Ok, the big day is here! I had nightmares that we forgot the bikes again! We check, we think we have everything and we are off and running to get there early. Wow it was a long drive there and lines of vehicles with bikes on the back of them. I have never seen so many people at a bike ride. The riders were divided up by what distance they were riding. Mark was riding in the 1st group riding 90 miles and I was in the group riding 45 miles. Mark was smart and ate in the car. I didn’t feel like eating but should have! After a few short speeches, the riders were off!! It felt good to finally be out of the car and on my bike. We just got my bike shipped back from Hawaii the day before we left for the Ride. I had ridden once in Winston Salem before we left on a group ride and a short ride in Downtown Philly, each about 30 miles. Those were the only rides I had been on before today! Not good training techniques!! So I was really excited and ready to roll. I just wanted to ride as fast as I could. Well I did well until each time we hit a “hill”!!! The first one almost did me in! I did great on the flats and chased a few riders for fun. I would pass people and then hit a hill and it would take me forever to recover! Then all of them would pass me back! I had one “Movember” rider even give me a push up a hill like Mark usually does! Wow did I need it. Thanks Mr. Movember, I think you were our tour guide at the Livestrong Navigation Center!
So I thought I would just skip the first two food stops. I felt good and just wasn’t hungry. Right after the halfway point of the 45 mile ride, I “bonked!” big time. I just pulled over and sat down – too pooped to care. I was just going to rest and then get back on. Mr. Movember saw me and called a sag wagon to come and pick me up and take me to the next food stop. Ok, I finally ate and then after some rest hit the road! My legs felt like they could keep going forever (except on the hills of course), but my upper body and hands were tight and aching. It got to where I had to talk to my bike and legs to keep going up the hills. I just didn’t want to get off and walk. Towards the end I was really ready for it to be over and just tried to push through. I met a lot of nice folks on the ride who were really kind. At the last food stop I heard some guys talking about how it was all up hill the rest of the way back. I talked to a volunteer and asked if that was true, because if it was a sag wagon could just take me in “now”! He said one small hill and the rest was easy going. It was only 6 miles, surely I could make it. Ok after quite a bit of rest and finally using the port o poddy (I hate those things), I got back on the bike and headed for the finish. Finally getting there was great and even hearing my name announced was a surprise. Done – finally! Now the hard part – waiting for Mark. I didn’t really know anyone and was too tired to go visiting, so I just waited. Finally, there he came! Yeahhhh.
He told me he had a great ride and now officially – the Ride for Lilly was over at 2,820 miles. He felt great. He went at his own pace and enjoyed the ride. Quite a number of teams invited him to jump on their pace line, but he declined and just kept steady. He stopped a few times to offer assistance to others and give them encouragement. (That’s my guy!) He got a rose for Lilly as he went through the “survivor” side. Lilly and mom stayed home, because they had really had a long, busy week of activity and had another early morning to get back on the plane to go home. So papa took his Lilly Bug her rose. She loved to pull off the petals one by one. I don’t even know where she learned to do that at such a young age! We sat down to eat and met a young lady that was there alone from Colorado. She was riding in honor of the loss of her father. You go girl! We enjoyed visiting with a lot of people that knew Mark from his Ride Facebook page. Wow, I guess I am going to have to venture out one day to the Facebook world. Be patient, grandma is just too busy for that right now. We took some pictures and said goodbye to our Livestrong contacts.
Tired and ready to go home and still feeling sick with my sinuses. Off we go to enjoy our last night with Lilly and mom, before they fly home and we drive back. We had intended to go the next day to San Antonio and walk down the River Walk. I had never been there and we were so close. Martina even lined us up for a place to stay, but alas. I was really sick and we just ended up skipping it and resting. I had to be up at 2:30 am the next day to take Lilly and Tiff to the airport. Poor babies! After they were gone, I went back and slept for quite awhile. We packed up the vehicle and got ready to leave the next morning. Karen talked me into going to the CVS minute clinic and to get some relief before we headed home. I took her advice. While we were there, I got a call from my mom that she had had a heart attack (but didn’t even know it) and she told us Mark’s mom was not doing well either. So we had to make a detour and go to Oklahoma before heading home.
