Day Three - In the Moment

Today was another beautiful day. Mostly clear until we got closer to Big Sur then it got foggy and cool. The Daily Route Guide had us scheduled to ride 37 miles but we did 43. We started in Monterey and detoured through 17 Mile Drive (a scenic route). We saw the most beautiful beach with one big sand dune which went up almost 15 feet high. We passed by Pebble Beach too. The deer and houses looked like a fairy tale. We then went to Carmel. fifteen of us found a coffee shop and took a well deserved break. We mostly rode along the coast. Lots of pictures were taken. There was one long climb and getting to the top made it all worth it. The view of the Pacific Ocean was crystal clear. Then on the way down, the wind was blowing 55 miles/hour on our faces. Today was quite easy and relaxed. Tomorrow, however, is supposed to be one of the hardest days. One guy approached Dwight and thanked him for being so open about Christiana because he lost his daughter 12 years ago and has had a hard time talking about her. Please pray for us.

We wanted to take a moment to share what Dwight and Dr. Balboni talked about at the opening ceremonies on Friday evening. Dr. Balboni gave a brief description of the medical side of things. She explained when Christiana was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis and when she was diagnosed with Juvenile Dermatomyositis. She then mentioned how she had to call us in the middle of the night to tell us that we had to bring her to the hospital immediately. Dwight then talked about how Christiana felt the last time she was able to go outside. After weeks of not being able to go outside due to her time in ICU and overall medical instability, we were finally given the okay to wheel her outside. We wrapped her up in warm blankets and went on our way to the third floor outdoor patio. As we walked out, Christiana commented on how good it smelled. Someone was baking cookies. When we got outside, she closed her eyes and said, “Listen to that!” We couldn’t hear what she heard until a few seconds later and noticed an airplane approaching at a distance. She then said, “Do you see that?” We looked in the distance and saw traffic lights and thought that was what she was talking about. But it wasn’t. She was pointing to Christmas lights in the distance and was just fascinated by them. Shortly after that she said, “Do you feel that?” She closed her eyes and felt the cold breeze brushing up against her cheeks. Our time at the patio was the most incredible ten minutes and without realizing it, Christiana talked about most of her senses. It just shows you how we take life for granted and we must stop to enjoy the moment. Dwight mentioned to the bikers that as they drive from SF to LA, they should take the time to be “in the moment” and appreciate all their surroundings.