"Es Un Milagro" (Guatemala)

After our night in Guatemala City, we decided to continue west to Antigua and Lago Atitlan, instead of going back to Semuc. We packed up the car, and headed out for an easy quick drive. We arrived in Antigua, at the hostel we had researched, and found that the hostel was unattended, and we couldn't get in. Locals around assured us that the owner would be back soon, so we waited...for an hour and nothing. As it was early afternoon, we decided that we could probably make it to Lago Atitlan, about a 2-3 hour trip away, with enough sunlight. So we got back in the car and started out the drive.
 No issues during the trip, and we were about 40 minutes from our destination when Jared noticed that the breaks felt "funny".   Luckily, right about that time, we got to the first straight, flat road we had seen in a couple hours. We pulled over to switch drivers, so Clint could feel the breaks as well. As the navigator, I watched as Clint slowly pulled out and started pumping the breaks, from which...absolutely nothing happened. We did not stop or slow down when he pushed the break pedal all the way to the floor! We used the emergency break to pull off the road, popped the hood, and waited. We must have been the most blessed people ever that day, because low-and-behold a group of mechanics stumbled upon us, and offered their assistance. ...well I guess we were more blessed to discover that the breaks were shot NOT while on a mountain side. The mechanics came right over and called in reinforcements.

The man that came out diagnosed the problem as worn breakpads, and offered to drive around to find some for the car. After about 30 minutes, he came back with pads, stated they were the ONLY pads for our car in the next 3 towns. We pulled the car into his shop about 6 blocks away, and he got to work on the pads. We required new pads on all four wheels. He showed us the worn pad, and there was literally nothing left of it. He actually said it was a "milagro" that we made it to the point down the mountain with the pads we had. LORD!!!!! The breakpad situation ended up taking several hours, part of which we were actually sitting in the family's home. We ended up finding a hotel to hunker down at for the night. The people, specifically this mechanic and his family, were absolutely amazing!! So welcoming and generous. We were in a real bind, and lucked out on a massive level. I think we all said a nice long prayer thanking God that night.
 At the hotel, the boys got their own rooms, while Nicole and I bunked up together. I think they enjoy their space more than Nicole and I find necessary. After a pretty rocky night of sleep, we got up to check the status of the car, as when we went to bed, they were still working on it. There she was, good as new. The mechanic assured us that we could drive the South America and back on these new pads, two of which he actually had to cook onto the existing metal frames in an oven, as there was no way to get new ones anywhere around. We packed up, and finished the last leg of the trip to Lago Atitlan with a new sense of gratitude. Upon arrival, we found the hostel pretty easily. Often, we have to just park the car, have one or two of us wait with the car while the other two go in search of our hostel. We found, Mr. Mullet, which had been recommended to us from a fellow traveler. Found a place to park the car for a couple days, and schlepped our stuff to the hostel. After a bit, we ran into an old friend from Puerto Escondido in Mexico, and headed out to the local gringo spot for a Sunday BBQ. The food and atmosphere was pretty cool. The amount of food they gave was super generous, and they even gave us a full plate of sides just to take home, above the amount they had already given, which we couldn't even finish. After, we came back to the hostel to bundle up a bit, as the climate here is a actually a bit chilly at night. We all went out again with some new and old travel friends and had a pretty great night of drinking and socializing. Came back, and all had pretty good drunken sleep!