We're two days into the trip and everyone has been riding really well. No accidents yet and only a few maintenance issues. The weather was great the first day, sunny and the wind was actually at our backs. Today's ride was a little more hectic as it rained the whole way. At least it was a short ride, and everyone handled the wet roads really well. We still haven't hit any serious climbs yet so we haven't really been challenged, but the Appalachian Mountains are not far away.
Our Hosts so far have been so welcoming, its been really overwhelming. We have been fed by our first two hosts after orientation, and all the people we have met are so happy to have us visiting. Swan Quarter was a nice one road town, and Belhaven has been quite the spectacle. I think between all of us we have met the whole town and they're all so welcoming. A parishioner of the church we're staying at brought a bunch of us to her house to shower and we even got to spend tome time in their hot tub, a welcome rest after a long, wet, cold morning ride. There was a huge pot luck dinner tonight with tons of locals. They organized a big raffle for the kids with a bunch of prizes including two bikes. They even had a donation jar going around, I haven't seen exactly how much was in it but I know there was at least a few hundred dollars. There was also a really touching moment when one woman came up and gave us a home made quilt to donate to one of the families who will move into one of the homes we will work on or raffle it off for some donations. She spoke of how she can't ride her bike any more because of problems with her back, then began to tear up saying how she could still use her hands to do the work of god and talk about how appreciative she was of what we are doing. It really showed us that what we're doing really does influence people.
My dad would be proud of me today, I taught about 25 people how to play around the world ping pong today at the pot luck dinner with the Belhaven locals. It took a while to recruit people to play, but after the first game everyone was so into it we just kept playing.
Our first build days in Chapel Hill are coming up soon and I'm really looking forward to that. I'm having so much fun and can't wait to experience the rest of the journey
Our Hosts so far have been so welcoming, its been really overwhelming. We have been fed by our first two hosts after orientation, and all the people we have met are so happy to have us visiting. Swan Quarter was a nice one road town, and Belhaven has been quite the spectacle. I think between all of us we have met the whole town and they're all so welcoming. A parishioner of the church we're staying at brought a bunch of us to her house to shower and we even got to spend tome time in their hot tub, a welcome rest after a long, wet, cold morning ride. There was a huge pot luck dinner tonight with tons of locals. They organized a big raffle for the kids with a bunch of prizes including two bikes. They even had a donation jar going around, I haven't seen exactly how much was in it but I know there was at least a few hundred dollars. There was also a really touching moment when one woman came up and gave us a home made quilt to donate to one of the families who will move into one of the homes we will work on or raffle it off for some donations. She spoke of how she can't ride her bike any more because of problems with her back, then began to tear up saying how she could still use her hands to do the work of god and talk about how appreciative she was of what we are doing. It really showed us that what we're doing really does influence people.
My dad would be proud of me today, I taught about 25 people how to play around the world ping pong today at the pot luck dinner with the Belhaven locals. It took a while to recruit people to play, but after the first game everyone was so into it we just kept playing.
Our first build days in Chapel Hill are coming up soon and I'm really looking forward to that. I'm having so much fun and can't wait to experience the rest of the journey
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