Here are some photos from our stops through the states…

Day 16- Saturday-Thankful to have Tom Cavanagh and his daughter Caroline with us for this weekend. It’s been great having Tom here, and nice to get to know Caroline too.

Day 17- Sunday- This morning I was greatful for a supurb shower. I couldn’t remember the last one I had taken, it had been a day or two. I’m sure the rest of the team was thankful I had the shower too.  Tonight I am thankful for the hospitality we have experienced here at the Community Advent Christian Church in Norwalk, CT. Pastor Bob & Brenda along with Chris & Karen made our evening here a great one!

Sorry we haven’t been able to blog the past couple of nights. Hopefully tonight we can have time to catch up. There was poor celluar coverage at the campground the night before last. Then, last night, it was a late night as they cyclists ended at the Staten Island Ferry, then jumped in the van for an hour ride back to our hotel (the closest we could find with availability). As I write they are on the ferry and ready for their ride through NYC.  Thanks for your prayers. It’s hard to believe we finish a week from today!

I would think it would be easy to sit and jot a note each night, but it seems that there is a neverending list of things to be done.  So, here I am catching up on my thankfulness list…

Day 14- Wednesday- I’m thankful we no longer need to run the airconditioner. Our rainforest kitchen has finally dried out. I’m also still thankful for the fun time we had with the Gandee’s. The kids are still talking about Coco.

Day 15- Thursday – I am thankful for water. Clean water to drink and wash with. When you either have to go without this basic of life, or consider that you may have to go without it for awhile, it makes one very grateful for it. I’m not sure what happened, but our clean water ran out on the motor home today. Then when we arrived at the state park for the night it was one that doesn’t have a water hook up at each site…. so for a period of time we were without water. I’m thankful for water.

Today- Day 16, Friday.  I am thankful for the beauty of God’s creation, both in nature and in people. Last night’s campsite on the beach with the wild horses was beautiful. We had a great campfire with s’mores as we enjoyed the cooler weather.   When we went shopping  yesterday Rita was having the kids smile at everyone they saw in the store to see who would smile back.  That’s how we met Suzie. Rita struck up a conversation with her and learned a lot about her in two minutes. By the end of the conversation Rita let her adopt us as  grandchildren and great grandchildren. God has allowed us to meet some really nice people on this trip.

Eagle eye Dave spotted $11 on the ground as we left the state park this morning. It was another day of headwinds but maybe I’m getting used to it. It didn’t seem quite as bad. The shoulders were generally pretty nice which helped. I’m especially happy when there aren’t rumble strips (Kristi told me that’s what they’re called). When we have those, we have to decide whether to ride between them and traffic or on a narrow strip between them and falling off the road. It’s a horrible decision to have to make.

We made it to Maryland. I’m excited we’re staying at Assateague State Park tonight. It’s on the ocean and it’s the home of wild horses! (Picture above taken tonight.) I’d love to come here again when I can spend more time enjoying it. We’ve got lots of mosquitoes again though. While we were riding along state route 13 in Virginia today it was such a blessing when a fellow cyclist drove onto the shoulder and stopped us. His name was Mike and he wanted to find out about our ride and share about some other beautiful rides in Virginia. It was so encouraging! Thanks Mike! Rita wants me to add. . . we stopped at a farm stand and met Michael who had served in the army and is now enjoying working at the roadside stand. He gave some of the group free apples. The temperature has been pretty nice – high seventies.

Our Ministry of the Day is the Lincoln Heights Tutorial Program in Los Angeles. This is an amazing ministry reaching hundreds of youth. To find out more please visit: www.lhtp.org.

 I have interesting tans lines now. . . these are my cycling glove tan lines.

I’m so thankful for the time we spent with the Gandee’s. They have known me since I was a kid and they seem like family. To be affectionately called by nicknames and talk about family stories did my heart good. Their home is so beautiful and peaceful. I had a wonderful shower, a great night sleep and the food and conversation was such a blessing. It would be great to be there anytime but it was especially great after a hard day of riding and a very rustic night of camping the night before. This morning it was hard to leave. I wanted to stay there. Josh expressed this too. He loved Coco the golden retriever and was expressing to Kristi a desire to move in.

For me to move on, I had to trust. I’d like to hold onto the things that bring me comfort and meet my needs but I know it’s best to keep open hands. I’m so thankful for sweet family friends and a beautiful place to rest and I was able to leave trusting that God will provide what I need for the rest of the journey. I’ve definitely needed a lot of strength and endurance lately. . .

The guys seem to fair a bit better than me or maybe they’re just not as expressive about the pain. Yesterday was very hard for me. Actually today was hard too but I had a nice break because we rode in the van across the Chesapeake Bay. Actually every day I wake up and think, “How am I going to make it today?” Somehow I make it though so thanks for all your prayers and support. The head winds have made riding extra difficult. It’s hard enough just being in
the saddle all day but when you feel like you’re in a fight with the wind it’s tough physically and mentally. One of the ways I cope with the pain in my seat and shoulder is shifting around as often as possible but this is hard to do
when I’m fighting the wind. At one point today, I realized how thankful I am to only deal with the wind though (for most of the day). It’s really bad to fight a head wind going uphill on a bad road surface with lots of traffic!

