of us would fit in the cab. I had decided to jump on a bus for the rest of the ride. Then the guys told us that we could ride in the Nissan as they were driving. We can do what????? Is that semi-legal???

We loaded up in the Nissan, put on out seat belts and then we were loaded for the ride.

As you can see from the sign, we were close to Chimaltenango.

Kemmel had fun pretending that he was driving. The habit of holding the wheel, even though it is not necessary while being towed, is hard to break. Once while we were talking, Kemmel turned around and it caught me off guard, since he was not watching the road. "Kemmel, keep your eyes on the road!!"

The guys did a great job in getting us back to Chichi and they made good time. The best part of the trip was that, we still had a full tank of gas!!

When we arrived in Chichi, we flagged down some tuk-tuks. I jumped in the first one and they were to grab the next one. After I got near the house, I thought it was odd that they were not behind me. I decided that I needed a Diet Coke for the night so I walked to the little store and that is when Kemmel called me. GET THIS, their tuk-tuk had run out of gas on their way to the house!!

What a day of adventure with lots of fun memories............and we are thankful to be back in Chichi and safe!!