After a few days with our moms, we drove straight home. A few hours rest, unpacking boxes of our things finally arriving from Hawaii, helping with the grandchildren, getting back to a daily routine and so much more. I have been very delayed in getting all these journals finished and out to all of you. Thank you for your patience, caring, and being part of this very special journey.
Please feel free to contact me and let me know if you would like an email copy of the entire journal, a CD with pictures of the journey, wrist-bands and/or t-shirts. We will be working on goals for next year in several Livestrong Events and working with those of you out there that want to do an event in your city! We send you all lots of hugs and appreciation for all of your support!
Darla Davis
(808) 255-7537
Ok really early morning and it was cold. Today, Lilly wore her very special pink dress that the Starbucks partners/managers in Washington DC bought for her at the Children’s National Hospital in DC. It was pink and silver sparkley and she of course had her special pink crown on (I say special, because she has about 2 dozen of them!) Someone had given her a gift bag at the Starbucks visit on Thursday and thankfully, it had a wonderfully warm blanket in it. This turned out very helpful for today. We headed for the Livestrong 5K Walk and Pedicab Ride. We had a wonderful young man as our Pedicab guy, Rick. Lilly and one guest was supposed to ride in the pedicab, but Rick insisted that he could handle grandma too! He does Iron Man Contests a lot! Ok – poor Rick, but we all enjoyed the ride immensely. Lilly was a crabby patty at first, but who can blame her that early and cold and riding in a “carriage” in the wind! But she waved at folks and doggies and runners. Papa got to ride his bicycle alongside the pedicab. Some of the runners came along and helped give us push up a hill or two and even papa pushed some while riding his bike. J
Once the ride/walk was over we finally got some coffee. Lilly got some yellow roses and petted some doggies. We headed back to guess where – Mellow Johnny’s. Papa just couldn’t get enough of that shop, but it was where the Livestrong activities were too, so we will give him that! Mark and Lilly got to meet and have their pictures taken with Chris Carmichael and Levi Leipheimer. Mark used Chris Carmichael’s book for his training for the ride. When Chris found out what Mark had done and about the Ride, he asked if he could have his picture taken with Mark! Mark of course said “sure”??? My poor husband loves all the connections to bicycling, but he is not much on his being a celebrity. He had so many people come up to him recognizing him from the TV interviews. He was humbled and kind of embarrassed. I kept reminding him that the purpose was for the benefit of the children – so get used to it!
We had some friends drive up from Corpus Christie that we had not seen for a long time. Krissy and Ryan O’Neill, she is like a daughter to us. We went with them to a famous restaurant in Texas called the “The Salt Lick”. We had a good time and the food was great and enjoyed a long overdue visit.
Well, thanks to some very special Starbucks people we qualified to go to the Livestrong Awards Dinner. Thanks go to Charles Sanders III and his partners in Columbia, MD ($2128), Zlata Jentzen and her partners in Savannah, GA ($336), Nicole Lacour and her partners in Broussard, LA ($140), Brent Matl/Doug Dean and partners in Huntsville, TX ($419) and Susan Nunez and her partners in Brenham, TX ($250) along with a number of other individual donors. Thank you one and all! You are all so terrific.
Ok, we get home just in time to get ready and leave for the dinner. I am exhausted and have been sick for a week. Honestly, I physically was not in shape to go, but I had to. Mark wanted me there so badly and everyone had worked so hard for us to get there. So off we go and we meet so many terrific people there. For once, I did not feel like walking around meeting new people (definitely not my usual self.) Poor Mark, he stayed by my side ever kind and faithful. We saw a man and woman and little boy by themselves. So we decided to go over and talk to them. We just didn’t know many people there. Enoc Ishida and Dulce Ramirez, they were so nice and shared with us that they were there on behalf of so many people they were connected to that fought with cancer. Mark met a Livestrong contact named Ashley. She was a survivor and we really enjoyed visiting with her too.
