Ready to go to work

We have had really good weather after New Years Day.  When we hit the road on the 2nd, it was cold but not snowing or slippery.  The roads were in good shape through southern MN, and snowdrifts disappeared in IA.  Since then it just got better.  Today was the first time the forecast was the least bit threatening.  We had heard that rain and wind were forecast so we got another early start, and went all of 5 miles from parking spot to parking spot.  We had heard of another volunteer coming by RV who has been here quite often, and is staying for a month or more, so we planned to let him have the best site.  He was already here by 8:30AM and, since we were the next ones to park, we got the 2nd nicest site.  The rains came as forecast by mid-morning but we were already set up.  The winds never did amount to much here in town.  About 4 hours north of here the interstate is closed due to freezing rain, so we are very glad to have come early and to have taken plenty of time.

We spent the rainy part of the day doing laundry, and using the local WiFi, plus reading.  We had an official welcoming meeting this evening and learned there are 3 groups of volunteers, all from Minnesota: one from Blue Earth, one from Maple Grove, and ours which is coordinated by Hennepin Ave UMC in Minneapolis.  I think there were 45 to 50 people here at least.  As we left the meeting, we noticed the skys have cleared out, and the bad weather is gone.  It will be cooler than normal for this part of the country most of this week, but we are not complaining.

We'll get our official work assignments tomorrow morning after breakfast.  We get three meals a day while here (except for Wednesdays and Fridays when there is no supper so that we can get a chance to see the area). 

Also, some of the others who have been here many times said that there truly are good restaurants around (reference our blog of yesterday).  So we are planning on getting that information and getting to some of them.  It sounds like many of the volunteers go out together for dinners.