Lodi to Louisiana in 39 hours

After driving for 39 hours straight from Lodi to Slidell, La., Rick Nelson and David Abood unloaded a truck load of contributions for Hurricane Katrina victims by themselves. (Courtesy photo)

Lodi to Louisiana in 39 hours

Lockeford resident, friend truck supplies to adopted city of Slidell

By Ross Farrow
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Tuesday, December 13, 2005 6:50 AM PST

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Lockeford's Rick Nelson had a week's vacation from his job, so he volunteered to drive a donated U-Haul truck filled with life's most basic necessities from Lodi to Slidell, La. — 2,280 miles. He and his friend, David Abood, took only 39 hours to get to the city, located about 30 miles northeast of New Orleans.

Nelson, 39, desperately wanted to do his part to bring much-needed supplies to the Gulf Coast after the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina.

So the request from his church, Lodi's Heartland Community, couldn't have come at a better time.

Church members had learned that Lodi Adopt-a-Child collected literally a truckload of toys and clothes, and contributed them to the Lodi Disaster Recovery Coalition, a group of concerned church leaders and other residents who want to help victims from Hurricane Katrina.

Heartland, which has already sent about two dozen people to Slidell, added 20 gallons of bleach and some gloves and off Nelson and Abood went.

Abood declined to be interviewed for the story.

"You've got kids without jackets and no toys for Christmas," Nelson said, explaining why he felt the need to truck the supplies to Louisiana, no matter what the hardship.

When his wife couldn't get time off from her job to join him, he was resigned to going the entire distance himself. At the last minute, Abood agreed to join him, allowing someone to be driving at all times while the other slept.

The entire trip seemed like a blur to them.

They weren't there to enjoy the Painted Desert and cactus-laden mountains of Arizona and New Mexico. Their mission was to get to Louisiana as soon as possible — turn around and go home.

They left the Heartland parking lot on Cherokee Lane at 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 1.

Nelson took the wheel, but was dead tired. He just got off graveyard shift at 6 a.m., got home by 6:30 and slept for 30 to 45 minutes before getting ready to drive to Louisiana. Abood didn't know any of that until they stopped for lunch in the Fresno County town of Selma.

"I'm driving from here," Abood firmly told Nelson.

And, Abood didn't let go of the wheel, driving from Selma without stopping until he drove just across the Arizona-New Mexico border at 2:30 a.m. on Dec. 2.

One reason they didn't enjoy the Southwest is it was dark as they drove through it. The sun set near Blythe, and rose the next day near El Paso, Texas.

So all they really got to see was the desolate area of west Texas. It became dark again just before they arrived in Houston.

Since the U-Haul only got six miles per gallon, they had to stop for gas every 300 to 350 miles. That was their only time to stretch and relax.

(By the way, the cheapest gasoline they found was $1.92 per gallon just outside Houston, Nelson said.)

They arrived at their destination, Joy Fellowship in Slidell, at 2:30 a.m. Dec. 3, 24 hours after reaching the Arizona-New Mexico border.

Despite the early morning hour, Nelson and Abood had hoped to see a proverbial welcome wagon when they arrived at Joy Fellowship, the church in Slidell that was to receive the donated items. As it turned out, workers and volunteers at Joy Fellowship were given the day off, their first in three weeks.

So Nelson and Abood were unexpectedly on their own.

They could have called it a night, but no, they chose to empty the rented truck, which took another 90 minutes. It was in the mid-70s, but it was very humid in Slidell, Nelson recalled.

He and Abood put the boxed items from their truck on pallets to protect the clothes and toys in case it rained.

They then placed seven pallets inside a red-and-white tent filled with supplies. Nelson estimated the tent to be about 30 feet deep and 60 to 80 feet wide.

But those seven pallets represented only half of what they brought on the truck. So they got a forklift and put the remaining items in the church parking lot, Nelson said.

Then they slept more than six hours in the travel trailer, waking up at 10:30 a.m.

Even though it was a day of rest for people at the church, a few trickled by during the day. They met a 78-year-old woman who sold houses in Porterville, in the southern San Joaquin Valley in California, and moved to Slidell to help in the relief effort. She cooked all the meals for volunteers, a welcome sight for Lodi's weary drivers.

When the sun came up, Nelson and Abood saw garbage filled with the stench of mold and mildew that remained in the front yards, tarps on many rooftops and soaking wet sheetrock.

"Even three months later, I saw a lot of devastation," Nelson said of the August tragedy. "You see it on TV, but it doesn't affect you the same."

It was a mere 13 hours before Nelson and Abood left Slidell for the return drive home to Lodi.

But first, they had to make a slight detour — 30 miles to New Orleans, visit a Harley-Davidson dealership they heard was open and pick up some souvenir T-shirts saying "Harley of New Orleans."

Nelson and Abood got T-shirts for themselves, Nelson got one for his wife and Abood bought one for his girlfriend.

The entire experience — brief as it was — left them no longer taking their good fortune for granted.

"I'll never come home again and expect my house to be there," Nelson said. "It could be gone any time."

And, he's ready to go back.

"I have vacation coming up at beginning of April. If the (Lodi Disaster) coalition still needs someone to drive back there, I'll do it. It's something I won't forget for a long time."

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.

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