The Road Home

Many of us were treated to yummy breakfasts on this temperate sunny morning, and all made it back to the church in time for the 9:00 service. Once again, the coffee shop within walking distance of the First Baptist Church of Ballston Spa was frequented by DUMC & ASCYO members. Alan delivered a wonderful sermon as usual, and our group did a nice job participating in the service. The kids are loading the buses, and we are looking forward to napping on the long drive home. Parents, we will see you this evening! Everyone, please join us for the Homecoming Concert on Monday June 25th at 7pm at the Damascus United Methodist Church, 9700 New Church St, Damascus, MD 20872. Thanks for all your prayers & support. A special thank you to Rosalyn Bowman for the multitude of snacks (including, of course, her famous White Trash mix). Thanks be to God!!!

Blog Master's Note  -   The group is on their way home now and is expected to arrive in Damascus between 8 - 9 PM tonight.    There are more pictures to post and I'm sure there will be a final blog entry after the homecoming concert.   Thanks for following the 2012 Tour.

Click Here for Some Early Photos of Day 10

Reunion in Ballston Spa

After meeting back at Centenary UMC this morning, we rode to Lake George, a popular tourist destination in the Adirondacks. As soon as we arrived, the heavens opened up, forcing us to seek shelter in the tourist shops. Many of us opted to eat an early lunch during the rain after purchasing our umbrellas & ponchos. And we thought we were poncho-free after leaving Niagara! There was a street craft fair, right on the water, and when we weren't hiding in the tents from the downpour you could see the lovely lake. The chaperones were very grateful we had not visited here 2 weeks earlier, when there was a massive motorcycle rally. On our way to our next stop, we saw wind turbine farms. It is an awesome sight, as each blade is 100 feet long, making the the wingspan of a single turbine over 200 feet! Some are within 100 yards of the highway, and their grandeur was humbling as we stared up at them.

We arrived in Ballston Spa, NY about 4:30 today, and were warmly greeted by our beloved Alan Rudnick (for those of you who do not know, he was previously our youth pastor and moved on to his own church 3 1/2 years ago). It was wonderful to see Chrissy, Rowan (he's grown so much!), and their latest addition Evangeline (who will be 3 next month). They are all thriving and have been embraced by this lovely small town in which they are currently raising their beautiful family. There is a fabulous coffee shop in walking distance of their church (First Baptist Church of Ballston Spa), and a thriving main street with many shops. Sue C, Susan J & Cathy D were able to obtain much needed caffeine while the kids rehearsed.

We were treated to another wonderful meal and all the lemonade we could drink. We hope we made clear to the kitchen volunteers our gratitude for their preparation of another fabulous meal. We were pleasantly surprised to be joined by Rick & Nina Hacker (Rick was the DUMC organist before Steve), Don Cosman, and Sarah Pinto's parents. The concert was well performed despite the heat and humidity. The men's septet sounded wonderful as usual and everyone got a standing ovation following the last anthem. Unfortunately for the choir, it was too warm to sit in the sanctuary during Bacchanale and most missed Mrs. D's performance outside the entrance to the church. Peggy's niece Jill lives in Saratoga Springs, so Aunt Peggy and Uncle Walt were able to spend some time with this delightful woman. Poor Jill spent much of the evening ferrying people about.

Click Here for Photos of Day 9

Goodbye Montreal - Hello USA

What was omitted from the Thursday (late night) blog was the fact that the huge coolers filled with bottled water had nowhere to spend the night. Of course the instructions from Mr. Motter & Mr. Marshall were very clear: DO NOT leave the coolers outside anywhere. Because of a space problem in the van (not all our hosts had cars), we quickly determined the coolers had to stay. They were hidden behind some lilac bushes on the property of the basilica opposite the boy's oratory in the dark of night. The perpetrators were stealthy, and hid from the roaming security guard. The first order of business this morning was to retrieve the abandoned coolers. They were fine, minus some grass stains on the bottom, and managed to survive the night alone. Amazingly, Mr. Motter & Mr. Marshall were unable to determine the provenance of these stains.

After saying au revoir to our host families, we had another opportunity to shop in downtown Montreal (it was too hot to play in the park as we had originally planned). We had to leave Montreal an hour earlier than planned to avoid the protests scheduled for this afternoon. If you haven't been following the news, a 5% tuition increase is apparently too much for the students to bear (that would be an increase of $150).

A noteworthy fork story (ask your child if you are not familiar with this tradition) told today was about 3 young men who got lost in the Basilica and could not find the men's dressing room or even a washroom. They decided to use the elevator to change into their concert clothes. Needless to say, they startled at least one family when the door unexpectedly opened. Parties on both sides of the elevator door were horrified. After our bag lunches which our host families so graciously provided, we loaded back up on the bus to head for Malone, NY.

The border crossing went without a hitch, although several females (adult & youth) would have been quite willing to be pulled off the bus by the quite attractive border guard. The scenery changed into rolling hills as we drove further south into NY. It's amazing how much a glacier can flatten an area.

We arrived in Malone (a small quaint town) and were warmly greeted by the Centenary UMC folks. The kitchen brigade served us fabulous Italian casserole dishes and an abundance of salad filled with fresh vegetables (yea!). The concert was very well attended, our largest crowd this tour, and they were very generous in their offerings. Reverend Billy Bonds and the members of 3 churches in the area welcomed us into their homes, and we were scattered among several small towns. Unbeknownst to us, we were in Amish country. No horses or buggies spotted, but we did see several Amish homesteads.

Click Here for Photos from Day 8