Thursday, August 4th, 2016

First United Methodist Church provided a delicious breakfast of French toast, eggs, and peaches. I am always amazed when people voluntarily get up early enough to feed us. Peggy was so fun and supportive that it was hard to leave this morning. However, we did eventually hit the road.

Today’s ride dedication was requested by Danah Kirsh, a girl in Catherine Schmidt’s sorority. Dana’s aunt, Jackie Riskin, dealt with brain tumors for 18 years, had 3 surgeries, and passed away in April of 2013. She had the biggest heart in the world for all animals. She took in stray cats and made them a beautiful home. She was kind and very dedicated to her work and also had a great appreciation for nature. She searched for her inner peace and freedom in spite of her brain limitations due to her cancer, and she died peacefully in her sleep.

Today was another hot one, but the road conditions were the most difficult part of today. The shoulder and most of the road were very torn up and crazy bumpy. We also encountered 2 miles of gravel. Our hands and shoulders were very thankful to be done when we got to First Lutheran Church in Orland.

We were again provided a delicious dinner and got to shower, which we are always excited about.

We are also having an end of the ride recap meeting tonight. It’s an opportunity to discuss what can be improved about the organization, what we liked, and an overall wrap up of the summer. It’s unbelievable to us all that the time has come to be wrapping things up. I think a lot of us are getting mentally and physically tired, but it’s hard to imagine not being with each other all the time in the future.

I’m thankful to be a part of an organization that hopes to only improve in the future as well as one that allows for such strong bonds to be made. We’re awfully lucky!

DR