We waved at a few people we had met and then finally sat down at a table at the back. There was only one couple there at the time and we asked about their connection for being there. The guy explained that he had an employee that fought cancer and he was there for her! How great a boss is that! Later another couple joined us and there too were terrific. She was a two-time cancer survivor and we shared some great conversation. She cried and I cried as she explained that she would never be able to have children now, but she asked how could she reach out and help children that were fighting cancer. We gave her some ideas and she was very happy about that and said she planned to try some of them when she went back home. That really made us happy. I told her husband how terrific it was that he stood by her side during her fight, that some people just can’t hang in there and support a mate going through this battle. He said they were only dating when she was diagnosed and he loved her dearly and would always be there. He said some of her friends were there in the early part, but as time went on she really felt alone. That tells me how important it is to keep supporting these people for the long haul, because cancer is not a “short-time” fight!
All I can say is that the speeches from everyone that night were tremendous and had a great effect on us. Lance Armstrong, Doug Ulman and so many others. So many survivors accomplishing wonderful things not just for themselves but especially to help others. Even young teens were tremendous fundraisers! The guy who won the messenger award did it with 2,900 donors and he plans to try to double it next year. Ok, we have our work cut out for us!!! We plan to ride in the Philly and Austin Challenges again next year, but not sure if we can outdo this guy!!! Teamwork that is how it all happens! We will just have to see. Oh yeah, I forgot all about what Doug Ulman did at the dinner. He gave a shout out and acknowedged Mark’s long journey from Philly to Austin on behalf of Childhood Cancer. That really made us happy!
Home for some rest and another early big day tomorrow – the finale – The Austin Challenge and Mark’s final mileage to add to the Ride for Lilly!
Off to the Starbucks and Dell Children’s Medical Center. Lilly wore her special pink dress that Nicole from Broussard, LA had gotten for her. She looked beautiful! Wow those Starbucks managers did a fantastic job with the gift bags. They came with us to the hospital and stayed for the tour. We met the Child Life Specialist, Marcella Maxwell and she took us to a small amphitheater where they have shows for the children. We waited for our tour guide, Mr. Ray Blue. Guess where his family is from??? Kernersville, NC!!! Unbelievable. His sister comes into the Starbucks in Kernersville all the time and Mark knew who she was and what her drink was!!! J His dad used to work for Parks Chevrolet (our Vehicle Sponsor for the Ride)! Wow what a small world. He wasn’t even supposed to be our guide, but somehow things worked out that he was. We had so many things happen like that you would not believe it! We also later on had Liz Williams and Cindy Fitchpatrick join us.
We had the most wonderful tour of their hospital and were so very impressed by all the efforts that went into building it. They are the first hospital in the world to achieve Platinum Status under the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) program sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council. A stroll through Dell Children’s has been described by design specialists as “breathtaking.” It features: a three-acre, multi-level Healing Garden complete with a labyrinth, human sundial, reflecting pond and bridge; a plethora of art from both local and global artists, chosen more for the collection’s clinical healing power than for simple aesthetics; and courtyards and gardens that represent each of the seven eco-systems, each corresponding to a distinct area of the 46-county Central Texas region that Dell Children’s serves. They had so many terrific things there to help the children understand the procedures that they would be going through – even a little play MRI area. We heard stories like one of their top leading physicians came in person to that play room and explained the procedure to the child. The artwork all through the building was totally amazing.
Well, half of the gifts were for the hospital and half for the clinic on the other side. So Tiffany and Mark went to the clinic side while Miss Lilly and grandma went to a special room where a “Therapy Doggie Costume Show” was being held. It was totally amazing and fun. The kids were served popcorn (which Lilly totally adores) and she lovesssss doggies! The owners and their dogs were in costume and did a fashion show to music. It was the most fun.
