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| (Statue of Popeye the Sailor in Chester, IL - Home of Elzie Segar) |
Today was an exciting day to be on the bike for many reasons - first of all I knew that I would be crossing another state boundary which would bring me one state closer to getting back to Sunrise.
The other reason, and perhaps the most meaningful one, was the fact that starting today I will be riding for a different group of Sunrise campers each day I ride. Today was for the Acorns and Troopers, our youngest campers battling cancer. The acorns are 3 1/2 years old and the Troopers are 4 and 5 years old. I have to admit that my thoughts were with them all day. I can't think of the Troopers without seeing in my head a young girl named Jessica in my head.
My first summer teaching at Sunrise I only had the older kids for dance and the Rangers and up for drama since there was another drama specialist to teach the younger ones. However, once in a while I was able to teach dance to some of the younger ones and during one of the last weeks of camp I had the chance to teach a little combination to the Troopers. At the end, this vivacious young girl named Jessica - who always wore floppy hats to cover her head - came up to me as I was kneeling by my boom box and gave me a hug, a kiss and said, "thank you". That moment has always stayed with me because she was so happy to be dancing. She was thanking me for the chance to dance at camp. It wasn't until later that I found out she loved to dance and she was always dancing. You see, Jessica never made it to my second summer at camp. She had passed away in between adn it was at her memorial that I found out how important dance was to her, and how excited she was whenever she got the chance to do it.
So it was with thoughts of Jessica and all of the other Acorns and Troopers I have had contact with over the last two summers at Sunrise that I started out pedaling my way towards Carbondale, IL. And it was with thoughts of these youngest of campers that I happened upon one of the smallest of God's creatures struggling to get across the road. As you can tell from my posts, I have seen far too much flattened fauna along the way so I decided to make sure there was one less victim and helped it across the road.
I then got back on the road and furiously pedaled my way towards St. Mary, MO so I could try to get there before Amy and the kids arrived. Sarah was going to ride with me to the foot of the Chester Bridge to cross the Mississippi River. We would be joined there by the boys and we would form our little cycling group to cross over the bridge. I made it unscathed, only being chased by one set of what I have begun to call "Bubba Dogs" - those dogs that hang out underneath cars set up on cinderblocks in the overgrown front yards of the backroads of the south. (At least I'm not seeing the omnipresent Confederate flags that I saw yesterday. I was born in South Carolina - the first state to succeed and I consider myself a Texan, another Confederate State and I can say this with certainty - THE SOUTH LOST - GET OVER IT!) Of course, we did see a stray beagle puppy that William wanted to adopt but he didn't look like he would chase a passing cyclist - unless there was food hanging out of the cyclist's pocket.
Sarah and I then got on our way and we had a great ride for the eleven miles to get to the foot of the bridge. There were a few steep climbs but she handled them like a trooper and then we hit the flatlands of the Flood Plains. Along the way we met a young woman named Maria Eswin who was from Perryville who was out for a training ride. She rode with us for a while and we chatted and she gave us the gift of "local knowledge" which would come in handy when we hit the bridge.
We got to the gas station at the foot of the Chester Bridge and after some refueling we collected the boys and headed across the bridge, The Four Cycling Connors in our Ride Across America jerseys and bike shorts - and yes, even the boys have padded bike shorts now.
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At the other end of the bridge was the statue you see at the beginning of this post - the statue of Popeye the Sailor. His creator Elzie Segar was originally from Chester and many of the original characters were based on folks from the town. After briefly taking our pictures posing in front of the "Welcome to Illinois" sign, Sarah and I were back on the road.
After three days of making it up some pretty steep hills, she finally had to get off and walk as she lost her momentum going up a very long, 13% grade. But she soldiered on for the rest of the journey until Mama met us on the side of the road - she managed 23 hilly miles today which brings her total up to 183 miles!
The rest of the journey was uneventful - just hot and hilly, a state I'm getting used to as the days go on through this Ozarkian paradise! As I said, I spent nine months working here in Branson, MO and I still don't remember it ever being this hot in this part of the country. I also don't remember people being quite as conservative - perhaps its because its an election year.
Tomorrow I will be riding to Cave-In-Rock, IL which will be our last destination in Illinois. I'll be riding for the Rangers of Sunrise who are our first and second graders - six and seven - year -olds. I will be climbing some wicked, short, steep hills and I will be thinking of my Timon and Pumba boys and girls the entire 90 mile journey! If you want to help make a difference in their lives, click here. It all goes to helping these brave young boys and girls make a new beginning every day!
And today's report;
FFL - 2 Rabbits, 2 Skunks (small ones), 4 Possum, 8 Armadillos, 4 Squirrels, 8 UFO's, 1 Turtle (I couldn't get to him in time)
RRL - Nothing really to speak of, sorry!
Stay well and I'll update more from the road!
For another perspective on our journey check out Amy's blog at http://www.crosscountrymama.blogspot.com//
To help us get the kids to Sunrise go to https://www.wizevents.com/register/register_add.php?sessid=1809&id=1056
Check out our website at http://www.connorsarmy.org/
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