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.

Forever Inspired

Judie and Mike! My heros!


Today we are in Longview, TX and it is our last day in this wonderful state. Tonight at our sponsored dinner, I was absolutely in awe of two people I met and heard speak. Judie Moffett and Mike. They are both apart of POWER, People On Wheels Encouraging Responsibility. Judie is actually the Executive Director and Co-founder. They are both paralyzed from the waist down and they shared their stories with us. I don't know what it was, but while they spoke and spoke about what an amazing thing we were doing, all I could think about was how inspired and amazed I was at these people! Something just shot through my soul and I have never been so inspired in my entire life. I could not ever imagine waking up in a hospital bed and not ever being able to walk again. And that could happen to anyone. But the strength, encouragment, positive attitude, and happiness they showed was life changing. In that moment they were talking this whole summer seemed to all come together for me. Knowing the struggles and tough times they went through, I feel that I will never let anything stop me from accomplishing things that I put my mind to. When they became paralyzed, they did not just give up on life, but instead they strive to create a better environment for others. They want to make sure that others in wheelchairs have the same opportunities as everyone else. I am still trying to work out the emotions and feelings I experienced this evening. But I know that it is a feeling that I will never forget. The website is http://powerincorporated.org/ if anyone would like to know more.

Life is short, make the best

I have survived another day of cycling to Terrell, Texas. I just realized that I forgot to talk about our awesome wheelchair basketball game in Ft. Worth. We played a 7 time national champs team. We started off playing pretty well, but then it went down hill fast! haha. They were amazing! I am amazed at the abilities of how good these guys play basketball in a wheelchair. These guys are my heros. The best player was from Charlotte and he was in the wheelchair basketball scene in Talladega Nights. Watching him play was extraordinary.

Life flies by. I definitely want to make the most out of my life and accomplish as much as I can having no regrets. This summer has really opened my eyes about this. I want to get as much out of life as I possibly can. I want to learn, live, and grow. I want to live a life for others, hoping to pass my love for life on to them.

Oh and by the way, my camera broke while it was in my pocket during the intense game of Whirley ball :( Hopefully I'll be able to find some way to get another so I don't miss out on picture memories of my final weeks...So if I don't post pictures for a while that is the reason.

Joey H.

Todd playing with Luke during our friendship visit
Performing the Kids on the Block puppet show.

Our escorts to our Arlington arrvial

Amazing
Mayor Francene Allen-Noah of Snyder, TX and our Project Manager Nick Hoffman

Texas, almost over already?

So we just ended our free day in Dallas. At this point all of us are all pretty shocked by the reality that we are only in Texas two more days. This was the state that all of us were dreading because we spent the most time here. Now we are almost through it! We have been told by previous riders that once we get out of Texas the rest of the summer flies by. Today we had an awesome friendship visit at a school for children with disabilities ages 1 to 6. We got to the school where there were a ton of kiddy pools set up and all the kids came out to play in them. They were so much and all them were so happy. I just stood there watching how happy they were and how much they were just like any other child their age. All of the kids put such a big smile on my face. We also ate lunch with them in their classrooms, which was so much fun. A few of them were being taught to eat themselves and they made quite a mess!

Afterwards we had another friendship visit at a pool with a couple water slides. It was nice just to relax and have some brotherly bonding. We ended the day with a sponsored dinner by a previous South Route JOH cyclist, Randy, from 1996 and another Pi Kapp alumni. They were great! We played Whirley ball which is like a mix between bumper cars and lacrosse. It was a blast! Randy brought his photo album from South Route ride and it was awesome to see the places that we had come from.

I hope that everyone is still enjoying our posts and sorry again that we are not able to write more often. It is unfortunate because I feel that I cannot always find the words to describe the experience that I am having. This summer has absoluntely changed my life and I wish that everyone knew how amazing it is. This summer I am reading Three Cups of Tea which is about a man, Greg Mortenson, who has built several schools in the rural areas of Pakistan (There is so much more to it than this, but this is the basic summary). But reading about Greg's experiences, mixed with mine from this summer as well as my previous service trips, I have definitely realized that this is where God wants me and He has shown me the importance of service and community.

