Sean's Big Day Part Two

As you may remember Sean's first big day of our trip was his birthday which we celebrated in Raleigh North Carloina. Well, today was his second big day. Team RFA was fortunate enough to visit CSAAC, Community Services for Autistic Adults and Children, in Montgomery County, Maryland. Upon arrival the six of us were invited to play BINGO with a group of students in one of the CSAAC classrooms...It was in this arena that Sean shined proving his dominate BINGO skills. The first few games were won by students with Autism who responded with enthusiasm and ear to ear smiles. The next three rounds were dominated by none other than our own Sean Streich. Not only did he win, he dominated the field. As much as I would enjoy bashing Sean and portraying him as an ungraceful champion, I must point out the fact that Sean only claimed two out of his three victories. A little embarassed by his streak of goodluck, after his third win Sean smoothly slid his board in front of Pedro, one of the CSAAC students. Pedro's face lit up when Sean informed him that they won the round of BINGO as a team. Pedro and Sean then picked out a yellow balloon as their prize. Although most people assumed they chose yellow because it matched Pedro's hat, the other five RFA team members knew that the real reason is that yellow is the color of Sean's lucky stuffed animal that he brought with him on the trip.

On a serious note, we had a great time meeting the dedicated staff and enthusiastic students in the CSAAC family. We thoroughly enjoyed our day and were impressed by all CSAAC is doing for those in the Autism community. To learn more about CSAAC and their many great programs check out their website at www.csaac.org.

After we finished with lunch and a tour of CSAAC we hit the road and skated 35 miles towards Baltimore. Although we are getting useto the grind of skating 30-40 miles a day, the hills of Maryland proved to be quite the challenge. The entire skate consisted of tough climbs followed by exhilirating downhills. As many of you may know, this constant change of pace and intensity make 5 miles seem like 10. As we forced our burning legs to propel us up the hills we could not help but draw inspiration from those individuals we saw smiling just hours earlier at CSAAC.

Also, I would like to give a special thanks to Mike Hickey, president of the American Special Hockey Association, for taking the six of us out for dinner tonight. We (well I cant say the same for the girls) enjoyed talking hockey and learning more about the ASHA. We look forward to working with you and the ASHA for the remainder of our trip and beyond. Thanks Mike!

Off to bed...check back tomorrow

Best Wishes,

Carson S.