I have learned that road trips in Colombia are a bit different than what I was used to living in Minnesota and Illinois. Medellin is situated in a valley. In order to get anywhere you almost always drive up through mountains. The views are spectacular and a bit terrifying as you are trying to pass semi trucks and buses that are going very slow on one-lane roads. We wanted to give you some snapshots from a recent trip we took. 

The boys always have a week off of school in October and after a very heavy couple of months, we decided we needed a few days away as a family. We drove up through the mountains and wound our way down the mountains on the other side to head towards the coast, stopping in the town Julio’s parents live in. The average speed for that part of the journey was something like 44 km per hour. 

We spent time with Julio’s parents and our nephew and niece (the children of his brother William who passed away). It was great to be together. We sat on the front porch to chat as that is where it is coolest during the day and evening. 

From Julio’s parents house we continued on another 4.5 hours towards the Caribbean coast. This part of the trip the terrain is flat and you can go a bit faster, bringing our average speed up to 55 km per hour. We passed by the city of Monteria and the town of San Carlos and ended in a small fishing village on the coast, where one of Julio’s students lives. This student is a local pastor and had invited Julio to visit and preach. We enjoyed being near the water and the pastor even prepared lobster for us one day for lunch.

We enjoyed the time to slow down, rest, play board games, eat together, talk, explore new places and meet new people. It was refreshing and gave us renewed energy for the 12 hour drive back home. The total one way of driving was 331 miles. The way home as we climbed elevation is rained for hours as we twisted and turned on the mountain roads. We’re grateful for safety as we traveled and much needed family time.