I don't even know where to start, I missed my post yesterday because I feel asleep before posting and now I am a couple days behind.We woke up this morning feeling the affects of 45 miles yesterday. Erin put it well in the guestbook, it's tough knowing you have to do it again the next day, and the next, and the next. Today I was actually in a bit of a funk right from the start. Keeping a smile on your face can become a chore when you feet feel like raw hamburger!
The road to Ipswich was uneventful in many ways, which is good at this point, however very special because a lot of my family from the Ipswich / Aberdeen were there to share it with me. I think at 1 time we had 10+ extra people and a few dogs out there with us. Some went a few miles, some went 11, but everyone there helped me get through one of my more tough days! Thanks to everyone who joined us on the road.
The weather was great today; tail wind, sunny, and warm temps. We are actually hitting the road at 4:30 AM in the morning so we can beat some of the even warmer temps coming, get out before some of the other traffic, and to finish by 11:00 AM so we can spend the day napping, eating, and resting!
2 more on the road donations came in to today, which is amazing to us! We really do feel lucky to be doing this. Every little bit helps.
My aunt told us a story tonight and I though tit was appropriate to share:
A man who was walking along the ocean shore line, throwing starfish back into the ocean after the high tide left the high and dry.
Another man walked up and said, "why in the world are you waisting your time trowing these starfish back into the ocean...you'll never keep up and it will just happen again. It's a waste of time."
The man picked up another one and threw it back into the ocean and said, "Wasn't a waste of time for that one."
That's kind of how I feel about what we are doing here. Guys, I'm well aware we are not saving the world here, but doing something is better that doing nothing. Our $15,000 donation might not find the cure, but it's $15,000 more then they had before and to somebody, it will matter. It mattered to the starfish!
Anyways, health wise I am feeling pretty good. Muscles feel "OK", everything is "OK" except my feet. They really are starting to concern me and I sure hope things stay manageable for another 5 days! The blisters make me a bit nervous and they hurt like heck but so far I have been able to deal with them at least. Brendan's feet are actually OK, however his Achilles are bugging him so to sum things up...both "OK" but our bodies are tired! Nothing serious yet just small worries some pain.
Better hit the hay, tomorrow is another day and I better be ready for it! After tomorrows day we will be over the 100 mile mark in 3 days!
Nolan
PS - I didn't write it yesterday but I have to thank Jason for doing a couple really nice things for us. He put about 150 NEW songs on my MP3 player during our stay in Mobridge which was AWESOME. He also delivered donuts to us on the road at the 25 mile mark. We tried to go to the bakery the night before but it was closed so when it opened in the morning he made a special delivery! Donuts at mile 25...PERFECT!
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Hey Everyone-
We are waking up early so I am going to keep this short tonight. I wanted to say thanks again to my Mom, sister Erin and Shawn for coming out for the weekend and spending time with me on the road! Thanks again to Jason and Kay Kaup & Family for putting us up in their beautiful
home!
My blisters are getting much better than Nolan's, but now I have protrusions from my Achilles Heels. Every step is unbelievably painful, and the weird thing is---it feels better to run than to walk! Sounds crazy, but it is true. I had to ice them all night and we will see if it helps tomorrow.
We had a lot of visitors on the road today! That was great-
Cliff & Patti Simon from Hoven came by and they even had a chance to meet my family before
they took off. They are great people and their daughter, Shelly Geist, is one of my wife Jonette's best friends in the world! So it is always great to see them.Then we encountered Nolan's family along various points on the road and they were great! They came out in fine fashion with dogs and all...they walked and ran with us, which does help immensely.
Carol and Randy Simon, neighbors to Rich and Mary Jo Kaup (my in-laws) also stopped by and
wanted to wish us some words of encouragement. Thanks for that and don't worry Angela about the bike thing...I will see you sometime down the road!Just out of Ipswitch (5 Miles or so) I ran into Lance & Crystal Stuwe (my wife's cousin) who ran
with me into Ipswitch. That really helped because we just logged 76 miles on our legs in two days! It was not pretty, but Thanks Lance for getting me into town. Sorry we could not get hooked up, but I hope to see you and the family on the 4th in Hoven. Take care-The greatest thing happened at the end...Kim Oster (Allen Geist's sister...Al is a great friend of mine from the Air Force days at Ellsworth) and her friend brought us 4 bags of ice for our aches & pains of the day!!! What makes it so Great is she drove almost 32 miles from Bowdle to deilver them to us! Can you say AWESOME!! It was exactly what the doctor ordered. THANKS!
Then we met and visited with William (Chuck) & Lisa Rappe and family and had tons of pizza! I learned all kinds of crazy stuff about Nolan and will be prying for more info so I have ammo when I need it. I think his Mom and I will have a chat about her son and I have some questions that need answering too---like where did he get his OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), and why he truly is crazy!!! (Ha Ha... he is sleeping so he doesn't know I wrote this!) He may push me and Chuck over in the ditch tomorrow if he finds out, so don't tell him. I still have to endure 5 more days with him-
Nolan's uncle Jim came by and brought us by his two hangers in which he is in the airplane business. Actually, he is in the restoration of WWII airplanes (fabric wings and fuselage...something you don't ever see anymore). It was amazing and being an old Air Force guy myself, I loved it!! THANKS Jim for sharing-
Well, I will upload pics tomorrow, cause I am getting up at 0400 (five & a half hours from now) to hit the road early, avoid the heat and be able to lick our wounds early tomorrow.
Take care, and please keep coming back!
THANKS for all your encouragement and wonderful posts----keep it up.
Great ending to a hard day on the road. Thanks to the Rappe Family for hosting us and for sharing a bit of what it is like in a day in their lives.
Brendan~
"Find the positive in all you do"
