The first few days of this trip have been really great. Myself, Dory, Jan, and David drove the support vehicle from Chicago to New York City. It was a good drive and Jan was SO good at driving through the NYC traffic. I really enjoyed NYC this time around, especially their pizza. I had four huge slices in 2 days (along with 3 doughnuts from the Doughnut Plant). On our event day, the Church of Saint Paul the Apostle hosted a brunch for the team. This was a great way to start the trip because we were able to interact with so many people and even record stories for the Portraits Project. Then we went to a show by The Other Guys and I was able to see Steve Odon, one of my teammates from 2010. Thanks for seeing us off Steve! We left NYC and headed to Hillsboro, New Jersey, and the Thakkars were wonderful hosts. They provided the team with a very delicious dinner and breakfast. Thank you so much, it was great to see you both again and our organization is so grateful for your continued support.As we begin to approach the Appalachain Mountains, I can't help but remember a small (but very powerful) lesson I learned from a 2010 rider named Szymon Sambor. Szymon is a great cyclist and a very strong climber. He loved to take the uphill and would say, "Always take the uphill." In my opinion, this saying can be applied to both this ride and to our lives in the real world. My so-far life experiences have taught me that there are many things in life that are just not worth having if they do not require hard work. So thank you Szymon, those four little words really changed my life. :) And I have started to enjoy climbing. Woah.Thank you to all of my friends and family that have been sending me texts. It means so much to me and makes every morning even brighter! I also promise to write a longer post, but I need to get some sleep!