Well it is about bedtime so I must be off.

Joey H.

New Mexican sunrise. Last day in NM.

Joe's Boot Shop. The South team has made it tradition to stop here on the Texas border to buy cowboy apparel.

Texas is big!

So I finally made it to Texas. We have been here for 3 days now. I am enjoying myself. We have amazing sponsors here and our lodging has yet to be in a high school gym! The hospitality we are receiving is absolutely great! We are also having some great friendship visits! Experiencing these communities and the generosity has really lifted my spririts with humnanity. I have realized that media makes things seems so bad out in the world. But there is still so much good.

So Texas is pretty much exactly how I pictured it to be. Flat. Farms. Windmills. Oil Drills. And Cowboy hats. We have not had a day off in a while now, since Roswell. We still have 3 more days til we get our day off in Dallas. I am definitely ready to give my legs a rest. Especially after tomorrow because we have 110 miles!

The days have been going great. South team listens to a lot of Taylor Swift on our free time. There was also a scorpion in the washer yesterday that I washed my clothes in. That was a little creepy. I have also been enjoying some beautiful sunrises. The days seem to be really flying by now. I also can't believe that we are over the halfway point in the trip. It is hard to believe that over a month ago I was riding across the Golden Gate Bridge getting ready to cycle across the US with a bunch of guys that I didn't know. I am also pretty thankful because I still have not had any major problems with my bike and I have only had two flats!

I suppose I should go and get some sleep.

-Joey

Over Half Way Done!

So we're in Pratt, Kansas, and we just got back from an awesome friendship visit with the Arrowhead West, filled with food, games, and lots of Karaoke! Our guys had a blast, and I had a ton of fun hanging out with Barbara. I also found out that I got my picture on the front page of the local paper with a man named Josh that I met at a friendship visit we had yesterday in Dodge City. There was a neat article about Josh and I and the Journey of Hope, which put a big smile on my face.

This week has been rough, leaving Colorado and entering the very scenic Kansas. We have not had a day off for seven days so far, and will not get one for one more day, and let me tell you, seven days on the bike is not very pleasent for the bottom area. Its also been very hot lately, which is good since i get to work on my tan lines, but it makes the riding a little more difficult. Even the locals said its not usually this hot, but oh well, what can you do?

We're over the 2000 mile mark of the trip, and just over the halfway mark for days left. I believe its day 39 of 72. We're all getting pretty excited , but we're also shocked at how fast it has been flying by. The only hard part that seems to not go by quickly is the time away from Ashley. I've been missing her for a while now, but she always has something inspirational to say, and it gets my spirits back up. Thats just one of the reasons why I love her.

I'll put some pictures up, but there won't be too many, seeing as we're in Kansas and there is nothing to take pictures of.

This is Josh, the guy who shared the fame with me on the front page of the paper.
We got to the Kansas state line...Yay?
This was at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO. We got to take a tour and meet some Olympic athletes, and see where they train. Super cool!
Our huge police escort in Colorado SPrings, taking us to the Olympic Training Center. Yea...We run red lights...No big deal.
After meeting with the North team in Denver, we were taken to the Invesco Field, where we were greeted with a huge welcome sign on the Jumbo Tron.
Did we just bike over 2000 miles?
Danny's arm wrestling with one of the clients at Arrowhead West, and it turns out he lost. Maybe he should stick to cycling...
This is Barbara, who ate lunch and talked with me for the entire friendship visit. She was super nice, and wouldn't stop telling me how nice i was and how proud of us she was. Barbara loves the rubber bracelets that have words on them, so i gave her my Push America one so she could remember us.

New Mexico pictures!

Getting ready for our arrival into Carrizozo led by the fire truck.
Between the Blackstocks.
Calendar at the New Horizon Center! Feeling the love.
Some good singing for the night!

Me and Todd
We biked on the famous Route 66!

An Albuquerque sunset

Albuquerque, NM

New Mexico is still going well. We had a day off in Albuquerque yesterday which was nice to sleep in a couple extra hours. Most of us were glad to have the day off as well because we needed to do some laundry! We also went to the zoo after lunch. For dinner we had a friendship visit and dinner at ARCA, an organization that serves people with disabilities. It was a lot of fun! There was a ton of food and we served snow cones and had pinatas. We also listened to some great singing by a couple of the participants.

