Hours before sunrise Sunday, 23 people loaded themselves into two vans on Blanco Road for a 250-mile road trip to celebrate Mother's Day with their loved ones. Destination: The Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Huntsville. Their loved ones are convicted felons behind prison bars: fathers, husbands and sons.

"I didn't get to see him on Christmas," said 73-year-old Andrea, whose son  is nearing the end of a three-year sentence. She declined to provide her full name. "Holidays are hard. Today is special for me and him, but more for  him, I think." Family members are permitted a two-hour visit, but first they have to get there.

"I'm reconnecting them with their loved ones," said the driver of one of  the vans, Rose Mendez-Rodriguez. "It's a family affair on both sides."  Mendez-Rodriguez, 41, started her San Antonio-based business, called PAL Shuttle, a year ago. She said she wanted to provide a convenient and inexpensive way for family and friends to visit inmates.  She and her mother, Flora, drive San Antonio residents to almost 20 other cities where prisons are located, including Beeville and Hondo. Round trip tickets for adults start at $30, depending on destination. "I can't even imagine what the victims go through, but I feel bad for the families of the inmates, because they are innocent, too," Mendez-Rodriguez said. "I wanted a business I could benefit from, and I wanted other people  to benefit as well."

Some aspects of the job are rough. "I've heard the most heartbreaking stories," she said. "Believe me, I've  done a lot of crying since I've opened my business." On the highway to Huntsville, the vans held a wide range of emotions. Some passengers wept. Some slept. Some primped and some sat anxiously.

Jewel McKane, 54, sat quietly in the back row. She described her relationship with her son as "just like friends," tears welling up in her eyes. "We talk about everything: what he wants to do when he gets out, how his cousins are doing in sports." McKane said her son has sent her a gift from prison every Mother's Day for  11 years. He will be eligible for parole at the end of this year.

Margarit Martinez, 87, and her 91-year-old husband, Jose, had not seen  their son, Rudolfo, in about five months. "As a mother (of four), I wonder why did one go one way and another go another way," said Martinez, whose son has been in prison since 1997. "I cry every day for him." In Huntsville, the Martinez couple was denied visitation with their son because of scheduling conflicts. Margarit Martinez said they simply waved  to Rodolfo through a doorway, and he blew them a kiss.

Another mother, Alice Trujillo, 51, returned from her visit with a huge  smile on her face. She shared a photo that a guard had taken of her with her son and baby granddaughter.

A woman named Cervantez, 62, who is raising her son's four children while  he serves a life sentence for a double murder, asked that her full name not be used. "Today, I feel like he made my Mother's Day," she said. "We just talked. It was a good visit.  "The hardest part is leaving him there."

Editors Note:  For information on "PAL Shuttle" write to Rose Mendez-Rodriguez at 3505 Blanco Road,  San Antonio, TX 78212 or call (210) 735-7725. Another group doing similar trips is "Mothers Loving Mothers Through Thick and Thin" prison ministry (Evangelist Gladys Brown) at (210) 623-6631.