Tour Schedule | Main Page | About the Sponsor
|
August 10, 1999 |
|
Brian and I linger this morning, soaking in the setting. Clyde and I lazily hang out after Brian finally leaves around 8:45. I need to get to a cellular area to make press calls, but I can't seem to muster the interest to leave this place. To capture the beauty of this place, I mount my bike, juggling video camera and digital camera, and set off toward the garden areas, but soon realize that multi-tasking is not such a good idea. After snapping a few photos, I ditch the photography efforts and just ride. My minutes are numbered. But I think of our friends, Shelley and Jeff Alperin who are joining us on the coast in Florence on Wednesday. With tremendous audacity I try to take control of their travel itinerary but am thwarted when the front desk clerk declares "Booked 'til November" Drats. I gather my belongings around the RV and head out toward Eugene, meeting Brian for lunch. He is completely disdains all items on the lunch menu. Tired of everything at this point, I dismiss his grouchiness and know in 2 days it will transform in to euphoria at the finish line. This I have learned on the trip. Heading toward Eugene, my muscles start to constrict as the traffic volume and pace dramatically increase. Looking for the RV Park, my sonar seems highly tuned, and I actually can determine which direction is north. Making my way to the trailer park/rv facility is surprisingly easy, but the grounds are dense with mobile homes and I pray tonight there are no tornadoes. I calm my fears realizing tornadoes do not appear here. Whew. Our site with a river view sets up nicely as a psuedo office and I promptly call the media. The Register, the local newspaper, dispatches a photographer and reporter. Wayne, the photographer, more thorough than the one we hired for our wedding, diplomatically persuades me to get in the photo despite my protests. This kind man even delivered the printed newspaper, with several copies of the article to our door of the RV at 2 am, hot off the press! I believe the reporter, Sue, would become a friend if we moved to Eugene. She intuitively sensed our feelings and provoked interesting stories with her questions. "You should be a therapist I blurted out at one point of the interview! As we sat at the picnic table, immersed in the conversation, a woman walking her dog approached and announced she was mentally ill. She provided the history of her illness, and I later spoke with her to get the details of her life - at 44, she was the wife of a pastor, and had successfully taken her medication for 20 years. A full life she led, with a supportive spouse. A success story I needed to hear. Brian's brother was released today from
the institution where he'd been held for 2 years while he awaited
trial. |
Back to the home page of Cycle Across America for NAMI presented by Peachtree Settlement Funding