More Transitions--Good Ones!

Ride Against Hunger
July 13, 2010

See the picture! Today we crossed two more lines of demarcation. Fairly early this morning we left the great and beautiful State of Wisconsin and entered Ossmannland. You may not know this but my riding buddy, Joe, is a YOOPER. That means that he grew up right here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. (He calls it the U.P….and that’s where the term YOOPER comes from.) So this little transition for me, from one state to another, was a coming home for him. In fact he just got lost in thoughts, memories and desires for a regional treat called a Pastie. (a meat pie of some kind that I have not yet seen). Anyway, it was fun watching him enter into his own turf” and see the joy that was being experienced.

Then late in the day we crossed still another barrier. We are now in the Eastern Time Zone. So our California friends are now two hours earlier and my Nebraska family is one hour earlier. And it also means that we are nearing our destination of Portland, Maine. Last night I looked at the schedule to the end of the trip. We have three more nights in Michigan, eleven nights in Canada, and then three more nights in New Hampshire and Maine…and we are there. The plan now is to finish on Friday, July 30. But maybe I should not get too far ahead of myself. We still have well over a 1000 miles to ride.

And the most important transition of all is that Kathy Ossmann rejoined the team. She drove up to Escanoba from her lower Michigan home of Paw Paw. Her father has now been lovingly moved from his home to the White Oaks Assisted Care facility. Kathy reports that there were difficult moments, tender moments, funny moments and a deep down feeling that this is the right thing to do for him and for the family. We will continue to pray for Kathy and her family.

So here we are, poised for the next phase of our ride. Today we rode 76 miles and will do about the same tomorrow. Only thing is, we will be skirting lake Michigan the whole way for the next two days. I’m really looking forward to that!

Hope you are all well!