Syracuse, NY, Bennington, VT, and Dover, NH

On Saturday, September 5th, I arrived in Syracuse, New York to stay with the Christian Brothers. The remainder of the evening was spent getting to know Brother Joe and Brother Gabe. On Sunday, we all went to Mass, then I made my way down to the Samaritan Center to volunteer. At the Center, I served coffee at the entrance and greeted people as they came in for lunch. After lunch, I stuck around to help wipe down the tables and chairs. After I got back, I continued to plan for the upcoming east coast cities.

The next morning, I woke up and decided to take advantage of the safe environment that I was in. Seeing how the parking lot was primarily empty, I decided to totally unpack my car to see exactly what all I had put in it at the start of my trip. After living on the road for over a month, I had a good idea of what I needed and what I could give away. After 30 minutes of sorting, I packed everything back into my car. This time, the load was a little bit lighter. After finishing up in my car, I decided to spend some time working out on the school’s football field… until the temperature rose to above 90 degrees. After cleaning up and thoroughly hydrating, I headed back to the computer to continue to plan. With plans falling apart in Vermont, the Brothers were kind enough to let me stay a couple extra days until I worked things out.

Rather than heading to Vermont on Tuesday as I had planned, I attended Mass and headed back to the Samaritan Center once again to help with lunch. This time I was the water boy. Since it was the hottest day of the week, there was definitely a lot of traffic at the water cooler! After lunch ended, I helped to wipe down the tables and mop the floors, thanked the crew for serving those in need, and headed back to the Brothers’ residence.

My entire Wednesday was spent planning once again. Even though I have been planning this trip for nearly a year, the planning that still has to be done is incredible. Thanks to the full day of planning, I was able to find some service to do the next day as I drove through Vermont. On Thursday, I thanked Brother Joe and Brother Gabe and started my three hour drive to Vermont. With no place to stay, my service was limited to a couple hours before I had to continue on to New Hampshire. While I was in Vermont, I spent some time at the Second Chance Animal Center in Bennington. There, they had me working as an “Animal Socializer”… so basically they had me sitting in a room with cats to get them more comfortable with interacting with people. It was incredibly strenuous, but I managed.

Emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausted from playing with cats for an hour and a half, I hopped in my car and started my second three hour drive of the day. Once I made it to Dover, New Hampshire, I spent the evening talking with my host family. On Friday morning, I woke up and went to St. Mary’s Church to help peel potatoes and onions for their monthly turkey dinner. You can’t eat them if you don’t peel them first, so I decided to do what I could to make the lives of the parishioners a little bit easier! Although the act of peeling potatoes sounds easy, it’s deadly. Just ask the knuckles of potato peelers around the world. Knowing how many injuries occur on the potato peeling battlefield, I decided to take my time and make sure my hands came out unscathed. Mission accomplished!

On Saturday, my host family took me to the White Mountains to climb Mount Jefferson. I was told that the hike was 4.8 miles total… my legs and I believe that we were lied to. There has to be an index for mountain climbing that is similar to the heat index. You know, the type of deal where it may be 80 degrees but it feels like 95. My hike may have only been about 4.8 miles, but it felt like 15. Convinced that I had hiked over a half a marathon, my legs decided that they’d had enough… aaaaaaaaand we’re tumbling down a mountain! After yelling “down goes Frazier!”, I dusted myself off and made it back to the car in one piece.

Despite the grueling nature of the climb (nothing compared to being an “Animal Socializer”), I thoroughly enjoyed my experience! The combination of good weather, friendly company, great exercise, and amazing views made the trip well worth it! It was also nice to take a break from focusing on my mission trip. After six weeks on the road, Saturday was the first day that I “took a break”. There was no driving, planning, blogging, or volunteering. Even though the trip is going well so far, it was nice to be able to step away from it for a little bit, and take time to really enjoy my surroundings.

Sunday morning, I rolled out of bed feeling like I had climbed a mountain the day before. After convincing myself that I could actually still walk, I made it to Mass and back in time to catch some football before I left town. After lunch, I thanked my host family for their incredible kindness and generosity and headed to Wells, Maine!

Thank you to Brother Joe and Brother Gabe for welcoming me to stay with you and allowing me to extend my stay after plans had changed. Thank you to everyone at the Samaritan Center who consistently feed those in need. Thank you to the staff at the Second Chance Animal Center for caring for the animals. Thank you to the Kulas for opening up your home to me and being such kind hosts. Thank you to the Parishioners of St. Mary’s for doing the behind the scenes work that is necessary but underappreciated. And thank you to all of you who continue to support me and pray for me on this journey! I am forever grateful!