Merideth's Thoughts
WOW! That one word sums up the trip for me! An experience like no other!
A day before we started, I remember being so nervous for the trip worrying about whether I packed all the right stuff, if my bike was ready and even if i was ready! Finally the morning of the trip came.
Nearly forgetting my pillow and sleeping bag, we finally packed all of my stuff in my van and started our way to NCHS. Surprisingly we were finally not the last ones to arrive to something- thanks to the Kremas. Once everybody arrived I began to become more and more excited. Riding in the van to Chicago was fun, too bad i didnt guess the correct arriving time. Finally we arrived and the 6 days of riding was about to begin. But then i had to go to the bathroom so things were delayed a bit. Finally we departed. The lake and city were gorgeous and watching people's faces stare at our line of baby blue shirts gave me goose bumps-or was that Michelle's odor? Riding through Northwestern's campus was also pretty sweet! We had a nice long lunch- and got yelled at for being on the rocks- and then made our way closer to Zion. Almost ,we stopped at a park, and PJ-being his cool self- called out to the kids that we were playing soccer. Surprisingly haveing enough energy, most of us joined in- well except Aaron who was out cold on the grass. After a long faught game we headed back on our way to Zion and set up camp. Being my first time ever camping I sordof laid back and watched them all have a good time trying to set up the tent. Once we accomplished this it was time to go swimming in lake Michigan! I never knew water could be sooooo cold! But thanks to Ali and her hair, she persuaded me to "Dive" in. It was definately worth it- especially hearing Ali scream everytime she dove in. After a nice, well... ok shower, we headed back to camp to make dinner. I made my moms special taco salad as others pitched in to make the pasta and bread. The food was awesome! Soon after though i was so tired and i fell asleep.
I was the first awake the next morning- partially because i really had to go to the batheroom but was too lazy to walk- so i read. Us girls all wore white tanks and wrote out theme for the day on them which turned out to be Any Dream Will Do. I had a little scare in the morning when i couldnt find my lock key. I hid the key so that no one would find it and ended up fooling myself! Then we left. Day 2 was definately my weakest point on the trip. When we arrived in Wisconsin you could deifnately tell because the hills began to get larger and larger. Luckly we had Ali's radio to help keep things up beat, and the Krema's encouragement there to help us up the hills. Once we got to lunch i think that we were all pretty dead- or maybe that was just me...but i got to eat so that made things more enjoyable. We then reached the nursing home where we got to work with Alzheimers patients. This experience was really cool and really opened my eyes and heart to them and the world. It was neat watching others interact with them and seeing them open up more to our games and talks with them. The hills continued to come the rest of the day and i turned my thoughts to God to help me get to the top, and things seemed to go more smoothly. Finally we reached the second camp sight-with a heated pool! Setting up camp the next day went much more smoothly but we had to put up the rain cover because we sensed storms coming. After a nice game of ultimate, we showered and got ready for dinner. Things started to get more fun as we began to get to know eachother better. Dinner was awesome! Mmm ...turkey dogs.... and watermelon....and spitting seeds into Ali's hair....quite the time! As dark came we all piled into the girls tent to plan for the church visit the next day. This was probably the most memorable experience of the trip. Crammed into the tiny space we sang songs, played family feud and bonded with eachother. Mr S. wouldnt let us forget who was winning the Feud game, and Kristin, David and Brian did a swell job leading in the songs. After that i got to give my devotion which went really well thanks to a wonderful group of listeners. Once the group tent thing was over it was time for a midnight walk. We tried to go far but could only manage going in circles. Soon i got tired again and went back to the tent.
In the middle of the night i was awoken by the first rain drop and right away closed the windows. I guess the girls got lucky with Brians tent because the one that the guys had was like mesh and apparently leaked all over. The storm was pretty loud and i was afraid that Ali was going to cry or something, but she was fine.
