Roanoke, VA

Saturday, we flew into Charlotte, NC to pick up our bus. We had left it at a hotel where our main man, Frankie Goodson of the Goodson Bus Company did a little repair on the two windshields. Well, actually he replaced them. So, we were able to leave for Roanoke, VA the next morning actually seeing where we were going. I have to back up, though. We didn't have a chance to grab anything to eat between our flights on Saturday, so by the time we arrived in Charlotte we were famished. The driver for the hotel who picked us up at the airport (and who also, incidentally, moonlights as a NASCAR driver; this we deduced from his erratic, FAST driving) told us that the only restaurant open in the vicinity of our lodging was Waffle House. Royce and Dan had never partaken of the delectable offerings of this particular culinary establishment (those words have never before been used to describe Waffle House), so we dropped in for a bite. It had been 11 years since I last visited a Waffle House. I think it was in the fall of 1996 that Matt Barnett and I started going to the Covington, KY Waffle House at like 1:30 AM to watch the comedy provided by all the drunks who stumbled in. Anyway, I digress. For all of my misgivings and smart-aleck comments, this turned out to be a clean, friendly restaurant; a fine example to all other Waffle Houses. However, Waffle House isn't known for their low-fat, no-grease menu items, so by the time we turned in for the night (around 12:30 AM Sunday), we had all that food in our system. Let's just say that influenced the rest of our trip...ahem, Royce.

Anyway, the next morning we hit the road for Copper Hill, VA and had an uneventful trip, other than Royce's shock that the east has mountains too. We got in around 4:45 PM to the concert location, a campground in the middle of nowhere. Lori and I were the song evangelists at this camp back in 2001, so it was nice to get back and see so many of our friends. They have done a lot of work on the campground and it is so much nicer than it used to be, even though I told them that I really missed the bus seats in the back of the tabernacle. There were several churches who were part of the concert. Jeff Keaton, pastor at Roanoke House of Prayer, hosted the concert and did a fantastic job along with all the other pastors of promoting the event. My pastors, Dave and Julia Keep, were formerly the associate pastor at the Roanoke House of Prayer, so everybody wanted to make sure that they said hi. So, Dave and Julia, "Hi from Roanoke."

It was so awesome to see some of our family there. Lori's aunt, Pearl, and cousins Dale, Karen, and Dusty drove down to see us. It was so good to see them again. It had probably been 3 or 4 years since we had last been together. And then, my cousins, Randy and Esther Burton (Esther and I on the left), showed up. They go to Jeff's church in Roanoke (as of last April). I think it had been 17 or 18 years since I had last seen them. I've lost quite a bit of hair since then. Scary.

So many of my friends were at the concert including Troy Keaton, Dan Coy, Ian and Patti, Steve and Dottie Roberson, the Feazells, Steve Parker, Andrew Graham, and a lot of other people that I know I'm forgetting. Unfortunately, I didn't have as much time to spend with them as I would have liked. Dan Coy and Lincoln Bryant, fellow youth pastors, have started a church just for teens. That night over 80 teens showed up for the concert. Awesome! Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera in, so you just have to take my word for it.

Just a great night.