Sunday, July 13

It's Sunday evening and I've just finished another scrumptuous meal of salads, potatoes, vegetables, dessert and refreshments. The meals are out of this world. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm gaining rather than losing weight. The cooking staff does such a wonderful job each day making sure that not only are we well fed but that the menu is varied for each meal. Hats off to the cooking staff.
It is hard to believe that two weeks have already gone by on the tour. How time flies by. We have already crossed two state lines (Washington into Orgegon and now we are in Idaho. We have also crossed one time zone and are now on mountain time which means that we are two hours behind my home town of Aylmer, Ont.
One little tidbit as I reflect on crossing the state line from Washington into Oregon. We had all stopped (that is our group of six or seven that I generally ride bike with (Pete VanNoord, Andy deVries, Cynthia Aukegeraldma, Barb Mellema from Dordt, John VanderSteen from London and Gerald Kobis from Washington state). Anyways, a policeman pulled up behind us just as we were about to take a picture of us crossing the line and he wasnted to know what was going on. He was very friendly and so we all started to take pictures of ourselves beside him and his car. Then Claire (Elgersma) had the bright idea that "wouldn't it be nice to have a picture of the policeman arresting the pastor (myself) and stuffing me in the car. The policeman gladly obliged and so there is a picture or (Check out Claire Elgersma's blog). It might be there.
Speaking of blog's I want to apologize t0 the wonderful people of Aylmer CRC who have supported me so wonderfully financially and otherwise. It has been very difficult for me to put "stuff" on my blog for all of you to follow. First of all we have not been able to get internet at least half of the time at the sites we are at at each days end. Secondly, when there is internet those that have computers want to catch up on all of their bloging and emails, etc. and often stay on for several hours at a time making it very difficult to access a computer or a power source. However, I will try to do my best to keep you a bit updated from time to time. Please do check out some of the other blogs of various cyclists. For example, Cynthia Aukema (who rides with us every day and is the daughter of Tony and Corrie Dykxhoorn) tries to keep her blog as updated as possible on her laptop. Bill Wybenga from Brampton is another one as is Gayle Harrison from London. There are a lot of pictures out there on their and other's blogs as well.
A typical day for me begins at 5:00am when our group generally gets up. It is usually quite cool and the sun is just beginning to rise. I slip into my cycling clothes, head for the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash up a bit as well as do any other business there that needs to be done (too much sharing?). Then it's back to take down my tent, put it in my duffle bag, fold up my clothes and put it all by the gear truck. By this time it is about 6:00am. I quickly get in line for breakfast (0ur group is generally one of the first ones to go through the line. Breakfast usually consists of hot porridge or any other cereal that we might want, lots of bread with peanut butter and nutella as well as jam, yogurt, milk and other refreshments. I generally have a cup of coffee too. At the same time we make our lunch to take along with us on the bikes; lots of bars, a sandwich or two and some yogurt and fruit. We don't get fed again until sixpm, so we make sure we have enough to last the day. We quickly wash our dishes and hit the bathroom one more time and are ready to hit the road by 6:45am to 7:00am.
That may seen early, but we have found that the earlier we are able to hit the road the better it is. The weather for the entire two weeks so far has been extremely hot. By 12:00 noon the temperature has been hovering around 85 to 90 degrees farenheit. By 2:00 to 3:00 pm the temp. has been in the mid to high 90's. This past Thursday for example, the temperature was 104 by 2:30 in the afternoon. And so it pays to get on the road as early as possible. Most days we have been able to arrive at our destination between twelve and one o'clock in the afternoon.
Another advantage of leaving early is that we don't have to push it. While we don't waste a lot of time dilly dallying around and keep up a pretty good pace, generally in the upper twenty km per hour, we take the time to stop and take pictures of interesting sights, crops, etc. as well as stop for coffee along the way. Yesterday, on our way to Boise for example, we stopped at a coffee shop in the middle of nowhere. It was a local hangout for the area farmers and so it was really neat to talk to them about what we were up to as well as what they were up to. You should see their eyes when we tell them we are heading across the continent in support of world poverty causes. They look at us in disbelief but then are also very interested in the cause. All of us have "Sea to Sea" business cards that have the website on it and a lot of folks not only promise to look us up on the website but donate to the cause. Each day I have set a personal goal of trying to talk to at least ten different people about the cause and hand out cards. It's a great way to get the message out there as well as meet a lot of really neat people.boise
Today, for example, we worshipped in Harris Park in downtown Boise. I met a lot of interesting people and was able to share about the cause and hand out twelve to fifteen cards. I also met Simon, a man with a backpack slung over his shoulders. His eyes were bloodshot and I could tell he was either on drugs or had been drinking. He is a Navajo Indian from Arizona but left the reserve many years ago. He has virtually no contact with his family and from his perspective wants to keep it that way. My sense was that because of his drinking (he acknowledged he had a problem) they had given up on him and vice versa. For the past many years he has been wandering around the countryside with only a sleeping bag and a few personal belongings. He has been apprehended by the authorities time and again and spent many times in jail. According to Simon he went through college but has not held a steady job for a long time and continues to drift. He was presently back on his way to Portland Oregon. What a sad story. He has so much to offer but alcohol has been tearing his life apart. We invited him to stay for the service and for lunch afterward. He did, though he did not want to sit with us during the service, my sense his shame getting the best of him. I did see him at lunch time though. During the service a young man stood up and gave his testimony about being a crack and cocaine addict for much of his life and how Jesus has gotten hold of him and put him on the right track again through some of the organizations that were available. This man is now a happy, healthy man and a contributing member of society. My prayer is that Simon may have heard that testimony and that God might use today as a means to bring hope to a life filled with loneliness and despair. That is one of the people that I have been privileged to meet. He will certainly be in my thoughts and prayers.