Finally morning came and so did the sun. I was psyched because apparently only the first 20 miles were going to be hilly, and from then on it was flat. So of course on the very last hill what happends, i get an asthma attack! Atleast i was ok, but i was disappointed in myself and my lungs. We then reached the trail that we would be taking all the way to the church. This was the most drawn out part of the trip! and everyone decided to go really fast. I also had to put up with hearing shawn, ali, michelle and kristin sing- the worst was "99 Bottles of Milk on the Wall". At lunch i ate a lot! But man was it worth it! We also then put on the theme song and Liz Kristin and I came up with some serious dance moves! We then went about 18 miles til we stopped for a break- that was definately one of the most tiring rides! With about 5 miles left til we would reach Deerfield, me and some of the girls left early to ride with "Herby" aka PJ. We learned more valuable things during this ride, including never to put a snail up your nose- right Mr S? Finally we all reached the town and rode in to the church together. With applause all around we sped in and came to a hault as Matt fell off of his bike. The church people were SOOO welcoming and i would have never expected anything like that! I then got to eat a much anticipated meal.. mmm .. a sloppy joe and ice cream! nothing beats that! My host family, the Conners, were so welcoming and i was very lucky to have been paired with them. Mrs Conner was very nice and must have smelled how bad I smelled- or maybe Michelle- and offered to do my laundry! that was definately another highlight! I then got to shower in an ACTUAL indoor, warm shower and get clean! We then went back to the church for our service. Me and Shawn had a blast helping lead the game and we think that everyone else had as good of a time. The songs were fun as well! I was so proud of everybody for all of our hard work that we put into the service, and thank you to Ali and Aaron for their inspirational and deep testimonies. I think that we all enjoyed them. After the service we all had a blast at the Community center. Ali and i battled it off in Tony Hawk, lets just say that i let her win... then came the second serving of ice cream for the day. And much creativity was shown when the basketball tourny was set up- with a chair and filing cabinet! I went undefeated- beating ALI- HAHAHA! But then it was time to go. I went back to the Connors and we had a nice conversation with eachother which really made me comfortable and thankful to have met such a wonderful family. The girls and I stayed up and watched the Wedding Singer til about midnight until i got too tired. It was nice being able to sleep on a bed again!
The next morning we all met at the church again. We enjoyed a wonderful meal provided by the kind people of Deerfield, especially those chocolate chip muffins! After many pictures and prayers, we all met outside and said goodbye to the community for their great hospitality and to Mrs. Hilger for her great van driving. We then left for our longest day of the trip! Yes there were some more hills... hill after hill after hill... but truthfully, things seemed to be easier! Luckily my natural navigational skills took us the wrong direction- into a short cut that cut off a few miles! GO ME! At about the 30 mile mark we fiqured maybe 10 more miles til lunch... soon those 10 miles turned into a LONG 20 mile ride until we reached Delavon- or something. All i know is the place had a huge giraff. Lunch was great again, and Shawn took a nice long nap on the grass. As Aaron David and I were in some sandwhich place we saw the coolest gumball machine ever. Then David scared me when he said that he couldnt find his bike. i think that i was the only one that didnt know what was going on or something because i was freaking out as well! Oh well. Luckily we only had about 20 miles left of our long day. We finally reached lake Geneva. It was beautiful there!!! Us girls decided to secretly race the boys in setting up the tent the fastest, and we totally jinxed ourselves because as soon as we had it up-yet nit staked in- we took pics making fun of the boys' progress. Little did we know that we lost out stakes... I definately had a new experience with the outhouses... mmm... ya and me, Ali, Michelle, PJ, Mr K and Mr S all bathed in the lake- very refreshing! Once done with that Ali left her swim suit in the bathroom and we left. We all emptied out the van and piled our bodies into it. We went to a wonderful restaurant where everyone, but me and the adults, got pizza. We all drew pics of eachother on our placemats. I drew Ali on mine- with her odor rising from it. Mr Chandler was very nice and paid for us all! Thanks again! We then decided that it was time to get some ice cream. We walked up and down the strip. This was also a great time- especially Aaron getting a little to close to David and all of us "Bouncing off the 'WHALL' again". The ice cream was mmm good. and we headed back to camp. At camp we said our prayers and some slept as others went in their tents. But really no one could sleep because Aaron had his many deep talks about %s and lungs that kept everyone thinking.
