The First 34 Hours

We gathered together at 6:30 Saturday morning in the St. John's parking lot--15 travellers and a smaller, no less dedicated group of well wishers/family members.  After loading (and reloading) a a pair of vans and the trailers that were hitched to them, we were on the road at last (Time: about 7:15).

I can only attest to what happened in van number one, but based on the comments of people from all three vehicles (Van 1: White, Van 2: Black and the car), it's amazing what you can find out about people after being in a  small area with them for so many hours on the road.  Long story short (for now), the people who made this trip are a good and very interesting group.

While it usually wouldn't be worth mentioning, there was a gas stop in Arkansas that warrants a special mention.  Maybe it's being from Woodstock and mostly dealing with gas stations in Illinois, but I (and other group members) were taken aback by the layout of this particular Shell station.  Along with usual gas station fare (medicine, food, drinks, cigarettes), this station had rack after rack of assorted merchandise, ranging from magic tricks to a copy of  an the Elvis film biography, "All the King's Men" (on VHS) for $5.  This store had an ambiance such that several members of the group were told that they needed to go in and see it for themselves.

After 11 hours of driving and one hour divided between various gas stops and a lunch break, we all arrived at our destination, Hernando United Methodist Church, The Gateway to New Orleans.

At HUMC, we were treated to a very tasty dinner of chicken, cole slaw, beans, sweet potato pie and chocolate cake.  After dinner and a brief time for devotions, everybody ended up falling asleep early to prepare for the next day's drive. (Time: 9:30  PM)

(Time: 6:00 AM)  Wake up time came early on Sunday, and after shaking off the morning grogginess and getting as clean as we could without showers, the group headed to the dining hall for an even better meal than the night before.  Along with homemade biscuits and grits, we were treated to ham, a fruit salad and fresh made eggs.  How good the food at Hernando was can not be overstated, it was simply fantastic.

By 7:30 we had eaten as much as we could handle (but not everything they had prepared, as we received a bag of ham and biscuits for the road (they would later make tasty snack sized sandwiches).  After a few more gas stops and a lunch stop, we finally arrived in New Orleans, and I can safely say most of us (or at least, I) have never been happier to see a shower.  We also met traveler number 16, Anna, who had flown in on Sunday morning and, as such, was much cleaner than the rest of us.

After cleaning up and resting a little bit, we left the Bethlehem Volunteer Center where we are staying and went to meet Julie...(Time: 5:00 PM)