Saturday morning we got up and packed. Thinking I was driving, I just threw my stuff in the back of the Zech Suburban. Had I thought it through, I could've easily figured out that fewer cars were needed for the return trip. Since Suzanne was coming down the second week, her car was the perfect choice to stay behind. Only when Mr. D handed out the return car list did the obvious finally hit me. I had to quickly get the Suburban unpacked. Bags went in the trailer, three backpacks distributed to my boys, and the rest of my stuff went in Mr. Taylor's truck. I'd been demoted from caravan driver to the trailer driver's co-pilot.
While I packed, inside the Servant Leaders were thanked for their hard work. Sorry I missed that. BTW, the cute electric golf cars at the hotel could be rented...only $95.00 for TWO HOURS!
Before we left Jekyll, Mickey and I delivered some goods to the Chuck Team house. Mrs. Taylor made us a delicious smoothie. Up to this point I'd gone through the entire Expedition with zero dirt on the Chuck Team. They'd worked hard and delivered delightful dining, with no funny business to report. Until I discovered the dry erase board.
The Chuck Team has a lot of work to do, without much time to do it. To help, they assigned various chores and posted them on the dry erase board in their rented house. They also assign who showers where, and when. Brilliant! I bet chap Joe could've used this idea in his double room of eight people.
Things were easier when meals were prepared on site, which is no longer the case. Chap drivers have to stay near the students, in case a last minute change of plans led to a change of locations. Seems like the most inexperienced chaps work the expeditions. Many are new, and don't know what help is needed when. This means more work for the Chuck Team, preparing most of the food in their house. It was even tougher for Mickey, the lone male in the roost.
Co-piloting was easy work. The trailer was light and we made great time. Mickey had been so busy during the week that I hadn't had time to catch up with him. A lot had transpired with his family since the last LS trip we chaperoned together, so it was a joy to hear all the news. As LS fathers, there are many similar things we're going through. We chatted non-stop the entire trip, making the miles go by quite fast, in my opinion.
We passed on the LS sandwiches (shhh!) and hit the Macon Chickfila. Later we did down all the BBQ chips.
Engrossed in conversation, I neglected to post Expedition updates on Facebook. Parents were beginning to wonder what kind of progress the caravans were making. Eventually my phone started to ring, and I began relaying information to caravan cars. Mickey enjoyed this very much. Seemed the Renweb server was down, delaying Shirley's updates.
We arrived at the property and were welcomed by Shirley. It didn't take us long to unload the trailer. Parents picked up kids. Us Murphy’s actually stayed until everyone left, except for the hard-working Mrs. Gentry. Still in our Living Science T-shirts, we stopped by Willy's to eat. There we were greeted by DJ, David, Charles, and Jos. After chatting for several minutes, I told them they were neglecting their lady friends. Only then did I recognize Danielle and Kathleen. But I had an excuse.
I'd been harassed by bugs and squirrels for a week. And middle schoolers!
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