After a great night in Atlanta, we woke up this morning at 4 a.m. and were on the road to Raleigh. Miguel took over at the wheel, and the rest of us decided to get a little more sleep. When I woke up around 8, we were experiencing problems with the van. At first, it would not move out of 'park' and the dash read: service stability traction. After multiple attempts, Ben somehow managed to get it out of park, and we drove immediately to a dealer about 20 minutes away in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The staff there was unbelievably helpful and even drove us to a local establishment called "Papa's Breakfast Nook" while we waited to get the diagnosis on the van. Miguel and I each had their famous, "Trash Can Omelette," which was amazing. Next thing we knew, the van was pulling into the parking lot. The mechanic told us he had never seen that problem before but they checked it out on the computers and everything was okay. We hopped back in the van and took off towards Raleigh. We knew we were going to be a little late, but still hoped we could make most of the event. This was before our next problem occurred. We hit traffic in a constuction area and moved about three miles in one hour. Once we made it through, our GPS, better known as "Jill" told us our arrival time was 2:26 in Raleigh, almost two and a half hours after the 12 p.m. start.

Luckily, the event was in good hands with Board Member Stephanie  Rodelander '69. She organized the lunch and got the names of all the people there. We showed up to Raleigh about 2:45 for the service event at Brookside apartments. The apartments are a temporary shelter for families who have recently suffered from job or home loss. Finally on the scene, Miguel, Ben, Ashley and I unloaded the van to help out the alumni who were able to stick around after lunch. In two hours, we were able to clean three apartments that will soon be home to new families. When we were finished, Ashley and I talked to Ms. Wright, one of the managers at Brookside, who explained the mission of the apartments to us. She is very passionate about the apartments and the service they provide to the citizens of Raleigh. After the day's struggles, cleaning the apartments and talking to Ms. Wright was a refreshing experience. Even though we were late, we were really glad we still had the opportunity to help this great organization.

We apologize to the people who made it to the Raleigh event, but we have your sizes and the T-shirts are coming your way! Thanks for coming out to support Witt Nation. After the service event was complete, Miguel was off to the airport to catch a flight back home. We had a great three days with Miguel and his excitement will be missed tremendously. Like many of the Wittenberg professors, not only is he an amazing educator, he is a great person to spend time with outside of the classroom as well. Now, we just ate some Burger King and are on the road to the nation's capital to meet Psychology Professor Michael Anes, Political Science Professor Heather Wright, Matt McDonald '09 and Lauren Welch '10. We are excited for the event tomorrow and are expecting a big crowd!

Taylor

After spending the summer back at Witt and reading the blogs every morning, it is exciting to be on the journey and writing a blog of my own. I jumped in the van yesterday in St. Louis to meet Ashley, Ben and Tammy Proctor just a few hours before the event.

The crew seemed to be doing well, and while I thought Ben and Ashley would be exhausted, they were in good spirits. (Can you believe they have already lasted 3 weeks and still have 10 more days to go?!) When we got to Harry's, it was apparent I was with professionals. Before I could find the door to get out of the van, Ben and Ashley had the T-shirts, stickers and other giveaways dug out of the van; they knew where to find the wrinkle spray for their shirts and double checked if they needed the tide pen.

We had a great night meeting the St. Louis alumni and getting to hear about their Wittenberg experiences. As a follower of Witt Nation all summer, it was exciting to get to hear stories from alumni first-hand rather than through the videos. Meeting with the alumni, we talked a lot about how campus has changed over time; although buildings (and roads) may not be what they used to be, the people still have the same love for Wittenberg and realize what an incredible place it is.

Taylor

Click this link to see the photos and videos from St. Louis!