The next morning we were all pumped because it was to be our shortest biking day and instead we would be canoeing 10 miles! The morning ride went pretty fast and as me and Aaron put it, the closer and closer we got to the canoes, the more they tasted like chicken! Finally we arrived. Me and Ali somehow got stuck together. For a while we were definately the Herby's of canoeing but because of a tipping incident of Brian and Karl, we were able to actually catch people~ After about 2 hrs, we found a good place to eat lunch. Lunch was great, and i guess Michelle and Aaron had a good time at the bathroom! well maybe just Aaron! We then left again for the next 5 miles. We found this great tarzan rope and Shawn decided to be a stunt master and fall flat on a rock! She's good! Some cows ran in our way and Ali screamed some. We got stuck on a log and i fell in and got my shorts wet! blah! Then me and Ali accomplished our ultimate goal, we attached our canoe to Shawns and Aaron. Man were things easier~ ya thanks Shawn! Finally we reached the boat landing and got back on out bikes. We rode the 17 more miles and finally reached the applause of our parents awaiting us at PJs place. I couldnt wait to eat! But first we went swimming and had some pretty fierce raft battles. Karl got a bit scrapped up- I guess he just couldn't handle it. After a while it was time to eat and shower. We then all hudled around for probably my favorite part of the trip! I loved just sitting and remembering all the fun memories that occured on the trip. What a good time. Then came night when we all went to the beach!! Awesome time! The bugs were brutal though! But Michelles back messages were great! It would have been nicer to get more sleep then i did but oh well! I still don't get how my sleeping bag got stolen- thank you Aaron..grr...oh well. And Shawn with her random moan! Geeze that scared me~ya. I awoke in the middle of my sleep when my feet went numb for being up on the bench as i was sleeping. Not a good feeling! Well we all prepared for our last day of riding and said our goodbyes to PJ. We took some more photos and went on our way. With out anything significant happening the whole trip, this day was filled with it all. First, my dad flipped over the handlebars, scraping up his elbow and tearing stuff in his thumb- and this time it actually wasnt caused by Brian! Then later there was the first flat of the trip by Mr J. While heading to lunch, I guess Jenny wanted some revenge on Michelle or something because they collided after Michelle and her odor ran into a pole. This led to another flat and someother broken thing that i dont know what it is called. Later we reached Funway Park where we were to eat. We had to wait like 10 minutes for my dad and Mr k but then we ate. After eating many people did some go karts while me and Kristin watched. There must have been some hidden anger inside of everybody because man were they all rough! We then got ready to finish off the last leg of the trip- 17 miles til home~ At about 7 miles later, I took a leap of faith and ate my first candy bar of the trip (half). Mmm was it good! Then i got what i had coming to me when everyong decided to be really funny and dump water on me! Oh well. The last 10 miles were a breeze and it was sordof sad because we all didn't really want to be apart from one another yet, we were having too much fun! But a sense of closure and goose bumps were felt by all as we cruised into the park across from the Jandrine's house with all the parents awaiting our arrival. And what a perfect ending when Matt fell over (again). The last pictures were taken and we then tried to soak Mr S but really were unsuccessful when he intercepted the water and turned it back on Ali instead. Oh well that was just as amusing. Our last hugs were given and we all left knowing that we had accomplished something so wonderful.
This experienced has been a life changer! I am so happy that i was able to share such a great experience with all these wonderful people! You all provided such a joy and inspiration in my life and these memories will never leave~! Thank you all for taking the leap of faith and diving in, without us all diving in together, the mission would not have been as great as it was! Thanks again to everyone!