Day 1 - Rolling Out

Mom dropped me off at the departure site this time, instead of Dad. Within minutes, other people began to arrive. As I got out of the car, I saw somebody who I had worked with on my second trip. We had some time to talk and catch up on things that had happened since last August.

Mom was waiting to make sure I would be okay. The volunteers arrived but two rented minivans did not, so a few people had to go to the rental place and pick them up. This delayed our departure, so I went back to Mom in her car and told her it was okay for her to leave. I hugged her goodbye through the driver's side window, and after I took a photo of her in the car, she left. There was a positive side to the delay for the rental vans--the 15 passenger Church Van was towing the luggage trailer, so we had time to pack everything inside properly.

As we hit the Interstate 71 South, I switched on my digital watch's chronometer and pressed "Start." The seconds began to tick away, counting up the length of the drive that lay ahead. Since the group leader brought his laptop and accessories, we had a fairly large screen to watch DVDs on in the 15 passenger van.

Our group consisted of three vans: the two rental minivans and the 15 passenger Church Van. We had most of our luggage in a trailer on the Church Van, along with tools, because this trip was not supposed to focus on damage cleanup: we were going to help rebuild!

The trip from Ohio was uneventful, and we only made necessary stops to get food, gas, and visit restrooms. We did not get delayed in Alabama like we did in August. We entered Louisiana late at night and arrived at Hilltop Rescue. It would be my third and final time spent at C.F. Rowley Elementary School as a volunteer. Hilltop Rescue was to close "Camp Rowley" down in January so that the building could be returned to St. Bernard Parish. As we pulled into the parking lot, I stopped my chronometer, so that it read: 15 hours, 31 minutes, 20 seconds.

Servants Unite had arrived in Louisiana for the 20th time since Hurricane Katrina had made landfall.