First I want to apologize to everyone that has been keeping up with my blog. It's been about three or four days since my last post and I'm sorry. We haven't had access to the wireless internet like we anticipated and therefore I haven't been able to update in a few days. I'll make sure this post is extra long so that I can include everything.
So on Thursday we had our first day on the road. We were only going about 40 miles from Seattle to Enumclaw, Washington. It was a relatively easy ride for the cyclists and they were able to make it there with only one or two flat tires and few turns as well. Once we arrived in Enumclaw we made our way inside and the cyclists began to unpack for the night and get accustomed to the place as it was our first place of lodging for the summer. Some of us took a cat nap before we got up to get ready for our first friendship visit on the road. We went to this place called the Ashley House which is sort of like a chain in Washington. At the Ashley House they take in children that suffer from a disability or that sustain extreme trauma in their early years. The house is set up with each child having their own room and they have a special group of workers that help out with each individual child. The downstairs is all of the bedrooms and the upstairs is offices and bedrooms for parents if they want to come stay. The house is designed so that the children living there have the absolute best opportunity to live normal lives. The rooms we saw were really decorated and FULL of personality. Once we arrived we played with the kids and got to know them a little bit and then had dinner. It was the best baked potato I've ever had in my life and they baked us tons and tons of cookies too. They said there is never a day that goes by when they don't have freshly baked cookies in the house.
One of the kids we were able to meet was such an inspiration. His name was Gilbert. He was about 12 or 13 and has no control of his body below his neck. Gilbert has a chair that he moves around in and he moves the chair with his mouth. There is a special mechanism that allows him to do that. While talking to Gilbert we were able to find out he had an extreme admiration for the movie Cars and when we walked into his room, it was very apparent. His entire bed was COVERED in Cars pillows. He also showed us how he plays video games too. There was a race car game on his computer and he also played that by using his mouth as well. It was truly wonderful to see him get so much joy out of that.
Oh! I forgot to mention that as we were having dinner we were able to talk to the director and ask questions. Hugo, one of the brothers on the ride, asked what the significance of the quilts were on the wall behind her. We were in a room with a ton of chairs and there were quilts hanging on the wall behind her in a variety of colors and patterns. The director then proceeded to talk about a lady that works at the Ashley House that belongs to a quilting club. She said that when ever a child leaves the house to go home, when they become too old, or when they move to a different facility for different treatments that they always leave with a quilt from the house so that they can always carry a piece of the Ashley House with them.
Our second day on the road was probably one of the "best worst" days of my life. We had to climb what is known as Cayuse Pass and White Pass. They are both on the same route to Yakima, Washington. The cyclists literally had all day to make the trek because we all knew it was going to be one Hell of a ride. We had one crew stop set up that was right at a scenic view point where Mt. Rainier was in the background. The clouds were starting to clear as we got there so as time progressed we were able to see more and more of it. Before coming out west I had never seen snow-capped mountains and let me tell you. If you think we have mountains in West Virginia, you're more than wrong. Those are mole hills compared to the Mountains in Washington. I have sent a few photos to Facebook so that people can see them but there really is no photo that can do what I'm seeing justice. After climbing both passes, we cruised our way to Yakima where we stayed at a local church and had a dinner that was fabulous. We had been looking forward to "Taco Town" all day! A local family sponsored our dinner and helped us with the lodging as well. When we woke up the next morning to depart for Richland, we had a sponsored breakfast with another family too. It was french toast and sausage. Best french toast I've had in awhile!
So on Saturday we made our way to Richland, Washington. It was a beautiful ride and was truly amazing to see the drastic change in climate. We went from rainy Seattle to a beautiful mountain range covered in snow to an almost desert, arid climate. The temperature increased drastically and it had all of us dropping layers like flies. The ride went relatively smooth and we were in Richland before 2pm. There was a news station there that did some interviews and we were staying at the local YMCA. We had a friendship visit with the Arc of Tri-Cities too! We played bingo with some of the members and staff and had an absolute blast. I won a stuffed Teddy Bear named Germania. It was a Beanie Baby bear and I chose it because my sister Frannie always loved her Beanie Baby bears. I placed an Arc of Tri-Cities button on the bear over the German flag and renamed it Arcadia. See what I did there? We also had dinner with them and it was again, delicious! They had a Mexican themed dinner and they had those ice cream cups we all had in elementary school! They were soooooo good! Once coming back to the YMCA we had a team meeting on the lawn outside the YMCA by the river. It was really nice because we also had a special tradition for the TransAmerica route that was sort of ritualistic. Needless to say, I think it helped me out a lot and helped me let go of a few things I was holding on to.
Today we all woke up pretty early (like every day) and we all got ready to leave for Walla Walla Washington. We had to hustle though because we had to make rack point by 11am. If you are a cyclist you have a certain mileage point that you're required to make before a certain time to ensure that you arrive in a city in enough time to shower and get ready for the sponsored meal/friendship visit. Once we all arrived there was more media there and they did some interviews and got ready for lunch. We were invited to lunch by a local sponsor who cooked us a fantastic lunch of lasagna, cooked asparagus, bread, and salad. We also had some great sweet iced tea which I haven't had since leaving West Virginia so that was HUGE blessing!
After lunch we all came back to the YMCA and hung out until time to depart for our friendship visit. Tonight we hung out with the Lilly Rice Center. It's a place for people with disabilities to go to find employment within their community. The center has about 60 clients and they do everything from assembling hoses used in certain medical equipment to mowing lawns to janitorial duties and many more. The center was started by a woman named Lilly Rice who wanted to create an atmosphere where people with disabilities could go to escape and it transformed into an employment center where the employees said they work hand-in-hand with the clients as if they're coworkers. With the grant they received from Push America last year they purchased a basketball hoop for their yard and one of the employees said they literally play basketball every single day. She even added that if they didn't put it up in the winter that they would be out there then too. It doesn't seem like much, I know, to provide a grant for a basketball hoop. However, if you think about the amount of joy and excitement that those clients have from that hoop, it is completely worth it to me.
I have realized I complain a lot. Sometimes its just within the boundaries of my own mind. I'll say things in my head that I wouldn't dare speak and I often find myself complaining about the simplest of things. Since being on this trip though, I can't give myself that excuse. No matter what I'm going through, no matter if I'm tired of waking up at 5 in the morning, no matter if I'm tired of filling up water coolers every night, no matter if I'm tired of putting out my crew stops. All of these challenges and things are nothing compared to what people with disabilities face every single day. My troubles and my pains will disappear at the end of this summer. In August I'll be done with these tasks but people with disabilities won't. They will never be done facing adversity and stereotypes based upon something out of their control. I have truly been blessed beyond belief and this trip is just a small reminder of how little my pains are in the grand scheme of life.
I'm too blessed to be stressed.
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