Tuesday July 14, 2015

Tuesday July 14, 2015
Today was a very long day!  We loaded the van at 6:00am and left for Detroit.

Our first stop was to pick up Ryan Pusak from Camp Ottari in the mountains of Virginia.  Let me be clear and tell you that the 8 mile stretch of road that takes you from interstate 81 to the camp entrance is long, narrow, windy, and hilly.  The perfect combination of road conditions necessitated a series of very skilled maneuvers.  We (don't) look forward to driving it at night on Sunday.

In Charleston, WV, we stopped for lunch at Wendy's.  Burgers and Frosties for the win!

The next 5 hours went by quickly as we engaged in a movie picture show.  First we watched The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies.  Second, we watched Iron Man 2.  The movies were a perfect distraction from the monotony of driving.

We arrived at our hotel, the Courtyard by Marriott in Downtown Detroit by 7:30.  The accommodations are incredible, complemented with a view of Canada.  We look forward to exploring, ay!

Perhaps the highlight of our day was dinner.  We walked around the block to a local restaurant called Sweet Water Tavern.  The food was delicious!  When we sat down in the restaurant we met two youth groups.  One youth group was from Montana and the other was from Pennsylvania.  Reality set in that the National Youth Gathering was officially begining and we were going to meet youth from all over the country!

Tonight we settled in to our rooms and discussed the schedule for tomorrow.

Thank you all for your prayers and support!  We are extremely excited to be here!

Love,
Vicar Daniel


Here are a few highlights from the day's events:

"It was a lot of driving, but it was driving towards a big goal, which inspired us to keep moving!  I'm glad we made it." - William

"We rocked our way to Detroit with IDPs - Impromptu Dance Parties." - Sarah

"I conquered a fear today!  First, I prayed out loud for our meal at dinner.  Second, I approached a group from North Pittsburgh and asked them if we could take a picture with them.  The pastor from their group married some counselors from Agape.  It was really exciting to meet someone from so far away who knew about Camp Agape." - Erin

"It was really cool realizing we are about to meet people from all over the country." - Greta

"I really enjoyed taking a photo with the people from Pennsylvania!  I enjoyed sitting in the van, refusing to dance." - Ryan

"We didn't lose anybody!" - Joan

"It sure was a lot of riding and a lot of driving, but we made it safe and sound." - Chris