The Weekend Dispatch 8/7/23

We had been planning to drive to NYC Saturday morning, spend the day as tourists and then visit with friends Saturday evening before staying in a hotel and preaching Sunday morning in Queens. We also wanted to go to another church Sunday afternoon.

That plan fell to pieces while looking for a place to stay Saturday night.

Most of the hotels in Queens and the surrounding area were either full, did not have two beds, had a multitude of horrible reviews, had no parking or cost three times the normal nightly rate. Some of them had all this and more. We could not find a suitable hotel even at $300+.

Time to regroup and re-think.That meant an especially early rise Sunday morning and on the road by 6:00 AM. We were actually pulling out by 5:55. The drive to the church was about 200 miles.

We stopped at a McDonald's a few blocks from the church at 9:00. We had not stopped at all and McDonald's was our bathroom break since we did not know anything about the facilities at the church.

We made it to New Life Christian Center on Jamacia Ave in Queens and found a parking spot a few minutes later.. It was so good to be back with Pastor Hardyall and our friends. We loved being in service with them. They have changed locations since our last visit and it is much better for them.

After service, they provided a wonderful meal for us and we visited for quite a while. We really enjoyed our time with our friends and we hated to leave. However, traffic was getting worse by the minute so we loaded up and headed north out of the city.

It took us a shade over three hours to get there Sunday morning and a full 4.5 hours to go back to the bus Sunday evening. We were gone for nearly 13 hours. It was a long day, but it was all worth it completely. We love days like this.

Below, we have many more pictures. Thank you for stopping in.

Davy

Pictures From Odie

Pastor Ivan made the first chips from Green Plantain we had ever eaten years ago. They are also the best we have ever had! He had made us a huge bag to give to us Sunday. Wow! So good!