Saturday July 13 Our trip begins

Our morning started early meeting at St. Jo SouledOut at 5:30 AM to finish packing the ltrailers and getting the vans loaded.  We  had a number of family members present to send us off and Fr. Trout led the group in prayer  6and a blessing over all those going on the trip.   The parking lot was full of energy even at the early time with the excitement of what lies ahead of us for the week.
We pulled out of the parking lot around 6:10 in caravans of 3 to 5 vehicles.  It wasn't long until some of the teens were back to sleep or listening to some music.  Each vehicle team was to work on a scavenger hunt answering questions about the trip, people on the trip, and a host of other typical "tzrivia" type questions.  Soon emails were flying as well as cell phones ringing trying to find out the treasured information.  The completed team forms were to be turned at the end of the day with the winners announced on Sunday.
The trip to Lexington was thankfully uneventful and we arrived at our hotels around 2:45.  Room assignments were handed out with the guys staying at the Hampton and the girls at the Ramada.  We met at 4:00 to load up to head to Mass at the cathedral where we were warmly welcomed and our presence was acknowledged during the beginning of Mass.

Dinner was at Gattitown which is a pizza/arcade establishment.  Everyone had their fill of pizza, pasta, and the occasional salad.  They also had some free time to enjoy the arcade and more importantly burn off some of the pent up energy from the trip down.  We also announced the construction teams for the week before heading back to the hotels where we had about a 15 min. team meeting.

The teens had around 2 hours of free time before it was time to quiet down and get ready for bed.  Some played games, some swam, and others just hung out in the lobbies of the hotels talking and just hanging out.  It wasn't too much of a job to get everyone back to their respective hotel for lights out which was at 11:00.  After doing several walk arounds on all the floors of both hotels the adults finally turned in for the night.  It was a good drive down and everyone enjoyed the evening before we head to our two centers tomorrow morning.