As mentioned on an earlier blog the weather has been hot but great. The air is much drier than back home and so is more bearable. The scenery continues to absolutely amazing. I wish all of you could experience some of the sights and sounds. Earlier in the week, near Pendleton, we went through rolling countryside filled with wheat field after wheat field. It reminded me of southern Saskatchewan. It was all winter wheat, and because of significant spring rains (unusual for this area) the crops are bumper. From Pendleton to LaGrande we had one very steep climb with hairpin turns all the way up. I had to do it in my middle gear because my front shifter broke the day before. I sure could have used my granny gear on that one. However, I was able to get up with not too much problem. What a view when we got up on top. Suddenly the vegetation had changed from dry, irrigation type land to large ponderosa pines and douglas fir. We took a stop at one of the scenic lookouts on top,(we had to walk on a gravel road about a quarter of a mile). The view was astounding. A huge valley of trees and flowers had opened up before us. A few miles down the road two little fawns, stuck on the road side of the page wire fence were running right along side of us. Unfortunately, when you're travelling at 30km per hour there is no time to stop and take a picture.
At La Grande that afternoon, I was able to take my bike into the bike shop and have the front shifter looked at. It definitely needs a new shifter and will cost $200 plus dollars to buy a new one. Being a"Trek" dealer that we had stopped at (my bike is a trek) he suggested I try to get it under warranty back home as it would take a week to have the replacement part shipped in under warranty. In the meantime, he put a makeshift shifter on my lower handbar and so I can continue with no problem. It only cost me $15.00. I firmly believed God had put this person in my path to help out.
The next three days saw us going through some really poor land, around Huntington, Oregon where there are a lot of empty farms and some pretty neat old abandoned farm trucks that many in southern Ontario would love to get their hands on. Being so dry, there is virtually no rust on these 50's models. There is also many rattlesnakes and so one does not want to wander too far off the beaten path and certainly not in sandals.
Huntingon is a very small town of 500 people, 75 percent of them being either retired or on gov't assistance of some sort. The people there were so happy to see 144 cyclists and 28 support crew drop into town. I'm sure we tripled their economy for the day. They were so friendly. I sat across from and chatted wsth an elderly lady who had been a judge in that area for twenty two years. She now lives in Tacoma Washington but was visiting and certainly knew the history of the area. She spoke a lot a about her early ancestors who had come on the Oregon Trail in the mid eighteen hundreds in covered wagons and the difficulties they had endured.
Friday saw us leaving Huntington and heading for Ontario, Idaho. While Huntington was a dying town of 500 people (83 students who attended the K-12 school that we stayed at), Ontario is a thriviang city of lush parks and rich, irrigated farmlands along the Snake River. All along the route we saw field upon field of onions, swiss chard, alfalfa and other crops. Most of the irrigation is done by gravity, requiring the fields to be perfectly graded so that the water can freely run between each row.
Interestingly, Ontario is named after our own province of Ontario, Canada. Apparantly, three prominent businessmen were given the task of naming the village many many years ago. One of them was from Ontario, Canada, who had settled in the area. He won the coin toss and so named the town Ontario. Interesting.
I have already shared my experiences of today in Boise. In closing I would like to say hi to all of you back home in Aylmer. I am doing well. My butt is not too sore and I have had only three flats so far. (Some have had eight or nine, while many others have had none.) One piece of advice: Do not park your bicycle against mailboxes at the side of the road in this country. There are all sorts of "goats heads," thorns that will stick to your tires and pierce them like nails. Hoping all is going well with you all. Thinking of you and keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. Well I'd better get going. The evening meeting has already started but I wanted to give you a "brief" update before I go and while I can. Take care!