Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Riding in South Carolina on a Missions Trip

On July 20, 2013, Saturday our church youth group, including my two sons, left for South Carolina to participate in a missions work week run by an organization called REACH whose home office is in Colorado.  We stopped in Myrtle Beach to stay in a hotel to split up the 12 hr. drive.  We arrived in South Carolina around noon on Sunday and unloaded all our gear.  We stay in a school in the classrooms on our air mattresses to enjoy a full week of work helping to improve some homes in the area.  Some of the homes take quite a lot of work but it's well worth our effort.

Sunday the adults get paired up and find out their crews and the house we'll work on.  Then later that evening, all the kids find out their crews.  I was very blessed this year with a great group of kids who connected right from the start.  We were told we had 8 people total and my van only holds 7 so another crew was going to have to take one of the kids to and from the work site every day. I started thinking, I'm not going to have much time to ride and train this week because I did take my bike with me.  So - with the approval of the REACH staff, the other adult leader could drive my van and I would ride my bike to and from the site every day.  I was actually excited even though I knew I was going to be hot and tired during the week.  I was looking forward to it!

The ironic part on the first day - I looked at the picture of the house and the address and forgot to take my phone.  While riding trying to find the house, things just didn't seem right several times.  I stopped to asked 2 people for help and the crew passed me in the van and we thought we were on the right track at one point.  However, we found out the address that we were given didn't even exist.  As I was riding on the road that was listed I recognized the house but I kept riding to try and find my crew because I knew they were driving around on the same road.   I found my crew and we got to the house.  I figured out that REACH had transposed the house number by one number and the directions we were given were incorrect so if I hadn't ridden by on my bike and recognized the house from the picture, we wouldn't have found the house.  There's God for you!!  He knew how this needed to be worked out and it got accomplished!!

I ended up riding between 65-70 miles during the week and was thrilled!!  We had a great week and we all got a lot accomplished.  My sons made some great friends and really connected with their crews also.  We're actually talking about making plans for some trips.  It might be hard to fit in with Avery's senior year and Owen turning 16 too but we're going to try.

On our way home, we stopped in Richmond, VA on Saturday, July 27 to break up the 12 hour trip again.  I really needed the break, I was tired.  We returned home on Sunday the 28th at noon, safe and sound and then it was on to laundry and a nice long shower!!!

Monday, July 1, 2013

Headed to Stone Harbor, NJ

Typed on Monday, July 1, 2013

My sons, my father, and I headed out from Lititz, PA for the beach at Stone Harbor, NJ on Saturday, June 29, 2013 at 7:45 am.  The weather was really nice and we plowed through so we could beat the traffic, stopping only to grab breakfast at Subway in Gap, PA.

On the way, after reaching Route 55, we pulled over and I started my bike ride.  My son Avery took over driving the rest of the way. I made really good time while finishing 45 miles into Stone Harbor and reaching the house where we stay.  The weather was a little humid and hot but I felt pretty good.

The weather isn't supposed to be the greatest this week so I'll see what riding I get in.  I did run 2 miles this afternoon in between downpours.