One of my favorite parts of the day is when Kristi, Josh, and Katie ride with us. They started riding from the Gandee’s house this morning and Coco the dog followed us as long as he could. In fact Tom had to get in his car and track us down in order to get Coco turned around and headed back home. I love to ride behind Josh. He always has such great comments and observations and he makes the ride more delightful. He’s amazing for a 6 year old. He can pull a water bottle out of the pocket in the back of his cycling jersey and take a drink while still riding. He loves to ride. I can imagine asking him for his autograph someday after he’s in the Tour de France or something.

When I found the huge brown spider in the shower tonight I realized I can be thankful that I’m usually the only one in the bathroom so all I had to do was move to one of the other 3 shower stalls. We’re at a beautiful State Park. Craig was encouraging us to hike around and see some stuff but it was all I could do to walk thru the woods to my tent tonight. I’m thankful tomorrow is September- only 11 more riding days!:)

From Dave:

It was hard to leave the Gandee’s this morning! They were so
good to us by providing meals and places for us to sleep in their beautiful
home. Shortly after lunch today we crossed into our 5^th state: Virginia.
The winds have not been favorable the last few days but we’ve still managed to
get the miles in and arrive at camp at a reasonable time. We weren’t allowed to
ride our bikes on the Chesapeake Bay bridge so we had to load them up and drive
across the 22 miles of bridges and tunnels. The days are cooler now. In fact,
we put on sweatshirts tonight after dinner. We are thankful for fewer bugs too.
I’m looking forward to going to Maryland tomorrow and having Tom Cavanagh join
us!

We rode 86.51 miles today.

Kristi writing for all: It was a rainy night in North Carolina.  It was actually a thunderstorm, memorable for the ones in tents. We were thankful that the White Oak Campground opened up just for us. We had a bit of a time finding a place to stay last night because of hurricane damage. This morning the riders hopped in the van at 6:30 AM to move to their ending point from the previous day.  We saw a lot of damage from Irene today with trees down and a lot of utility trucks fixing down wires. Robin Tobbins from the Jamesville volunteer fire department welcomed the team to Jamesville. She offered water and MRE (Meals Ready to Eat), but we already had a meal ready in the motor home and lots of water, just no ice. There was no ice to be found anywhere.  We rode by the Jamesville Christian church today that burned down three days before the hurricane. Pray for them. We parked next to McDonalds, and were served up Egg McRita’s.  The head winds today would have liked to have killed Jody. The head wind was notible for almost every mile of the day creating a harder day for the riders. Josh, Katie, and Kristi were able to ride 10 miles…pushing through the wind.  Our rest stop for the night is the best yet… we are grateful to our hosts Tom & Cindy Gandee who have welcomed us into their home tonight. It is a beautiful and relaxing spot to end the day. Their hospitality has been outstanding. Josh and Katie have especially enjoyed the play house and Coco the Golden Retriever.  It was nice to meet Tray tonight. We look forward to seeing the photos you took! We are happy and blessed tonight.  Kristi is thankful for this great place to rest tonight!

Ministry of the day: Josh Libby is riding for Gabriel House, a special needs orphanage in Mexico. Here’s a link to a recent video from the Gabriel House. Thank you to Matthew Quinn Nelson for doing the video.

The morning was cool and foggy as we awoke to mount our bikes. Shortly after embarking we stopped to take a photo of the Blake’s Chapel Advent Christian Church sign. Our morning breakfast stop at the 30 mile mark was at Folkstone Original Free Will Baptist Church. Thank you to Deacon Mike who was very gracious in allowing us to use their shady parking lot and the rest rooms. It was a great spot- thank you!  From breakfast Kristi, Josh & Katie rode for 12 miles. When I just told Josh that people were giving “him” money for biking he said, “Oh no, I don’t need that.” Then I explained people were giving money to the Gabriel House because he is riding the bike. He said, “Oh, good!”.  There was a bit of a headwind, but it felt good to ride. We spent a fair amount of time at breakfast trying to locate a spot to settle down for the night. The KOA where we had planned to stay, is closed because of the storm.  Rev. Paul Dean met up with us and was instrumental in helping us navigate through Jacksonville, getting groceries, and in locating our home for the night-  Thank you Paul! We had a quick lunch here at the camp ground, then the cyclists went for another 36  miles to reach the 1,000 mile mark by the end of the day.

The highlighted ministry of the day is one of the ones which Dave Crimi is riding for: 99 plus 1 ministry. You can find out more about them at www.99plus1.org.

Day 11 Yesterday, I was thankful for a pool to cool off in at the campground and a cool night for a good nights sleep. I was also thankful for an easy and fun 20 mile ride.

Day 12- today I am thankful for Christopher, who got the mouse out of the shower for me, so Katie & I could take a shower. Okay…so I called it a rat, but I guess it was just a “little field mouse.”