Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matt 11:28

I always begin my day by reading the inspirational quotes that Cheri and Jason put together for me. Today's was so fitting! (Of course I read the words of encouragement from Miss Kitty too!) I listened to the Lord and came to Him...I don't feel burdened, and maybe not weary...but I sure welcomed the REST! Thank you God. I started my day out with breakfast and immediately retreated to a outdoor swing to nap a bit.

Nap time is now over and I share a little girl-talk with Kirby. We discuss when to do laundry, when to clean and lube our bikes, etc. Many of the gals went shopping in Ft. Davis.

Did my laundry by hand...of course using shampoo and hung it out to dry. Had to occasionally chase the underwear around the yard - darn that wind! After laundry I took tires off the bike, checked them, lubricated and cleaned the chain and hopefully put it all back together right. I'm a little nervous about another flat as we never found the cause of yesterday's flat so it is possible that something is still in the tire. I just know Wheel and Sprocket or The Bicycle Doctor are going to offer me a job when I get back!

Meet Mike from Oregon. She is one of the top five bikers who I refer to as "The Big Girls" cause nothing stops them. What is so neat about Mike (and the other big girls) is they are so excited for everyone's accomplishments. Mike is such an encourager (nicely said), but the truth is she will NOT take no for an answer - so yesterday when we had used all of our energy and wanted to SAG the rest of the way in to the Lodge, Mike says - "get out of that car - you can do it - the hard part is over and the rest will be fun!" We knew better than to say no, so out we get and Mike & Alayne promised to bring us in. They were right, with the exception of one or two hills, the rest was high-flyin fun! I felt quite important coming into the lodge with two of "the big girls"!

The funniest part was Mike explaining (at dinner) to some of the other riders that bringing us in was like "rounding up cattle". She goes on to say, "first Sparkle (me) says she's getting cold so we have to wait for her to put on warmer clothes, then they fiddle with their tires, then they adjust the bike packs, then they decide they have to go potty......" and right before my eyes I see why we are the sweepers!

So here is the fun-flyin hill we got to come down - can you see the road coming down the top of mountain? It curves over to the left and you can just see a little bit more of it. It runs down to the canyon where the Lodge is.

The SAG driver got a picture of me towards the bottom of mountain. These last two pictures were yesterday's fun...but didn't get them till today.

Lessons I continue to learn:

• I could have left my nail polish at home - and to think I bought a new bottle of "hot pink" polish. I had to trim my nails way down so I could change tires - so who needs polish?


• I could have made by bag lighter by leaving home the make-up and straightening iron...who cares what I look like (as if you can't tell from the pictures)


• I didn't need to buy a book to read on the trip....I'm still on page one.


• Most importantly, I am learning to live in the moment! I find myself not wanting to think 5 miles ahead, or worrying about the big climb that is ahead...but just focus on what I am doing at the moment. I've also learned that nothing lasts forever and just when I think I can't go on....things change and I can make it (in this case - the road). I hope I can transfer this lesson to my life at home.


• Not really a lesson, but I continue to love and miss all of you at home...but am still glad I have the privilege of following one of my dreams!

Tomorrow we head for Marathon...I understand the city is very cute and the place we stay is supposed to be very unique. There is talk of headwinds....but hey, I'm just living in the moment and right now all is good!