A few days into Kansas and the guys were looking forward to
our first day off in Wichita. It is a decent sized town and we were staying in
a hotel so that is always nice. We started off the day knowing we had a pretty
large task ahead of us. The cyclists were going to have to ride really hard in
order to make the rack point for the day. We had an arrival at a local
organization called Rainbows United who was also our sponsor for lunch and a
friendship visit. The organization provides care for kids with a wide range of
disabilities and in my opinion, was my favorite friendship visit we’ve had this
summer. We got there and the children were absolutely ECSTATIC to see us.
The way the organization works is around a typical school or
work day. They have an option for care in the morning prior to school and after
school/weekend options. Each child is based on a scale of 1 to 3. That meaning
if a child is a 1 then they get one caregiver. If they’re a 3 then there will
usually be 3 children to a caregiver. While there we were able to have lunch
with the children and play with them, we had a whip cream fight, we danced, and
we created an awesome art project for the organization to auction off.
One of the highlights of the event was when we had a choir session
with the kids. They got up and sang a song for us and it was truly a magical
experience. One of the girls had the voice of an angel and gave us chills
listening to her. A common thing that we see on the trip is the purpose and
meaning behind doing this trip sparks everyone at different times. I think this
one sparked that within me. I don’t know what it was about this one that made
it different from the others because I’ve enjoyed them all, but this one sent
me over the edge with amazement.
After the friendship was over we went to the hotel and found
that we were given goodie bags courtesy of our sponsor and that we were going
to be going to a Midian Shrine and a Mongolian Bar for our meals on the
following day. I had never been to a Midian Shrine and I’d never learned a lot
about the freemasons, but it was cool getting a glimpse into their world. It’s
sort of like a fraternity outside of the collegiate years, in a sense. Not
quite the same but from the way it was described to me that’s the vibe I got.
The Mongolian Bar was to DIE for it was so good. If I had to
compare it to something it would be a hibachi style restaurant. You went
through the bar and picked out which meat you wanted, which pasta, vegetables,
sauces, etc. Then you took it to the grill and they fixed it right in front of
you before you took it back to your table. Oh! I also found really good sweet
tea which is the mark of finally moving east!
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