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| Josan, Joan and Fred about to depart |
Josan, Fred and I pose as Jessica snaps our picture at the exit of Trinity's parking lot. We get on the road about 1:15 pm. With stops only for a quick lunch in Kingsland and to pick up a Florida map at the Welcome Center (no, we don't have GPS in the church van), we make it to our hotel at the Orlando International Airport by about 6:45. There's a lively conversation in our van the whole time; we never lack for subject matter. One of our topics is that we are all fine with using maps, and we wonder whether using GPS and peoples' reliance upon it makes "ones' gray cells wither" as an article that Fred is reading this morning seems to affirm! It's interesting to watch the landscape change. By the time we are into Florida, it's making Bulloch County look positively hilly. As we cut westward on FL 528 between I-95 and Orlando, the sun is sinking beautifully in the west. There are a series of linear shaped clouds that look like fishbones in the sky. Marshes are on either side of the road. Herons and egrets are common. It's not a bad ride, but then, that's easy for me to say, as Fred has been gracious to do all the driving.
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| Savannah, Josan and Michael on the patio at Bonefish |
The other group - Michael, Laurie and Savannah - has arrived a few hours before us and already checked into the hotel. Michael calls just as we are on the exit ramp from 528 passing our hotel. He's made reservations for dinner at the Bonefish restaurant for 7:30, so we have time to check in, get settled, and it's close enough to walk to, though a couple in the group would rather take the shuttle! It feels good to walk the half mile or so after being in the van a good part of the day. We find out at the restaurant - which is absolutely packed, and makes some of feel that we come from a very small town back home indeed, if this is a Monday night - that our reservations are for another Bonefish in Orlando, so we have about a 25 minute wait. We go outside on the patio, which is a bit chilly, but not
too bad. A group of business folk are next to us and actually dining outside. Fortunately, the time goes by quickly enough.
Stephanie is our waitstaff. Food is great. Everyone has seafood or fish of some kind or other, with no one having room for the desserts that go parading by. It's a lovely evening getting to know one another, which is part of the experience. As Fred talked about in the van, part of our time is allowing the Holy Spirit to move among us and deepen our relationship with each other. Laurie, whom I've never known before, works with the Corps off Engineers in Savannah. She is involved with the massive project to deepen the Savannah River for large cargo and container ships to come into. It was very interesting to listen to her describe the environmental and historic preservation considerations of the whole project, which account for approximately two thirds of the funding. Savanah, too, is someone new to me. She is a delight - about to graduate from Valdosta State University and applying for a couple of different graduate programs. She is a veteran of one mission trip to the DR. We're rooming together and spend more time getting to know more about each other as we talk later. We have some things in common in our lives despite our age differences.
I speak on the phone with a friend who has looked up the geology of Hispaniola (the island which is home to the Dominican Republic and Haiti) to understand why the island is as it is, why the earthquake happened, and what it looks like. It helps me appreciate it in a whole new way and through yet someone else's eyes. All in all, a very good evening.
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| Laurie and Fred as we wait for dinner |
too bad. A group of business folk are next to us and actually dining outside. Fortunately, the time goes by quickly enough.
Stephanie is our waitstaff. Food is great. Everyone has seafood or fish of some kind or other, with no one having room for the desserts that go parading by. It's a lovely evening getting to know one another, which is part of the experience. As Fred talked about in the van, part of our time is allowing the Holy Spirit to move among us and deepen our relationship with each other. Laurie, whom I've never known before, works with the Corps off Engineers in Savannah. She is involved with the massive project to deepen the Savannah River for large cargo and container ships to come into. It was very interesting to listen to her describe the environmental and historic preservation considerations of the whole project, which account for approximately two thirds of the funding. Savanah, too, is someone new to me. She is a delight - about to graduate from Valdosta State University and applying for a couple of different graduate programs. She is a veteran of one mission trip to the DR. We're rooming together and spend more time getting to know more about each other as we talk later. We have some things in common in our lives despite our age differences.
I speak on the phone with a friend who has looked up the geology of Hispaniola (the island which is home to the Dominican Republic and Haiti) to understand why the island is as it is, why the earthquake happened, and what it looks like. It helps me appreciate it in a whole new way and through yet someone else's eyes. All in all, a very good evening.
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| Josan, Savannah, Laurie, Michael, Joan and Fred at Bonefish |
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