under cover of the night

Arrived safe and sound tonight, about 9:15 local time (10:15 Indy). That puts us at 15 hours exactly, door to door, including gasoline, meal (2), and 'personal' (hee) stops. Not bad for an 840 mile go of it.

If you have to travel that far with three folks, finding the ones who are smart and funny and whose bodies are on the same clock as yours is really a pleasant way to do it! Jim did the lion's share of the driving, Tom took a shift, and Pam and I provided the comedic relief (or something like that). We took turns reading, recommending reading, napping (not the driver!), and counting FEMA trucks.

There are 14 (we think) other people here this week, two vanloads from a church in Iowa (hi Tod!) and a couple from northern Indiana. We met some of them as we rolled in and will meet the rest as we get moving in the morning.

Of course as we drove further south, our eyes and conversation turned to whatever storm damage we might be seeing. Many patches through Mississippi where trees were snapped -- tornadoes on the edge of the hurricane system? -- and then crossing into Louisiana, the patches were closer and closer together.

Since it was dark by the time we got this far, it somehow added to the mystique, and heightened our curiosity. What will we see? Where will we work? Who will we meet?

At the moment, we don't know. For right now, we're going to sleep. Monday morning, 8:00a.m., the adventure REALLY begins.