Mark and Tiffany met a special young boy named Wadi while on the clinic side. He told his mom he recognized Mark from the TV interview and wanted to speak with him and get his picture with him. Mark was very, very touched and talked with the young boy for some time. Tiffany really enjoyed connecting with the clinic staff and the families there.
Also the Spanish Univision TV station was there again not only for the fashion show, but to do a special interview with our whole family. Tiffany was nervous afraid that her Spanish was not good enough to hear on television. She did great. The reporter had Mark share his story and then she translated it for their viewers. Lilly too was on TV again this time. Ellen Decareau from the Hospital Public Relations Department was present for the interview and she and Mark shared some time discussing Children’s Cancer.
After the hospital visit was over, guess where we headed back to again? You got it – Mellow Johnny’s and the Livestrong area around it. Lilly had her picture taken so many times and made lots of new friends. Tiffany wanted to get a few souvenirs too and asked Lilly to hold her hand (the place was packed with people). Lilly asked her mom – “Why there are no cars in here?” That girl makes us laugh so many times a day! There were lots of kids outside volunteering to help hand out registration packets. While they were sitting down on the sidewalk for lunch, Lilly went over found her a nice pretty young girl and proceeded to share her lunch with her! Then she didn’t want the girl to leave. What are you going to do – huh? She also made friends inside Mellow Johnny’s with the salesman who waited on us. Guess what his name was? “Mark” Soueidi and we got a picture with him and Lilly! She said hello to him each day that we visited.
We got to go to the open house for the new Livestrong Navigation Center that just opened this year in March. It was truly amazing. You will just have to see the pictures on this one! We just were all so very touched. Tiffany could not express her feelings. We were there because of Lilly and so many other children and her heart was hurting. Mark too was emotional with all we saw from the artwork, to the stories, to the design of the building, to the activities that they do to help so many people fight cancer. I was holding Lilly, she had just had enough and slept through the whole tour. Finally, my back gave out and I passed her to Mark. She finally woke up when we were outside the building.
We got a call from someone we met in Philly, Norm and Cindy Walker. They invited us to meet with a group of Livestrong folks for dinner at a special BBQ place. We finally got there and had a great visit with them as well as enjoyed the food. We were sitting on the deck outside and watching a very large group of bicycle riders out on a “night” ride! Lilly played with everyone there (she was the only little one!) Mark met some terrific people that invited us to connect with them on our future endeavors. So many stories of people who have fought and won and some about those who fought and “ran out of time” as Lance Armstrong puts it!
Finally, we are headed for the airport and we get a call from TV Station KXAN NBC Channel 36. They want to meet us at the airport and do an interview with Mark and to catch us greeting Lilly and mom at the airport. Yeah – more media for all the children “not just Lilly”! He was terrific and we even got a picture of him with Lilly! We met a few people outside that worked for the airport and wanted to know if Mark was the guy they had seen on the news. They wanted their boss to meet him and shared with us some of their stories about cancer. Lilly (her usual friendly self) went and sat down by a stranger and just started talking. She is so unbelievably cute. (Am I that prejudiced???)
Ok – we had to go and visit the famous bike shop in Austin owned by Lance Armstrong “Mellow Johnny’s”. Papa was finally going to get to go shopping a little as a reward for all his hard work. The store was amazing and basically a bicycle history museum. We got lots of good pictures. Tiffany and Lilly were so hungry (they got up at 2:30 am to go to the airport that day) that Tiffany ate a cliff bar (peanut butter and jelly) and Lilly got some “jellies” (whoops – caffeine loaded!!!). After a bit we finally went to get a nice local meal at the famous Chuy’s restaurant. It was really good.
After that we all went to the Starbucks to meet the partners and managers who wanted to welcome Lilly. Two of them spent quite a bit of time playing around with Lilly and really made her laugh a lot. Lexi Bateman was the store manager at I-35 & 51st who set up the visit. Tanya Sumpter and Tasha were two managers in charge of collecting and putting together the gift bags for the hospital. They worked very hard and tirelessly – doing a great job! Someone even donated a plastic desk and chair for the hospital. How terrific! We took some pictures and visited with some of the customers. One in particular was Jason Ford. He was another Warmshowers.com host that had offered us a place to stay as well. He rode his bike to the Starbucks so that he could meet Lilly and Mark and all of us. What a terrific guy.
