Trek44 Tuesday July 30

77 mile day (2.5 of route to camp) Back to just the 4 of us riding again. More hilly terrain but we go thru the miles in good time to have chance to swim in the lake at the Lakeview RV park near Lancaster, OH. In Lancaster, OH the say Lancaster as we do in PA but I would take our streets paving. Rough riding on a bicycle.

Trek43 Monday July 29

92 mile day. We finished up Indiana and headed into Ohio. What a challenge getting thru another city, Cincinnati. I thought we could go thru on 50 the whole way but one road said no pedestrians or bicycles. We got off at the next exit. Now to find a way thru. Yea for Google maps on smart phones. We made it thru but I hate the inability to plan ahead in cities. Luke's brother rode with us for the day. Great job David!!!! Great camp site at Rocky Fork State Park.

Trek41/42 Sat/Sun July 27-28

Day's off from riding to explore the Creation Museum. Amazing time exploring the evidence for creation. A statement that especially stuck out to me was this, 'God's world agrees with God's word.' What a great time, Luke's parents, my brother and family came and enjoyed the experience with the team. We also had some great worship and teaching at First Baptist Church of Rising Sun, IN.

Trek40 - Friday - July 26

84 mile day ending near Aurora, IN camping at the Little Farm by the River. What a fun day with my brother Jay joining us in our ride for the day. Other brother Leon and family join us at camp. All three brother reunion, yea !!!

Trek39 - Thursday - July 25

111 mile day, second century ride, longest day yet. Camp near Brownstown, IN. Starve Hollow Recreational Park.

Trek38 - Wednesday - July 24

95 mile day. The support team ended up catching up with us and we had lunch at Burger King. Stayed at the local park in Lawrenceville, IN.

Trek37 - Tuesday - July 23 - Happy Anniversary to us!!!

30 amazing in years. Wow!! God created marriage and said it is good. Thank you Lord for Karen and the picture of Your love you have allowed us to be.

80 mile day trying to get thru another city, East St Luis. We had a tail wind and got to camp in record time. The support team found a WalMart and started to replace some of the stuff we lost. Great time swimming in the lake and an Anniversary supper at Pizza Hut buffet.

Trek36 - Monday - July 22

47 mile day. We were taken back out to Pheasant Hill and rode back. Fairly easy ride. We were emotionally spent and needed to do some miles. We got back in good time and got to play games in the lodge, go over new verses and I was able to plan the rest of our trip to Pittsburgh PA. The lodge had a good WiFi connection and paper maps still work. I slept good. God is good!!!!

Blogging from my cell only.

My blogs can only come from my cell phone now that I don't have laptop. Thanks for your patience. We are still taking pictures but I am not sure how to continue the albums from my cell.

Trek35-July 21 - Sunday

Day rest and frustration.  Great morning worship at Grafton First Baptist church. Wonderful generosity from the Pastor and his wife giving us a great lunch at Finn Inn. We enjoyed the St. Luis Gateway Arch, it's history and grandeur. Then the frustration, our van, our home for the Trek, broken into. Karen's purse, 7 backpacks with our personal treasures for the summer. Wallets, cell phones, license's, 3 laptops plus plus. All gone!!!!!!! Police take report. We pray with the officer. We pray for the criminals. We cancel credit cards, freeze bank accounts, change passwords and and and....... We are safe, we have our God, we have each other and we try to regroup. God is still good, all the time. God has a mission for us,  we emotionally try to move on. We get some rest.

Trek34 - July 20 - Saturday

76 miles, Curreyville lunch, thanks for the water and ice. Crossed the great Mississippi River and into IL. 6 states down. Another bike wreck, all safe, Ben's leg bruised. Picked up at Pheasant Hill, IL, camp at Pere Marquette State Park.

Trek33 - July 19 - Friday

87 miles ended in Paris, Mo. Picked and driven to camp Mark Twain State Park. Bike falls on Don's head while napping. Nice facial wound!

