The Journey.

We gathered at 7:15 AM in the parking lot. There was a lot of excitement. We took care of some last minute things, and then we loaded into the cars. The drive down to Baltimore went smoothly. The only glitch was when we got behind an extra, extra-wide load on Route 83 South. It was all we could do to keep Rod from gunning his truck and driving over top of it.

We arrived at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport right on time. We checked in and went through security. I lost my phone. Luckily it was only temporary. I had left it with security. It’s a good thing I found it again, because I’m not due for an upgrade until October.

We grabbed lunch at the airport. Everyone was left to his or her own devices for that. We finally got onto the airplane. We had made it! And without a single mishap. I was tempted to celebrate with a gin and tonic, but I had been up since 6:00 AM and figured that it probably would incapacitate me. So I settled for coffee.

Many in our group had flown before, but some had not. We attempted to put them at ease by reassuring them. “Don’t worry, the runway is probably long enough”. “Most of the pilots have flown before.” “The stewardesses know Kung Fu”.

There was a close call during check in. Raymund had a live chicken in his carry on. He was afraid we wouldn’t have a chance to eat, because we were on a tight schedule. Security told him that it was a “no-go”. But it was ok. They were able to mail it back home for him.

Aside from some minor turbulence, the first leg of our flight went smoothly. We arrived in Charlotte safe and sound.

OK. So maybe I'm embellishing a bit. But we are now in Charlotte and we are on our way to New Orleans. Part of the pru0pose of the Nat'l Youth Gathering is simply to get together with 37,000 other folks. But we'll also be doing service projects. We, in particular, will be doing some outside work.

Right now everyone is very excited about the whole thing. It's a great bunch of young people, and a great bunch of chaperons, too. Pictures and more comments will follow once we're at the hotel this evening.