We finally headed for our host home and Lilly and Tiffany got to meet Armand, Karen and Dominic. As I said before, she really fell in love with him. He was a big yellow lab looking dog. On Wednesday, he had kind of jumped on us a bit and Armand was worried that he would do that to Lilly. But no worries – that dog was so very gentle with her it was unbelievable. She had her arm around his neck almost the entire time. We had a nice evening and tried to rest before the hospital visit the next day. It had been a very long day for Miss Lilly and mom.
We go visit our next Warmshowers.com host (Armand and Karen Gonsoulin) in the Anderson Mill area of Austin to download the back of the vehicle so that we can pick up Tiffany and Lilly the next day at the airport. What a wonderful couple we had the privilege of getting to spend time with. They are totally amazing. Karen is a Breast Cancer Survivor and a retired school teacher. Armand is a retired salesman and a wonderful person. They both enjoy taking very long bike treks including the Livestrong Ride the Ragbrai in Iowa. They have a wonderful dog named Dominic who Lilly fell in love with. So we drop off most of our things and then head back to our other host home for the night. We stopped by a bike shop so Mark could get his wheels trued and stopped for a nice burger meal. The bike shop was great and didn’t even charge Mark. Great folks! Had to stop by the laundrymat on the way! It has been too many years since I have done that! I didn’t realize you could put more than one load in the unit. Ughhh. Oh well, one more night and we finally get to see and hug Lilly (and her mom – Tiff)!
Awww finally, our destination – Austin! We can’t believe that we finally made it. I had several calls from the media wanting to meet us as we entered Austin to do an interview. We finally made arrangements to meet in a local park where Mark would ride into Austin. Two TV stations came out – Keye TV CBS, Channel 42 and KAKW/KTFO – Univision (Spanish Station) and interviewed Mark as he finished the Ride for Lilly entering Austin. He focused his remarks on the children fighting Childhood Cancer not on himself. I was really proud of his accomplishment. I can’t imagine the physical endurance his body went through to complete this journey, but was really proud of his determination to complete it no matter what. It also took a lot of mental determination, being alone day after day on the road pushing his body to keep going on behalf of these children. He felt that they go through a lot more than he did by their day to day battle with cancer and he just wanted to honor them and help people become aware of their fight.
Ok – we are here! Now we have a host from Warmshowers.com (a group of online bicyclists that will host other bicyclists passing through their towns). We had become reliant on our GPS and it froze up! Great how do we find our host for the next few days now! We finally found a Starbucks and he got online and figured out how to reset it! Yeahhhh. The Starbucks was right down the street from Dell Children’s Medical Center that we would be visiting on Friday, October 14. So off we go to finally rest at the home of Brent and Martina Clifton. What a terrific young couple! They are in their first year of marriage and full of smiles and happiness. They both enjoy bicycling and Martina bikes to work. She made us the most wonderful meal of stuffed acorn squash! I had to get that recipe it was terrific. We enjoyed getting to know them a bit in our short two days with them and found out that Martina had went on a special bike trip in college on behalf of cancer. Amazing how many connect the dots we made along the way.
The GPS is working and now after all this time our camera quits! We are at the finishing highlight of our trip and no camera! Ughhhh. So we had to rely on phone pictures. Not too bad, but mine new phone gave me a bit of trouble so most of the pictures were on Mark and Tiffany’s phone! I still have to work on organizing the rest of our photos and get those up for all of you! Be patient – grandma is still tired!
