Preparing for Tomorrow's Beginnings

Today was a long day, beginning at a 4:30 A.M. wake up call, so we could leave the hotel by 5 for a television appearance on "Good Morning Jacksonville." I don't know about the other guys, but while skating around the studio I was worried that I was going to trip over the wires for the cameras. Leaving there around 7 in the morning (earlier than I usually woke up for school), we drove to visit with children at Bayview Elementary School. We then met up with the C.A.R.D. center to talk with local centers about the spectrum of the disorder. We learned about Laura Sanders' Little Star Center, which she began from the ground up. She is an extremely charismatic person who shows a passion for her students that I have never seen before, and it gives an excellent reinforced the reason we are skating all these miles, the children and those who help them daily. Marlena Fuller, who is the educational coordinator for C.A.R.D., was a fantastic person to meet and is a truly caring and enjoyable person.

We got back to the hotel, after lunch, around 3ish and I hit the pillow and slept soundly for about an hour. The guys woke me up abruptly for the convention at the Journey Church (set up by our local surrogate mom, Marianna McInytre). The showing was far greater than I ever expected and the people have all welcomed us with open arms. After the gathering, we went out to dinner at Barbara Jean's restaurant. I ate some of the best crab cakes I have ever had and a tuna steak that was just amazing. Everything to this point has just been fantastic, much better than I ever expected when we began this journey. It's now almost 10 P.M. and we are getting ready to begin the actual skating portion of the trip (40 miles tomorrow morning). Tatar is on the bed doing some reading and writing, while Streich is showering up and getting ready to hit the sack. Strang kicking back relaxing right now and watching a little television. I am off to get my blades ready for the haul tomorrow, shower and stretch before hitting the sack myself. Off to begin the trek tomorrow. Thank you very much to everybody for their support; keep up the good work everybody.

Best wishes,
Jason O.