To New Orleans…….So there is this Mission Trip that a few of the Sisters of Notre Dame did last year to New Orleans and they decided to repeat the trip again this year. There is a day shelter open daily from 8-2. The shelter provides services like showers, laundry, legal advice, medical services, help in getting an ID, providing a mailing address, etc. If you are really interested I am sure I blogged about this last year. Okay, so Yes, I am once again on this mission trip with three sisters and a student from Notre Dame Academy.
We left Covington on Saturday morning. 5:15 a.m. was our target. We started the van exactly at 5:16. Pretty good. We had a seven passenger van from the convent. We each had a piece of luggage, there were a few snacks and the rest of any available space was filled with donations for the Center.
Merrily we rolled along. Homemade blueberry muffins for breakfast in the car. Yummm. We ate our packed lunch at a rest area in AL. Back in the car - and my turn to drive again.
Shortly after we left the rest area traffic slowed to a crawl, a 5mph stop and go crawl. This lasted for about 45 minutes before it broke loose. As I tried to accelerate the steering wheel began to vibrate like crazy – it stopped and it began again.
Time to pull over. There was an exit ahead. Exit 289. Ok, that will have to do. Oh, but wait, what is that over there by the lone gas station? Why, it’s a D.Q. (See, there is a God.) Pulled into a parking spot got out to walk around the car and, my goodness, the front left tire well is smoking. It’s not suppose to do that. The others said that it smelled awful. However, not being able to smell a thing, I didn’t notice that.
So…., the convent just signed on to a car service deal. A couple of 800 # phone calls later by Sister Ruth, our fearless leader, two hours sitting in the D.Q., milk shakes all around, and an unbelievable effort to coordinate things, we found out that; a) the car would have to be towed into Birmingham (45 minutes away), b) they would send a cab for us, from Birmingham (we reminded them that there were 5 of us and many things in the van) c) they would arrange a rental car for us ( reminded them that there were five of us and many things in the van). So we waited……..
Thing is that were we were did not seem to have a name. Come on, every D.Q. is in some town or another – apparently not. The cab could not fine us. The tow truck could not fine us. More phone calls. More waiting. Thank God we were not on the road somewhere. Heat index = well over 100.
Eventually our knights in shinning tow truck & cab arrive – okay, forget the shinning part. The cab was a very dirty van. Didn’t feel too comfortable sitting in it but we did because it was our ride to the car rental place at the Birmingham Airport – 45 minutes away.
Arrived at the car rental place. Talked to the person behind the desk. Our car was to be found in space # 42 – ah, 42, the answer to life, the universe and everything. Good Omen.
Well, a little white corolla was sitting under the # 42. Can’t be right! Back to the friendly lady behind the desk about a block away. Oh, was her reply, just press the panic button on the key. It will be sitting in the slot next to #42. Back to the garage. Presses the panic button – nothing happened! Oh, come on! Sister Ruth walked all over the garage looking for the van we were to rent. Finally, two rows over and 12 cars down….
However, it was a 5 passenger SUV. Oh, come on! So the next 5 hours we traveled with 5 adults in five seat belts. That was a little tight. Sister Claire took the middle hump seat in the back, God bless her. By the time we added all out things we were not only 5 people in 5 seat belts but each adult, except for the driver, had things sitting around their feet and on their laps.
Our 13 hour trip to New Orleans was finally over after 17 ½ hours. Needless to say we were (are) exhausted. Some wonderful sisters from the neighborhood brought some food over for us to get us through the night.
Bottom line is that it could have been a lot worst (of course it could have been a lot better). The van is now fixed and sitting in Birmingham waiting for us to pick it up on our way home. In the mean time there are still 5 adults in 5 seat belts. But we are in New Orleans. We go to the Center tomorrow to do what we came to do.
All’s well that ends well!
Amanda’s (NDA student) summary of the day goes something like this - we packed the van, we unpacked the van, we packed the van, we unpacked the van, we packed the cab, we unpacked the cab, we packed the SUV, we unpacked the SUV. And she is RIGHT!
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