One day away from Austin! Another Starbucks store and another great bunch of partners. A warm welcome by Susan Nunez the manager with a special cake just for Lilly! She also helped us get a 50% off rate at the local Best Western Hotel. Thanks Susan! Wow Texas you guys are terrific. They too worked really hard to help us reach our goal for Livestrong so we could attend the Awards Fundraising dinner. We are so thankful for people who care and want to help these children and their families. The manager asked us to bring Lilly back some day as so many stores did along the way! Lilly on tour – who knows. That girl has some kind of future ahead we hope!
Mark rode to Navasota and then we went to a Starbucks in Bryan. The manager, Karen Peterson, was a single parent who waited for us with her children. They had found a cute yellow piggy bank and painted it with Lilly’s name and a Starbucks apron on it. The partners welcomed us with balloons and signs and we enjoyed again sharing a cake with the customers and partners. We met some nice families in the store and enjoyed working there for awhile. We finally found a hotel and spent the weekend. Lots of rain so we couldn’t camp out as planned. Oh well, we just ate very inexpensively and enjoyed the room. Ok the press release gets sent out and now we wonder what the response will be!
Mark had a tough day and really felt like quitting. Life on the road had been rough on us lately, but he didn’t. We both were emotional with the long haul and so many things along the way and missing our family too. After finding the “sign” for Pumpkin, we drove to Huntsville for one of the best Starbucks visits we had. (Evidently, not too much is required to be called a “town”! I am telling you that rural America is alive and well!!!!) Huntsville Starbucks partners were tremendous. The store windows were all decorated; balloons everywhere, and they had a cake for us to share with the customers and a even a cute black piggy bank inside. Posters and signs and partners/managers greeting us. It was amazing! A partner named Joe had found us a place to stay for free and they were just so very heart-warming to us. We cannot express how much it meant all their hospitality and greetings meant to us on that day! Mark had a media interview while there too.
Doug Dean had been our contact and had contacted other managers and stores to support us on our journey ahead. Doug made us homemade lasagna, his wife put together a wonderful goodie bag for the road, someone made us homemade peach cobbler and the apartment we stayed at was terrific. He and Brent the manager and all the partners really made Texas look great to us! Thanks Brent, Doug, Joe and all the wonderful Starbucks Partners in Huntsville. They also were really working hard to help us reach our goal of being at the Livestrong Awards Dinner! I finally sent off my Austin press release to Seattle for review and after a few minor changes it was approved. Yeah!
Wow this was an interesting spot. No signs of a town at all. Again hard to find a place to wait, so on a side dirt road I waited for Mark. Lots of big trucks going by at high rates of speed. More worry about Mark’s safety! No phone signal again. Lots of waiting! Thank goodness for the radio! On to Beaumont to the Starbucks and a very kind manager, Sandi Taylor, who took us home with her for the night and fed us pizza. Thank you Sandi! We have left behind so many things on this trip it seems unreal. This day, we left her home and went to the Starbucks to get our poster boards. Guess what we forgot? Mark’s bike! So we had to inconvenience her to go back home so we could get the bike. Are you getting the picture yet how tired we are? J Still, I left behind a notebook afterall that had pictures in it, so she had to put it in the mail! Thanks for helping two old people who keep forgetting things! Lots of stress, while I try to redo our press release to send to the media in Austin!
Mark crossed the border into Texas and we got some nice shots by the state sign. A very busy highway and high speed limits! I was very worried about Mark being safe. Even on the back two-lane roads, the speed limits were high (65-70 mph) and no shoulders. I was really glad when he finally arrived safely. I had found the local library so I could charge my phone and computer and work. I had no phone signal, so Mark could not reach me and didn’t know where I was. He was worried and going to call the police! I left the library and got his text so finally reached him! J
We headed to Jasper to spend the night and a very nice girl at the Walmart really providing above the board customer service, even with finding a nice clean local hotel. I just had to take the time to call her manager and explain how much her extra efforts meant to me after such an emotional previous day. They are supposed to give her an award. The hotel was nice and clean and we rested after a meal, too tired to do laundry today!
