June 29,2008

The day is finally here! We're heading out to Seattle to begin the Sea to Sea. After only an hour's rest my wife gets me up on Saturday, June 28 at 12:30 in the morning we got up to go to Peter VanNoord's in St.Thomas. Andy DeVries meets us there. Everyone is on time and so we head to London and arrive there by 1:30am. Another Robert Q picks us up at 2:00 am at the Ramada Inn and takes us to Detroit, stopping at Chatham to pick up three other "Sea to Sea"cyclists, Cynthia Aukema and Paul and Teresa Hoekstra. We cross the Windsor border at 4:00am with no trouble and arrive at the airport by 5:00am. It's a three hour wait for our 8:00 am flight to Chicago. We check in and go through security but for some reason I am turned back because my luggage bag is supposedly too big for the plane. I find this hard to understand because there are many bags larger than mine but I comply. My bag ends up in the plane's luggage. I do hope that there are no mess ups with my luggage as my cycling shoes are in the bag. We grab a bite to eat and wait patiently for the Chicago flight. A little while later Christeena Nienhuis from Sarnia ea to Sea trip.
The flight to Chicago is uneventful and we arrive at 9:30 but have another two hour wait for Seattle. While in Chicago we talk to some people about Sea to Sea and they are so excited that they give a donation.
The trip to Seattle is great. We all catch a little cat nap on the way but wake up part way through the prairies. The sky is clear and the scenery below beautiful. I am amazed at the amount of snow in the mountains and just a little bit intimidated by the heights that we will likely have to climb.
We arrive in Seattle right on time at 1:00pm (4:00pm our time). It is very hot and humid, which is very unusual weather for Seattle. Bert Steenbergen is waiting for us and takes us to the Univ. of Wash. for registration. The campus is beautiful and it will be great to have a good night's rest in the dorms. After checking in we head down to the parking lot to find and assemble out bikes. Mine is there (thankfully) and in one piece and with a little help the bike is soon assembled and in good running condition. Then it's back to the Univ. for supper and our evening meeting.
Afterwards we have an opportunity to mingle with everyone and have cake. I meet a really neat guy, Arnie, who is 70 years old and is more than just a little bit scared about the trip and excited all at the same time. I share I feel somewhat the same. In the course of our conversation he shares his life's story, about how he was not a Chr. until in his forties, led a rough lifestyle and has many family members who still live that way. The Lord grabbed hold of him and he is just so excited to be a Christian and so happy to be a part of a big church family on this trip. I will be sure to look out for him each day on the trip. I am ready to go to bed by nine (which is twelve o'clock back home).
On Sunday I am up by 6:00am. Breakfast is at 7 and worship and then orientation is at 8. Then it's off to lunch and then a bike safety training course on our bikes. I actually picked up a couple of tips and didn't even fall off the bike. Later in the afternoon we take a group picture of all of us in our cycling jerseys. I hope to maybe send a picture soon. Then it was off to church Veldhuisen from Emo days (where I grew up) and his family. They have two sons cycling as well. That was so neat to see them. While there I also met up with Josh (Dielstra?) who is dating a girl from Aylmer. They make a point of touching base with me. What a small world. And just as I was leaving the service I met Rev. Carl Geylense and his family from Chilliwack.
Tomorrow we head out to the beach to dip our tires in the ocean and start our trek across the country (an 80km trip, a big part on a bicycle path). I'm feeling pretty good about it. Right now it is dark and lightning a bit. Hopefully the weather will be good.
Well it's nine o'clock and I promised to help load all the gear on the truck. God is good.