Trek29-32 Monday-Thursday July 15-18

Well we got up early 5:45 AM wanting to leave early at 6-6:15. I checked my bike and find a broken spoke. It is a simple one to fix so I take the time to fix it we are late getting started, 7:00 AM. We head out on route 36 again from Phillipsburg, KS. 7 miles into the day I am drafting close to Luke and hit his tire and loose my balance and fall right and land hard on the pavement. I hit my shoulder and hip, did a roll in the grass and pop right up. Not sure how my feet came out of my clips but I rolled free from the bike. Ben and Keith watched the whole thing and said it looks horrific. They missed me and did not run into me. They stopped and asked if I was OK, I quick asked if my bike was OK. I said I can heal the bike cannot. The front fender was broken but everything else seemed fine, then I checked my wounds. My shoulder and upper arm are bleeding, my hip is brush burned and my elbow and other knee and.... I did not hit my head. I put ointment on and we are off riding. That was actually the worst fall I ever had on a bicycle in my life. I basically healed in 2 days. yea!! It seemed like my day because I did get the 12th flat later in the day. What a great campsite in Belleville, KS at Rocky Pond Community Park. We had some rain which sent us to celebrate at DQ for some ice cream. We started memorizing James chapter 3. We went 96 miles.

Trek30 We went 86 miles and ended at Seneca. We wanted to leave early again to beat the heat so we left at 7:00 AM. We get in to a great camp by a lake with a pavilion. The engine light came on in the van for a second time, as Karen did other things I took the rest of the team to the local pool to cool off and I tried to find a mechanic for the car and a bike shop for my bike because we found another broken spoke. With a Dodge dealer in town we set up an appointment for the next morning. No bike shop in town. I try to fix the spoke myself. I have one tool but need another since I have a different wheel (I figure that out after reading a maintenance book and watching a Utube video and wasting an hour.) I duck tape the spoke so it doesn't effect any thing else but ride a wobbly wheel all the next day. My nite was restless since my 'stuff'' is not 'perfect'. I can worry, I try to cast my cares on the Lord. God is good!!!!

Trek31 I let the guys sleep in so I can take the van to the shop. I take it at 8:00 AM, with some encouragement to get to the van. The computer diagnosis says that the 5th cylinder is misfiring like it was is Spokane, WA on the way out. We determined things would be fine until we got home in the next 2000 miles. I put some fuel injection cleaner in the gas tank and decided to use a higher grade gas. I gained some confidence that we will be OK. We take off at about 9:45 AM, a later start. We travel 74 miles, cross over into MO. and camp at Beacon RV park in St. Joseph. MO.  RV attendant likes to help cross-country bikers so we got the only tent site for free. Thanks!!!!!  We have been doing much better at getting less expensive camp sites. Thank you Heavenly Father and Karen's frugileness. During lunch I received an email from Bob, a friend from the Phillipburg church. He offered his home 15 miles south of St. Joseph but Karen had already got the free site on our route. Thanks Bob. In conversation he was able to locate a by appointment only bike repair person in St. Joe's. Thanks Shawn for fixing the spoke and realigning the wheel and the great conversation about living for Christ. In Christ alone we are saved and not by works. Ephesians 2.8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast."

Trek32 With my 'stuff'' fixed we try to leave in good time, 8:00 AM. At 93 degrees, lots of humidity, rolling hills and a tail wind, we make good time. We stop for McDonald sundaes and get into camp about 3:50, Pershing State Park, MO. We ride into camp and camp is set up. The support team is doing an amazing job, set up and tear down of camp, great meals and cleanup, etc. Karen is amazing, pray for her strenght, she is definitely working out of her comfort zone in finding camps, grocery stores in new cities and working out of the van. She is making fabulous meals and keeping us full of energy and water. Yea!!!! I think I sweated the most today of any day. We broke 2000 miles for our whole trip and we put in 90 miles.

Nugget of Truth: Trek day 32

This trip we have been talking to God, our Heavenly Father, very often. We depend on him so much because we can't see what's ahead of us and so we continually depend on his provision, mercy and grace. Some people may wonder why we talk to God so much. Why do we get up and give our day to him? Why do we talk to him throughout the day and then thank him at night? Well, one reason is because we are not at home here on Earth. Our home is in Heaven with our Heavenly Father, and while we are not with him we don't send him letters or text him or pick up the phone and call him. We call out to him in prayer. Mark 13:31 reminds us that this life is not permanent and there will be a new Heaven and a new Earth. We will be with our Heavenly Father when Jesus comes back.