Last day in Louisiana! It was hard to find a place to stop and wait for Mark, so I pulled into a driveway off the main highway. A lady came out and asked if I was ok or needed help. She was so sweet. I explained I just needed to wait for my husband on his bike and couldn’t find anywhere else. She didn’t mind and I truly appreciated her kindness. Another caring Starbucks manager provided us a room from afar. Thank you
David Schrek! We had some difficulties today when we stopped for gas. We found a problem had occurred on our account and had a lengthy and emotional time figuring out what happened. Unfortunately, a company mistakenly took out of our account their entire balance instead of our normal monthly payment. We were so thankful that Mark’s sister helped us out while it took quite a number of days to get things resolved, so we could keep going on the ride. Although, many people back home especially helped with fundraisers to financially be able to do the ride, we covered a great deal from our own pockets and this situation made things very difficult. Thankfully, we were able to keep going!
Another day on the country roads of Louisiana and then we are off to the Starbucks in Broussard. The manager, Nicole Lacour, had worked so hard to help us connect with others in her state prior to arrival, so although we were super tired we just had to go and meet her and her partners. She was so terrific and has a little girl of her own that had health problems that gave her many challenges. I think her little girl, Mackenzie and Lilly will be “pen/skype pals”! Nicole and I are supposed to skype so they can meet face to face when we get home. Nicole had bought Lilly a beautiful pink dress and headband and made her a bracelet, as well as the cutest pillow pet puppy (New Orleans Saints!) Another manager brought boxes of gifts for the hospital gift bags. Nicole even went and bought us dinner and came and sat down with us to eat while we worked on our computers. She is a super trooper and we are very grateful to her for all her kindness to us.
We all watched a video that some of the parents of our chain of children had made to honor them and we all cried. It was so amazing to see all their faces and remember those that have left us and to see how much still needs to be done to help those still fighting. Only 3% of all monies for cancer research goes to pediatric cancer (all kinds of children’s cancers)! Unbelievable! There are so many families also need support while they are going through treatment. So please, find a way – reach out and help. Visit our website and download the “How Can I Help?” document.
I waited in a nice very small town for Mark to finish his ride for the day, working on reorganizing all the load in the back of the vehicle. He finally arrived very tired from the day’s ride. We headed for our hotel in Lafayette for the weekend. October 2, Livestrong asked everyone to wear yellow! So we had to go get some supplies and I got a yellow shirt to wear the next day. We found a nice bike shop too in town and the other half of the building was a baby/children’s shop. So I finally got to buy a few things for our two new grandsons, Dylan and Maddox, who were born in September while we were on this journey. I should be able to finally get my hands on those two by the end of November. A long time for a grandma to wait! We were really tired and tried to spend some time getting some rest for the next week.
Another day on the road for Mark and me in the car battling the bugs and how long my laptop battery will last and if I have a signal to use my phone. We arrive for the night in Baton Rouge at the Starbucks. There was such a warm greeting. They had a table reserved for us to sit and work on our computers and to be available for those customers who wanted to know what we were doing. Jennifer Hicks and Beau Braud were terrific. They had printed things for people to read from our information packets, gave us refreshments as so many did along the way, encouraged us with their smiles and listening ears, shared their stories of life and experiences, and again provided a terrific place to lay our heads for the night.
We heard about a young boy named Kyle Hicks who had been fighting a battle all his life. His battle was not with cancer but something just as frightening. Please take time to go to his website and share his story and see how he too has displayed courage in his battle. It is worth taking the time! <http://www.cotaforkyleh.com> www.cotaforkyleh.com<http://www.cotaforkyleh.com
We met some very nice customers while there. Ricky Pampo was one of them and he works in fitness and nutrition in the hospital and even runs “100-mile” races!!!! We were so amazed. I had heard of those long distances “on horseback” but not by people. What endurance and amazing mental and physical determination he had. His girlfriend, Candace was there and she was working on completing a book that she was writing. One for young people that helps them feel empowered and overcome things in their lives. People are so amazing for the choices they make in their lives and many do so to help others. It is heart-warming to meet these kind of people.
