After gathering in the parking lot and parceling out the luggage, Walt Colbert took a group picture and Dave Erb sent us off with a blessing. The roster: Dot and Harold Biggs, Brian Evans, myself, Nancy and Rick Haines, Tara Hardin, Jim Koehler, Beth and Jim McLean, Pam and Steve Mitchell, Joan and Carl Thomson, and Jim and Shiela Wilson. With her father’s pacemaker being installed tomorrow, Kelly Burns was unable to go with us. The hope is that by some miraculous good fortune she might perhaps join us on Tuesday.

We had five vehicles in our convoy: Jim and Beth’s full-size sedan with the lion’s share of the food, Tara’s large pickup with the lion’s share of luggage, the Mitchell’s van, Jim Koehler’s van, and the Biggs’ small SUV. The dial of every vehicle was tuned to the Cowboys game for most of the trip to Alexandria and the regrettable interception that ended the game occurred as we wheeled into our motel.

When most of the vehicles had been unloaded, the group headed en masse to the Cracker Barrel a few blocks aways where an especially intrepid waitress set up a long table, seated everyone, and served our 16 people with efficiency and good humor. She effortlessly gave separate checks to the various couples and singles. This was a far cry from the previous year’s first night dinner on the mission trip—a nightmarishly long and darkly funny experience at a Shoney’s in Natchitoches.

We gassed all the vehicles and returned to our motel, where all of us followed his or hers agenda to call home, relax, write, walk, or sleep.