End of the Road

Arriving in DC two weeks ago was by far the most amazing feeling I have ever experienced. We rode about 40 miles from Manassas to DC that day, and I did not want the ride to end. I remember being quite and reflecting on the whole summer. I thought about the places I went, the people I met, and the Pi Kapp brothers I rode with. There were so many feelings swirling through my mind that I could not concentrate on one thing for too long. All three teams staged up a couple miles from the capitol building about an hour before the arrival. I don't think any of us were really prepared to what we were about to experience. Riding into the capitol lawn with hundreds of friends, parents, and random bystanders lining the street to cheer us in is one of the best feelings in the world. It almost felt like a dream. My emotions went crazy and I have never been so proud of an accomplishment before. Walking up to the lawn, I saw on of my favorite sponsors from Lake Havasu, a group of amazing friends from Queens, and my parents and I almost started to cry. I did hold in all my tears though, which I can not say the same for many of my teammates. My whole team just started hugging each other and we didn't even have anything to say to one another because words could not explain our feelings. We all lined up in front of the capitol to listen to speakers and looking out infront us at the crowd was unbelievable. All I could think about was how I could not believe this summer was over and to see all the support we recieved from across the nation to come to our arrival was amazing! The rest of teh day was pretty surreal. I just kept thinking to myself that I could not believe it was all over. No more waking up in a gym with 32 other guys, no more 4:30 wake ups to cycle 100 miles, no more crew chief breakfast or lunches, no more daily friendship visits. Now that I have had a few days to sit and think about the summer, I have realized that this has been the best experience of my life. I have realized that there are experiences and people that we meet that will change our lives forever, and I definitely consider my life changed forever. Service is such an important part of living, and I will take what I have learned about service to others and carry that with me the rest of my life.

- Joey H.

End of the journey, but the beginning of a new perspective

I arrived today in the last state before DC. We are in Danville, Virginia. These last few days have been amazing. Our days have been jam packed and we have been visiting a lot of organizations. We also had an awesome arrival in Charlotte. I want to thank all my friends in the area that came to the arrival. It was great seeing them and also Amber Perrell from Queens Student Activities! We had a great dinner with both the Pi Kapp national office and Push America office with all the board members as well. It was hard to believe that I was already back in Charlotte. It feels like yesterday that I was in San Francisco on my practice ride.

We also had a great friendship visit and dinner at the ARC of High Point. We had a scavenger hunt with the participants in a museum which was a blast!

Also in the passed few days Bruce Rogers, the man who first rode across the US in '87, rode with us for two days. He is an amazing man. Coming out of Charlotte, Chad Coltrane, CEO of Push America, did a ride along to High Point. It was great riding with him and getting to know him a little bit more.

I am not sure if I am going to have internet again before Saturday, so I would go ahead and give some thanks. I would first like to thank all my sponsors again. This would not have been possible without your help. Trust me that the money is making a difference and bringing so much joy to those who need it! Your money is making people with disabilities' lives much more enjoyable because they have a community that they are able to go to and be themselves and that allows them to lead a normal life.

I would also like to thank Reena Arora, Queens marketing coordinator, for being so supportive and helpful with getting the word out about Journey of Hope. She has been amazing ever since she heard about what we were doing.

There have been so many people that have been so supportive this summer and I am extremely thankful for that. People with disabilities are apart of the largest minority than anyone can become apart of at anytime. I encourage everyone to try and get a better understanding of people with disabilities. They are no different than us and they can use all of our support. This summer has changed my life and the way I view people with disabilities. I am thankful that I have been given this opportunity and I am looking forward to share my story. Keep checking back in because I would like to write at least one more post about the arrival into DC. We will be arriving at the Capitol building around 11 am this Saturday August 15th. If anyone is in the area I would love for you to come out!

-Joey

Sign on the tree house at Camp Twin Lakes in Georgia.
Me, Owen, and Mike


Jason and Jill during bowling with Angels in the Alley.
Hank and I at UCP in Tuscaloosa.

Atlanta, GA

The days are getting closer til my arrival in Charlotte. I can't believe I'll be back in Charlotte this Saturday.

