Jody – I set a lot of little goals to make it through this trip. Often my goal is just to make it to the next meal. One goal I’ve had is to make it to Santa Cruz and I’m so thankful I rode every mile here. I was doing really well riding all morning. There were some tough hills but it was interesting riding through San Francisco and going over the Golden Gate Bridge. On a long stretch of road after San Francisco, I was riding with my head down and looked up just in time to see I was going to hit a bright orange delineator. It scared me more than anything. It jarred me but I didn’t actually fall. I’m so thankful! We ate lunch around mile 55. After eating I was over taken with fatigue or something. I was so tired I just wanted to go to sleep. It was all I could do to start riding again and I knew it was still a long ride to Santa Cruz. God helped me get there. It was great to be able to ride a lot of that with Dave, Craig, and Steve. So now I have a couple days off. Bliss! My priorities in the next couple of days consist of sleeping, doing laundry and stretching so I can ride again on Sunday. Thanks for the prayers and support! I’ve needed it.

Craig – The thrill of bicycling over the Golden Gate Bridge was amazing.  When we stopped in the middle of the bridge to take a photo, we were able to speak with a construction man who was getting into a harness to begin his daily inspection of the bridge’s bolts.  That would certainly be an interesting job.  Once over the bridge, we rode up and over the San Francisco hills into the Park and then to the ocean where we would head south towards Santa Cruz, CA.  During the afternoon, I found myself just thanking that Lord for tailwind that helped us get into Santa Cruz on time.  I know it sounds dramatic, but I really feel as if the Lord took his hand and pushed us with the tailwind towards Santa Cruz.  The team was running behind schedule in the morning.  At 11:00a.m. we still had 70+ miles to go for the day.  The Lord just showed us that despite the hills, global fatigue and afternoon heat, He enabled us to complete our goal and get everyone in to Santa Cruz before dark.  Everyone is looking forward to our first day off tomorrow. While Mommy attends the conference, Josh and I will be on the hunt for some boneless buffalo wings. 

Josh – As we head south, I’m thankful the heat keeps me warm on the long, fast descents out of the mountains.  I was a little cold throughout Washington, Oregon and Northern California.  Today, I was able to see wild turkeys, horses and cows.  Daddy and I rode through several U-Pick pumpkin, strawberry and kiwi patches today.  Mommy and I are really looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.  Thank you God for keeping us safe.

Kristi - I was thankful to be able to ride 17 miles today. It was a pleasant fun ride with a tail wind. Then to top off my day they had dinner waiting for us when we arrived at the WACA conference…. Yippee. No cooking for me tonight.