On The Road Again

We have been back on the road a week since Switzerland and already we have been overwhelmed with blessings from God each pedal of the way.

On these long 40 to 50 mile days God sure has given us the strength we need in creative ways.  One lady pulled over as we were resting on the side of the road and gave us frozen blueberries and a donation for the refugees.  Another lady stopped to take pictures of us riding by and when we shared our cause she not only donated but bought us cold drinks at a nearby gas station. 

A man drove by slowly in a truck vidoeing us on a busy road.  Dustin rode along beside him and handed him a card and he handed back a donation, our wheels never stopping.

We stopped at an antique shop along the Decatur Highway in Alabama for a little break.  Turns out Fred Hunter from Absolutely Alabama (absolutelyalabama.com) on Fox 6 Birmingham was there doing a story on this shop.  They liked our unicycles and asked if they could catch up with us down the road in a few hours and do a story on us.  And they did!  It was a great couple hours spent with them interviewing and recording us from the side of the road, while driving alongside and in front of us and they even gave Dustin the camera to shoot us riding along. 

We rolled into Cullman AL without knowing where we were going to stay for the night since our advance calling yielded no donation anywhere in town.  We were headed to where we had found the best rate but stopped in at Comfort Suites to see how we'd fare.  The receptionist made one call and they donated a beautiful room for us!

We had been strung along all day by a hotel in Florence AL who thought they could donate room.  We were headed there until a call at 6p when they said they had no room for us.  We stopped at a picnic table to figure out what to do, feeling like we had run out of options.  Just then the phone rang and it was Lauren Schifano who lives in Florence and will be riding her unicycle across Alabama soon (www.uniacrossbama.blogspot.com), inviting us to stay the night with her and her fam!  What an answer to prayer and God's perfect timing!

It was nearly the same story in Selmer TN as Cullman AL. Stopped at one hotel and the price was high.  Went to the next hotel and they were expecting us!  Greeted us by name and said the First Baptist Church had covered our night.  The church had a wrong number for us so we missed the memo but God didn't!  We connected with the youth pastor that evening  and enjoyed some delish Mexican food with him and his fam at the #1 restaurant in TN!  Thanks Chandlers!

Katie picked up a tack leaving Florence and we discovered it shortly down the road. Dustin patched it but our top-of-the-line pump didn't like the 65 psi of the big wheel and the connecting threads melted from the heat of the volume.  Again, in God's providence our route that day happened to be along the www.handy100.com so it was a perfect day to have a problem with the pump that's supposed to solve our problems.  We made it to a ride rest stop set up along the route where they had a pump, snacks, drinks and super friendly, helpful guys from The Shoals Bike Club to lend a hand. 
Oh yes, God is watching over us!