After you’ve begun to pray with fellow pilgrims, registered and paid the fee — with a little help from “alms for palms“, if you need it — it’s time for you to request the shuttle to step-off.
What shuttle? What for? When?
The shuttle is a service provided through the charity of the pilgrim-volunteers of the Company of St. René Goupil (CSRG).
But every pilgrim must request it, after registering.
Since all pilgrims need to recover their vehicles at the end of the pilgrimage, or to be shuttled to & from public transportation (PT), each pilgrim needs to plan in advance with the organizers.
Submitting the shuttle request facilitates your transportation Thursday, September 19, from Auriesville (or PT terminal) to Lake George Village, and again Friday morning — if needed, from motel to check-in.
(Pilgrims camping Thursday night need to request the shuttle but only for the Thursday portion of the service, since Friday morning they are already at the step-off point in the Lake George Battleground Campground.)
Here’s how it works, with options for (a.) those driving solo, or (b.) those with passengers or car-pooling, or (c.) those arriving via public transportation:
a.) On Thursday afternoon or evening, drivers only drive solo to the destination-point of the pilgrimage: in this case, to the cafeteria parking lot at the Shrine in Auriesville: and leave their vehicles parked there until Sunday.
Note: as of this writing, organizers are searching for an alternative place to park pilgrims’ vehicles, since overnight parking on the Shrine’s grounds is no longer permitted us.
Notification will be sent to registrants as soon as a solution is found.
The CSRG volunteers then shuttle the drivers to the pilgrimage starting point: whether to a local motel (e.g., Cramer’s Point) or to the Lake George Battleground Campground.
b.) For those pilgrims car-pooling or with passengers, drivers must first drop them and their gear off at the step-off/starting-point of the pilgrimage in Lake George Village, at a motel (e.g., Cramer’s Point) or campground, then drive solo to the Shrine cafeteria lot in Auriesville.
In this case also, the CSRG volunteers shuttle the drivers from end-point back to the pilgrimage starting-point: whether to a local motel (e.g., Cramer’s Point) or to the Lake George Battleground Campground.
c.) For pilgrims flying into Albany International Airport, or arriving by train or bus at the Amtrack or bus terminals in Albany, the shuttle service can be requested to pick-up directly at the terminal.
Are you arriving in the region by PT after 9:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 27, or departing before 7:00 p.m. Sunday, September 30?
If so, you must first e-mail or phone the volunteer in charge of shuttling pilgrims prior to finalizing your flight/train/bus reservations to/from the Albany metro-region. (Find his contact info on this page, in the right margin, under the “Important” notice.)
This year, veteran pilgrim Dennis Mitchell of Bangor, Pennsylvania, is once again heading the CSRG Transportation-Team. He and fellow-pilgrims of the Company need your cooperation, ASAP. Please help them plan the necessary arrangements for hundreds of pilgrims. Please request the shuttle now.
Only after you request the shuttle will you be able to ask Mr. Mitchell questions not already answered in this blog post or on the website.
When you request the shuttle, Mr. Mitchell will automatically send to you an e-mail confirming your request, and you’ll then have his contact info in case you need to ask him a question.
For more information about the shuttle service, see the FAQs.
To ask other pilgrims for rides, to offer a ride to share travel expenses, or to form car-pools, check the Pilgrimage bulletin board and forum at http://pilgrimage.forumotion.com.