Mark 13:31-37 Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, not the son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It's like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
"Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back--whether in the evening, or at mdnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!"
We are looking forward to the day when Jesus Christ our Savior comes back and we get to go be with our Heavenly Father.  Are you looking forward to that day too?

P.S. We are thanking God for Lindsey, who we met at the information center yesterday. She provided passes to a local museum to help fill are time in yesterday's heat and she gave us her 2 dozen corn! So we had corn for supper last night and it was like having a piece of good old Lancaster County with us. Thank you, Lindsey!

Trek28 Sunday - What a great day with a church family and a day to rest.

We appreciated worshipping with First Christian Church of Phillipsburg, KS. Very friendly, they offered for us to use the kitchen if needed, they told us about the Block Stop evangelism event that nite and the free bar-b-que. We went to the local Pizza Hut for a buffet lunch. Wow, that was good again, second for the trip. We went to pay the bill and the waitress said the bill had been paid in full. There were several families from the church that ate there that day. That brought tears to my eyes. God provides!!!! We were able get some rest, go swimming. We got some food at the Block Stop and had a time of prayer for the event. We were not able to stay because we were getting up at day break to beat the heat.

Backup to Trek22-26

Trek22 Originally the plan was to ride the 30 miles of Mount Evans on my birthday. Well on my birthday we were coming over the pass. So I guess we could do that on Monday. We have been working so hard trying to keep the schedule and surviving we voted not to do Mt. Evans. I usually dream big and am glad to accomplish some things. No one was really too disappointed, I told them they could do that sometime in their lives if they so decided. Karen was glad not to drive anywhere far. We spent Monday truly resting, playing sand volleyball, swimming at the lake and going and watching Dispicable Me 2, and getting blown around by the winds at our campsite. Crazy winds out here. We had to move out stuff three times, different people in charge of the camp ground tell us different things. Different people apply different rules that are in affect. We can't keep track of them all, we are in a different place most nights and different states regularly. Can't put wash lines in trees out here in the west because they must preserve the few they have. Tents must be on the stones provided because the grass doesn't grow very well with the little rain. Only two tents to a site, so the second nite we move our tent to a neighboring site but have to move it back because someone is renting that the third nite. We seek to be gracious and show Christ's patience. I went out and bought another tent at the local REI to replace the girls tent that would not zipper shut, we put that old tent rain fly on the guys tent whose tent fly had torn. I repaired, sort of, the picnic table canapy that the wind had damaged the nite before. Crazy times, just in 'real life' God is Good!!
Trek23 Great Day visiting Focus on the Family. What a great time exploring the great resources Focus and Odyessy have developed thru the years. We got to to a Odyessy radio show for a CD. We offered our services to help but nothing worked out so we enjoyed the museum and soda shop.
Trek24 Wed. The guys, Luke and Keith got their first century ride, we did 109 miles in wind, hills and storm split around us. We ended up near in Anton, a small town with an RV park with no bathrooms. We got to use a hotel room for the bathrooms and shower. It was in harvest time and lots of harvesters were staying their. Great to hear about how the American harvest works.
Trek25 Thur. Each day keep getting hotter and hotter. We made it 85 miles this day.
Trek26 Fri. This day ended up be 109 degrees. We didn't know the temperature at the time but I was getting drained more and more the further we went. I was trying to drink lots of water and eat. We got to one town and said we were done for the day. We found out it was 109 degrees.

Trek27(2) I guess we beat the heat?

Here I lie under pine trees at Phillipsburg campground exhausted. We made it the 65 miles before 1:30 PM. The pavement radiated heat. The temp. is 105 degrees, not sure what the pavement temp. was. Dangerous heat warning til 8 tonite. We are all safe and the rest found a pool to cool off in.

Trek27 Trying to beat the heat!!!

Will have to get caught up later. We have been in survival mode and without data. 109 degree heat yesterday and still 70 miles in. Leaving early this morning to tty and beat the heat. Prairie Dog State Park last note. Cross-winds are relentless.