A couple days ago when we arrived in Albuquerque I had quite an eye opener. We had a friendship visit at Casa Angelica. This was the first organization that we have visited where the participants were completely disabled and many of them needed someone to be there arms and legs. This trip keeps opening me up to new things and everyday is a completely new experience. I have grown so much as a person and I'm so thankful to be exposed to all the new things I am experiencing.

Tonight we are somewhere in the middle of no where New Mexico. We are in a town called Carrizozo. It is a really nice small town of 1,500. We had a really good arrival at New Horizon Developemental Center where we had lunch with all the residents of the center. Tomorrow we have a 90 mile ride to Roswell! I'm pretty excited about this one. Hopefully I don't get abducted. But that would be an interesting story to come back and tell I guess. haha.

-Joey H.

Salt River Canyon, AZ

Pace line for the day!
Me and J-Rob at the top of the canyon
The road that we started our 5 mile climb up is visible here. It was a long climb!


The switchback road that we road down is slightly visible in this picture!

Fun in the sun...

So the past few days of cycling have been quite a challenge! The day we left Tempe, AZ we rode to Globe, AZ which was about an 85 mile ride. The second part of the ride was some pretty steep, long climbs. The sun was also blazing down on us the entire day, which completely drained me. We spent our 4th of July in Globe. I went with four or five guys to the gas station where we all bought slurpies and ate at Jack in the Box listening to fireworks in the distance! It was a pretty exciting night.

After an early wake up and late getting our stuff to the vans (meaning we have to wake up earlier the next day) on July 5th, we made our way to Lakeside (Show Low) AZ. Now this was the suprise of the trip so far. Immediatelty after leaving Globe we began a tremendous climb up mountains for 95 miles! Of course I knew that there were mountains in AZ, but I didn't realize that there were beautiful forests and an elevation high enough where there is snow in the winter! We got to the top of the mountain to Lakeside about 7,000 feet and it was absolutely beautiful. There were some amazing views where we biked today. Of course at the same time it was an extremely diffcult day. We were speaking to a guy during our sponsored dinner and he said we probably climbed about 10,000 feet because we climbed and dropped so much. One of the most shocking parts was we got to a ledge at one point and dropped about five miles down into a canyon! It was one of the most exhilerating and exciting rides of the trip, but at the same time speeding down a canyon and looking over the guardrails seeing the straight drop was extremely scary. And also what goes down must come up. So we climbed five miles back up the canyon where the crew met us with lunch which was a relief. Once we were finished with dinner me and a few guys put our air mattresses outside and slept under the stars. It felt amazing outside and I felt like I was back in WV during some summer nights sleeping outside on my trampoline. We had a 4:30 am wake because we had a 105 mile day to Zuni, New Mexico. We were all pretty excited to finally get into a new state, but not really excited for century ride. It turned out that the ride was not bad. It was pretty flat, the only thing that was bad was of course the sun beating down on us all day. Zuni was an interesting town. I am pretty sure it was an Indian resveration and the majority of people leaving there were Indians and many living under the poverty line.

Today we rode 75 miles to Grants, NM. Once again, I was shocked by the scenery of NM. In Zuni there were giant plateaus in the distance and was what I imagined NM to be like. But today we climbed up a few hundred feet, where we rode past the continental divide. Right now we are in the cool mountains. It was another beautiful ride today seeing a different side of NM than I thought. Tomorrow we ride to Albuquerque. I hope that everyone is enjoying the blog so far. I can't believe that we only have a little over a month left of the summer. Time seems to be flying by!

-Joey H.

On our way . . .

Joey gives us a look at the scenery in Nevada as he and his Journey of Hope team make their way from the west coast to Washington, D.C.

Check out more videos of Joey's journey at www.youtube.com/joeyanderic.

Proclamation of Push America Day in Nevada

Proclamation of Push America Day by Mayor Mark Nexson in Lake Havasu (first video) and Councilman Steve Wolfson of Las Vegas (second video)

Max, the best crew chief.

Phoenix, AZ

Crew stop