Out with the old, in with the new

We drag the inflatable all over the country in the back of our truck.  When there is a mission trip in San Salvador, the inflatable stays in our truck from start to finish.  The inflatable is wrapped up in and protected by a large tarp.  Unfortunately, over time the tarp was absolutely beaten up, had holes in it and had separated at one of the seams.  

Our first idea was to buy a new one when we were in the states in May or July.  We discovered that not only are they quite expensive (depending upon the quality), but they weigh a ton and, when you're flying, weight is not your friend.  So, we decided to see what we could find when we got back to El Salvador.

Of course, there's not a Tractor Supply here, but there are a couple of all purpose hardware stores.  In fact, a brand new, super huge EPA opened here in the spring. 

Francisco joined us for the search, and we drove over to the south side of town to check it out.  It reminded me of a Home Depot, and we walked every aisle just to see what all they had.  We eventually found the tarps, but they were all too small.  Next stop was Freund, more like a Westlakes, which is much closer to our house; but it was the same story--too small.  Last option was to leave the truck parked at Freund and walk down the street one block to the competition--Vidri. They had the largest tarp we had seen so far, 20 feet by 30 feet.  We were actually looking for one a bit longer, but decided we would try to make it work.

We switched out the old one for the new one yesterday afternoon.  Don't know how durable the new one will be, but at least the inflatable is protected again.  As you can see, it's rolled up like a giant blue burrito and stored in the MetroAmerica shed at the church in Lourdes, where it will safely stay until the next campaign.