Trek21 - Happy Birthday to me, Don 55

I am scared, scared I can't ride up 4200 feet to the 11,307 foot Berthoud Pass, I am scared that the van may still over-heat, don't think that the broken T joint was the only problem with van, we have it really loaded down. No showers at the Frasier back country camp ground. Bad wind storm in the nite, didn't sleep well. We start our ride, we stop at Subway for some energy and start the climb. Part way up, Karen texted and said van went up Pass with no problems, we continue to climb and take breaks and climb. We make it to the top with relative ease. Praise the Lord that we can live by trusting in Him and not paralyzed by our fears. We sail down the mountain make through some of the maze of getting to Denver, CO and make it 73 miles. We are picked up, shower and have a 9:30 PM birthday supper at AppleBee's in Denver suburb. Get back to camp and watch and A-team video and head to the tents, stars are out. Wind storm blasts through camp about 3 AM. Picnic table tarp is broken, we take it a part and put all stuff in van, tents are blasted. We didn't blow away but thought we might. Didn't sleep well but were able to sleep in. Day off on Monday.

Trek20 - Wow!! God is Good but gives the unexpected!!

We pack up camp in Craig, CO and visit Mom & Pop's Bar-b-que restaurant. Vicki had met them the day before because they have a sign that says, 'Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. We stop in to give them some Gospels of John to give in the restaurant. The are Gideons and use the business to share Jesus. The restaurant is locked and we begin to leave. They come out and show the greatest hospitality. NOTE: if ever visit Craig, CO please visit their restaurant (on US 40 3/4 mile East of town) They gave us all home brewed tea, brisket, rolls etc. They said we should stop up on the pass and enjoy a picnic lunch together. I shared how much of an encouragement they were, since I had been a little discouraged. They reassured me that God is good. We had a sweet time of prayer. The mutual encouragement in Christ was a God sent.  We begin to drive up Rabbit Ears Pass to drop off riders where they were left the day before. The van has been overheating on the mountain elevations and heat. We turn off the air conditioning and turn on the heat to help take some heat off the engine, it worked before. Near the top of the pass the engine heat goes in the red and starts to steam and no more heat is coming from the heaters. We are at a pull off area we pull off turn off the engine. Continues to steam, I open hood and see that a plastic T joint in the coolant hoses is broken. Call AAA (holiday weekend), they organize a tow truck, we eat lunch on the pass together (which we were not planning on doing) How did 'Mom & Pop's' know that? We mountain bike some while waiting. I call the Dodge dealer that they are towing the van to. They close at 1:00 PM, they may not have the part, we may have to stay til Monday or Tuesday if part needs to be ordered. (God we need wisdom) Tow truck can only take 2 in truck. Trek riders decide to take all we need for several days so we don't lose miles, Vicki and Ken will ride down mountain (8 miles, 3000 feet elevation) on bicycles, and Karen and Chey will ride in tow truck. At garage after hours, they send Karen across street to auto parts store. Karen buys part and anti-freeze, garage puts it in and doesn't charge since cashier has gone home for day. They are excited with our Trek adventure. NOTE: BIG thumbs up to the workers at the Steamboat Springs Dodge workers, they will serve you from the heart!!!!!   Karen is on her way about 2:30. Mean while we riders are dragging a trailer and heavy loads on our bikes for several days, we thought. Karen picks that stuff up from us and we are still are able to get 76 miles in for the day even though we only started by 1:00 PM. We camp at Fraiser, CO, a rodeo is taking place so we get to see a 'true' Colorado rodeo. God is Good but gives the unexpected!!!! Huge thanks to God and all He placed in our path to help us survive.

Trek19 - Rabbit Ears Pass to Camp

We enjoyed a sleep in, I promised the team that if they made it to Craig. We enjoyed a Pizza Hut buffet and where dropped off on Rabbit Ears Pass at 9000+ feet elevation. We rode back to camp. This works sometimes because it is hard for Karen to find us sometimes and then there is no timing issue since we can just ride into camp. It is so much easier for the support team to be at camp two nights. We are struggling with finding places to stay at inexpensive prices. We are not an RV, we are not only a tent, we need electricity and we have 3 tents and 8 people. Campgrounds charge extra for each person and sometimes we have to take two tent sights. Pray this stress can be figured out for Karen and I. Otherwise we are all staying healthy and working so well as a team. God's Holy Spirit and the Fruit of Him is showing forth in our lives. We are having some 'minor' but annoying supplies issues, a tent rain fly tore, air mattress are not holding air and the other tent zippers don't close to keep out the bugs. Sounds a lot like life. The bikes are working great! We have to take what comes. We need wisdom and God has promised to supply. God is good!!!!

