Thursday, August 14

It was pitch black outside when we got up this morning at 5:10am. Actually it was pitch black outside already at 8:30pm last night. The days are noticeabley getting shorter and the nights longer. A sure sign that summer is quickly passing by, as is this bike tour. I still have to pinch myself that we have travelled nearly 3,000 miles already as we near the seven week mark of our epic journey and that there are only two more weeks until we reach the Atlantic Ocean at Jersey City. How the time has flown by. A good sign, right, when you're having a great time.

One other thing that was noticeably absent this morning and that was the heavy dew we have epxperienced, especially the past number of days. As we have travelled further east, the moisture levels in the air have increased accordingly as well so that our tents are sopping wet on the outside when we pack them up into our duffle bags. One would think that it had rained all night. On days like that we pray for sunshine when we arrive into camp in the afternoon. The first thing that we do is to spread everything out on the grass and let the sun do its work before setting up again.

Another noticeable thing is that the temperatures have been much more bearable. Right from the time we left Seattle and crossed the mountains and the prairies, temperatures have soared into the mid ninties most of the way, seemingly sucking the life blood right out of our bodies. The past few days have been superb for cycling; not too hot and not to cold; just right. I know for me, I have seemed to have a lot more energy, especially toward the end of each days ride and feel like I could readily go for another 20 or 30 miles. Mind you, the shorter mileages the past couple of days have helped out in that regard too.

Yesterday we left Palos Heights (Trinity College) and continued on our way through the south side of Chicago and started up the east side of Lake Michigan to Chesterton. That meant a lot of stopping and starting at the traffic lights as well as paying great attention to staying on the "straight and narrow" along the edge of the road as a lot of the streets are very busy.

Half of the group, myself included, took a detour off the scheduled route so that we could "take in" Roseland Ministries" a ministry to one of the poorer (primarily African American) districts of south Chicago. This ministry spearheaded by pastor "Tony" and his team, reaches out to men, women and children. The second floor houses some 80 women and children who are generally referred to them through various government agencies. These women can stay there for a maximum of 120 days and during that time are involved in an "integrated program" that provides training and other means of help in an attempt to help them become self sufficient.

The bottom (main) floor, has people (primarily men) who come for meals during the day but who do not stay there at night. The mission serves over 300 meals a day. When we visited, it was a hub bub of activity.

In addition, the mission has been very involved in the community, fixing up old, abandoned homes so that they can be inhabited by some of the people that they minister to who have no homes. To date, close to sixty homes have been refurbished. That's quite amazing.

There is also Roseland Christian School that reaches out to many of the children who are ministered to through the mission. The community at large has been very instrumental in helping make it possible to pay for the education of these children. Enrollment has been up to 300 but the past year or so there has been a decline which is of concern to the principal.

Down the road from the mission is Roseland Christian Reformed Church which seeks to reach out to the community as well. Some thirty-forty years ago there were eight or more CRC's in the area but when there was a cultural shift and many African Americans began moving in, many of the church members began moving to the suburbs further south. Today, only Roseland and Pullman remain and are doing a fantastic job of reaching out the community; all evidence of a change in attitude over the years of the churche's mandate in a broken world. I was impressed with the vision and the work being done at Roseland. It shows a lot of promise and gives hope to a lot of broken people. That, to me, is central to the purpose of church ministry.

While stopping at one of the churches (Munster CRC) who hosted us to a wonderful lunch of subs, drinks, and baked good galore, I bumped into Greta Groen, an acquaintance who grew up in the little place of Emo, in northwestern Ont. (near the Manitoba border) which incidently is also where I grew up. I was only a young boy at the time but I remembered her well and what is even more impressive, she remembered me too. What a small world we live in.

Last night at Chesterton, I went down to the beach (we were camped at a state park right on Lake Michigan) and witnessed the most amazing sunset I have seen in quite some time. The oranges and reds against the dark clouds in the sky and the shimmering waters of Lake Michigan with Chicago across the lake as a backdrop was simply awesome. Fortunately I had my caera with me and was able to take a lot of pictures of the various stages.

Today's ride was extremely beautiful. Most of the day was spent going along the shores What beautiful homes there are. It was just like riding through a park most of the day.

John's foot was a bit sore today and so he wanted to take it a bit easier. That was fortunate. I would hate to see him on his really good days, because we still made very good time averaging nearly twenty miles an hour. We did get to see the beauty though. At one point we stopped at a Swedish Bakery. What a busy place. It truly was Swedish. Every single person we talked to was Swedish. I should qualify that. One woman was of Dutch descent but had married a Swede. Everyone was very friendly and excited for us and our journey. By the way, they know how to make a really good cup of coffee too.

South Haven is a very well to do town that is geared to tourists. The downtown area is lined with shops of every kind. It would be a place that I know my wife and daughters could spend hours browsing around in. Situated right along a huge beach on Lake Michigan, it is an ideal spot to spend holiday time with the family. Of course we had to try out the ice cream shop in town.

Once in camp, John and I were interviewed for the local newspaper. It's not quite as nerve wracking anymore as we have done it two or three times already. A lot of the other cyclists have been interviewed in the various places we have camped as well. It's neat when the media take an interest in what we are doing. It sure helps to get the word "out there."

Tomorrow we head to Grand Haven and then it's on to Grand Rapids. I can't wait because my wife and all four children are going to be there to meet me. I haven't seen them in seven weeks and look so forward to being with them again.

Well, Im missing another peleton meeting right now and so I had better go. But I did want to get this off to everyone while the internet is working (which it has the past four days) and while I have access to a computer. Until next time, take care.