Day 1 off the bike in Milwaukee

Although the team was able to sleep in until 11:00 this morning, that did not happen. Because of our sleeping schedule I was up around 5:00 but luckily I was able to go back to bed until about 7:30. I got out of bed showered, and hung out with some of the other early wakers. Around 8:15 Kathy Mohar our major contact in Wisconsin walked in the door with all kinds of coffee and snacks for us to eat for breakfast. About 10 of us enjoyed this and relaxed as the rest of the team filtered out of the gym the next couple of hours. By 12:00 everyone had to be out of bed and ready for a full day of programming. 

At 12:00 Kathy and about 7 other women invited us into the dining area of the church for lunch. Together they call themselves the Mom's of Hope. Each mother has a child with a disability and because of this they have gotten very close with Journey of Hope and some have been helping out since 2002. We had a great lunch, and afterwards I was stuffed. When we ride the bike and have big meals I don't feel bad because I know my body burned off a lot of calories that day. But when we don't ride and eat a lot I feel like I gained 50 pounds in one sitting and this meals was one of the times. After lunch the team got ready to leave lodging for the first time and head to our first friendship visit of the day.

Around 2:30 we arrived at the bowling alley where we would be doing a visit with the Spina Bifida of Milwaukee. Bowling friendship visits have become a lot of fun because there is always a great turn out, and the clients have a blast! In my lane I bowled with Spencer, Derek, and Bob. Bob is the father of a girl named Gabby who has Spina Bifida. They were in the lane next to us, and it was really fun to hang out with a parent and see him interact with his daughter as well as the team. Bob had so much energy and he kept the team alive and pumped up, even when I was unable to break a score of 100. Between the two lanes, and 8 bowlers I was by far the worst and I am pretty sure the 10 year old Gabby who is in a wheelchair scored over 115 two games in a row. Although bowling is not something I am good at I still had an absolute blast spending time with my team and our new friends Gabby and Bob.

 

The team loaded back up in the vehicles to go meet our sponsors for dinner. The family that would be hosting us for dinner was the Davidson's.... as in Harley Davidson. Dinner was at a yacht club and the original plan for the night was to have dinner and then go out on some pontoon boats and enjoy the lake. Unfortunately the weather was pretty crappy so we had to stay inside. For dinner the family made us barbecue sandwiches, potatoes, and some of the best brownies I have ever ate. While eating my table was joined by a gentleman whose sone did the ride in 2004. After we told him about our trip thus far he told us that the trip seems like it has changed a lot since 2004 and that we also have nicer vans than they did 9 years ago. One of the funniest parts of the dinner was that half of the friends of the hosts had been drinking and you could tell the alcohol had been hitting them. It was a nice change of pace especially since some of our sponsors tend to be a little serious at times. Because of the rain our time with the Davidson's was cut short so we went back to lodging for the night.

The team got back to the church and met in the dining room for a team activity which lasted about 2 hours. Once that was complete I relaxed for a little bit and then laid down. With a packed day of programming the next day I wanted all the rest I could get. Although coming to Wisconsin was very out of the way when traveling to Washington D.C. the friendship visits and relationships we are creating in this state our worth every mile.