Trek18 - Thanks for the water (2)

We are dropped off in Dinasaur, CO and ride East on US 40. Nice road, tail wind, and no traffic, yea! We loaded up on some extra water. Karen, calls and lets us know that there are some major hills ahead we may not make it the whole way to Craig, CO. We had a flat(9), took lunch while we fixed it and where hoping for some water at Elk Springs. Not much of a town but there was a rest stop. Thanks for the folks from Vernal who gave us some ice water. There was a cold water pump at the stop. We loaded up and took off feeling good we made it over the hills with not to much difficulty and made it to Maybell, CO. 3:37 we are feeling good, someone tells us the road to Craig in not to difficult so we decide to ride the whole way. We see an Balded Eagle, chase two Pronghorned Antelop along the road for about a three quarter of a mile and see an Elk close to the road. We get a flat in Craig, pump it twice to get to camp about 7:05 PM. We are so grateful for the support team in having camp set up and amazing supper ready. We enjoy the fireworks at the local high school and that is about it for Four of July, 2013.

Trek17 - Thanks for the water

We were dropped off East of Myton and road to Vernal, Utah. The hill climb going into Vernal was a killer but we pumped it out and had lunch at a rest area over looking the town. We treated ourselves to sundae's at McDonald's and road on out of Vernal. We had loaded up with ice water. One flat out of town and on our way to Colorado. We kept drinking water in the heat, a head wind started making us work harder. We took a food break about 6 miles from the CO line and realized we didn't have enough water to eat. I decided we would ask for help. I raised my water bottle in the air as cars passed. About 5 cars passed and then one stopped, praise the Lord! They shared their water!!! They also said it was 108 degrees in Dinasaur Canyon where they were visiting. Not sure how we would have made it without that water. Thank you "guardian angels", and thanks to for the one pickup truck that turned around and came back to help. We made it to Dinasaur, Co.

Nugget of Truth Trek day 18:

It's been a little bit since I got to post another nugget of truth to ponder, but this truth is powerful and crucial. It is one that you could dwell on for awhile. This truth is the reason for why we live the way we live, for why we speak the way we speak, and for why we have chosen to take God at his word and place our faith in him. The truth for today comes from Ephesians 2. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast." ~Ephesians 2:8-9. Nothing we do can pay God for the penalty of our sin. We can't boast about how good we are because we can't be good enough. God has to extend grace to us... and he does! Out of his beautiful love he has chosen to save us by grace, so we no longer have to be bound to death (the penalty for our sin). We don't have to work to earn his favor. He gives us his favor. We are set free!

Trek16

We rode from Heber, Utah up over Daniel's Pass, 8020 feet, nice climb, to 5 miles East of Myton. We were picked up about 6 and stayed in Vernal at a KOA. 20 degrees cooler and much better riding.

Trek14 - Week 3 Slideshow coming soon

So starting our third week of riding the predicted temperatures in the Salt Lake valley is to be 102+ everyday. That is crazy for riding in that heat. So here is what we did. Since we got kicked off the highway on Saturday and got picked up in "no man's land" we decided to take those miles that we went out of the way and bring them south into Salt Lake City. We would pick up from their and ride the rest of the way to the Autry's to complete that 'leg' of the trek. We also had Karen take us out to Heber, Utah, (it is so much easier from her to drop us off then to try to find each other in this huge America) where we wanted to end up on Saturday. We rode back from Heber to the Autry's from their, which was down canyon, down wind and much easier then we had originally planned. So we got up at 6 and did 48 miles back before it got too hot. Then we rode the 22 miles to complete the Saturday 'hiccup'. So yes we may be about 30 miles behind schedule but we should be able to catch up at some point. It has been such a joy and refreshing time being at the Autry's these last nites.