Thursday, March 11: On the Road Again

Our group of students and adults start gathering at the Eastwood Baptist Church parking lot around  8:00 a.m. to begin our trip France 2010.  We make introductions all around, and the adults meet our students we are to be paired with for the count off each time we travel.  I am #18 and my charge is Hannah Moor, daughter of Joel and Darby Moor of Indianola.  We pull out of the parking lot at 8:30 headed to Atlanta.  The morning ride is pleasant as we all catch up on the news of our lives since some of us haven't been together since we traveled to Spain last Spring Break.  We make a lunch stop at at rest area outside Cottonwod, Alabama at 12:30.  We eat our boxed lunches of chicken strips, ham and cheese sanwiches, chips, fruit and a candy bar.  We pull out again at 1:15 and arrive at the airport at 3:00.  We go through baggage check and customs, find our gate E22, and settle in to wait for our 8:30 flight.  Although we know we will be fed on the plane, most of us opt for a bite to eat before we board.  Phones are charged one last time and the "good-bye" phone calls are made.  Boarding startes at 7:45, and we are off the ground by 8:30.  We fly into the night and look forward to landing in Paris.

Our traveling crew includes:

Adults

(Well, we can't seem to find a group pic that includes all of us.  My camera was acting up when we made one that had most of us.  Hopefully, I can get one from a fellow traveler.)

Students

Anna Daniels, Mary Rodgers Brashier, Kat Vetrano, Frances Carroll, Kristen Haladay, Brian Hairston,  Anne Eliza Jordon, Mary Nelson Robertson, Turner Bridgeforth, Megan Kay Donahoe, Elizabeth Daniels, Lauren Sledge, Lelah Bridgeforth, Randi Fagan, Anne Franklin Helton, Lauren Simmons, Rex Allen Morgan, Hannah Moor, Brenton King, and Sara Lang.  Others not included as students and much younger than the adults were Meredith Sledge and Ellen and Caroline Jordon.

The kids are standing in front of a monument known as Les Braves created by Anilore Banon.  It was commissioned for the 60th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion and was to be dismantled after the celebration;  however, many protested and it still stands today.  i will show a picture of it in total later.