Our friendship visits in Atlanta have been great. Yesterday we had a friendship visit at an Autism Center and hung out with 2 to 4 year olds. It was a blast. I fell in love with Owen. He fed me lots of played food and he cooked for me and then we played cars. Great times! And yesterday we had the best sponsored dinner ever. Amazing steak, potato bar with all the fixins, and great rolls. Dr. Lori Ebbert who works at nationals sponsored it at her house. It was also great because an alumni from my Pi Kapp chapter, Scott Thomas, was there. I havn't seen him in a while and it was great to catch up. Last night I also got to see another alumni, Wes Pitts. He was president of our fraternity when I was a freshmen and he graduated in the winter then went off to Korea to teach for a year. So I have not seen him in a year and a half it was really cool catching up with him!

This morning we had a day of from riding and we went to Holy Comforter for a friendship visit. Holy Comforter is a church that focuses on the needs of people with disabilities and much of the congregation is people with disabilities. And this evening we went Bowling with Angels in the Alley. It was so much fun. I met Jason, Jill, and Jason's family. They were great. Jason is 33 and has CP. He kicked my butt bowling!

So I'm not sure if I'm going to have internet access again before Charlotte so I just want to invite everyone to our arrival this Saturday, August 8th. It is scheduled for 11:30 at the Pi Kappa Phi National Headquarters, 2015 Ayrsley Town Blvd. Suite 200 Charlotte, NC 28273. I would recommend getting there earlier though just in case anything changes. If something changes sooner I'll let everyone know. But I hope anyone in the Charlotte area is able to make it!

Don't Count the Days, Make the Days Count

Well there is less than two weeks of one of the most amazing summers I have ever had. I feel that I am definitely making the days count as well. I am having a blast cycling and everything else we are doing. Today we rode 120 miles from Birmingham, AL to Carrollton, Georgia. I never thought I could have so much fun cycling 120 miles in a day! But I did. It is really hard to believe that I am already in Georgia and on Saturday I'll be back in Charlotte. These last few days have been pretty rainy. On our way to Birmingham we got caught by a down pour. It was a blast to ride in though!

In Tuscaloosa, AL, during our lunch friendship visit with UCP, I met an awesome kid named Hank. Hank has cerebral palsy. He can not communicate very well verbally, but Hank had some an awesome personality! He has a new electric wheelchair and he flies on that thing. His smile could light up the world. I was able to speak with his mom and grandma as well, and both of them seemed like extremely loving people. The people I am meeting are definilely having a life long impact.

At the lake!

Sweet Home Alabama...

Well, since the last time I wrote I have passed through Louisiana and tomorrow I'll be leaving Mississippi and heading into Alabama. Time definitely has been flying by since leaving Texas. We were only in Louisiana for three days, but they were a good three days. The first day we arrived in Shreveport we visited the first Shriners Hospital where I met Lineth and her daughter. They were from Panama and they didn't speak English, so it was awesome because I sat and spoke with them for a good while and I practiced my Spanish. Lineth's daughter was brought up here by the Shriners to get surgery done on her legs. She is severely disabled, and the family wouldn't be able to pay for the surgery otherwise! It turns out that Lineth and her family live in a neighborhood close to where I lived during my semester abroad to Panama. Lineth got pictures of all of us and she gave me her address and told me that if I were ever in Panama that her family's doors are always open to me! Meeting and speaking with her really made me miss Panama a lot! That evening for dinner we went to a Pi Kapp alumni's house on the lake and had the best steak I've ever eaten. It was great to relax on the beautiful lake, especially knowing that I was going to have to wake up and ride over 100 miles the next day to Monroe, LA.

It turned out that the ride to Monroe was actually 117 miles. That was our longest day of the summer. It was a very long day. Unfortunately I did not fare too well because I must have not drank enough water and gotten dehydrated. The last 20 miles of the day I had the worst headache which made me sick to my stomach and I couldn't hold anything down when I finished the day. Thankfully though I didn't start feeling really bad til after the ride, because I was really glad to have finished. But I definitely couldn't have done it without the support of the guys I rode along with! I thought they were going to have to drag me the last 4 miles! But after a good nights rest and drinking lots of water I was ready to go the next day's 70 miles. In Monroe, we had a great dinner and friendship visit. There was line dancing and I even ate alligator for the first time which was fantastic.

The arrival into Mississippi was a wet one. We actually made it across the Mississippi River before it started down pouring though. But as soon as we got to the shelter across the river for lunch it started pouring! It was nice though, because this is the first time all summer that it has rained like this. Mississippi has also been really short. We had a great arrival/lunch/friendship visit in Jackson and today we had a great sponsored dinner in Meridian after our last century day of the summer.

Tomorrow we are headed to Livingston, Alabama. Once again these states are flying by. And by the way I still have not gotten a camera but I have managed to steal a few pics from the guys.

Joey H.