On to Washington DC!

Today has been strange, but really good. We woke up at 6:00 and left for some volunteer ministry work at 6:45. We followed Gayla and Allie to the Holiday Inn Express, and met the nice ladies we'd be working with. We followed them around the block, on to the highway, and back to the hotel. We assumed that someone had left something, but we drove into the Holiday Inn Express Parking lot and drove right out again. After that, we followed the exact same route AGAIN; at this point, we seriously wondered what the heck we were doing and going, but this time we turned off on the highway and made our way to the church where we would be helping out. As it turns out, the lady who was driving missed the exit on the highway, so we drove around in a circle for a few minutes. It was pretty funny. :) After we got to the church, one of the ladies said she wished she could have been in our car when we were driving around in the circle. It was quite and adventure!

When we got to the church, we fellas worked on clipping hedges and moving brush.

I clipped hedges for awhile, but then my carpenter "skills" --Grandpa, I hope you're reading this :)--were called upon. I "remodeled" a wooden ramp that led to the Lawn Tractor shed. All I had to do was remove some nails, remove the middle brace on the bottom, and put in another 2x6 down there. It really wasn't a big job at all, but it was fun to swing a hammer again. Man, it had been a while!

After that, my body transformed and I became ChainsawMan. I ran the chainsaw for about 35 minutes; cutting down a small tree and some brush, something that I enjoy doing and have a lot of experience doing. Then I tried to level up the hedges with the chainsaw, something that I don't have a lot of experience doing. I'm not sure how I did, but I cut a lot off; it seriously needed some care. :)

Anyway, we're leaving to go to Washington DC pretty soon.

Here's another official shout out to Freddy, Gayla, and Allie: You guys are amazing! Thanks so much for letting us stay at your house, use your washer and dryer, and eat your food. We're all in your debt and very grateful. The Parker household is amazing!

~Nolan