Day 18

by   August 26, 2021 with No Comments

By David Freeze

Setting up the next long day!


  I’m sitting in the Outback Oasis Motel in Sanderson, Texas, getting ready to watch the Yankees and White Sox in the Field of Dreams game. I asked last night over the phone whether we could get the Fox channel to see the game.


    But back to the bike ride. I left Marathon this morning amid a light drizzle. The first 20 miles were steady moderate climbing. Still on US 90, the sky cleared and it warmed up. Then the terrain leveled out and even turned downhill on occasion as we, the bike and I, left the high mountains behind. I faced a steady headwind for the last five miles and it is still blowing outside. My ride today, from Marathon to Sanderson, included no other towns or anything especially interesting. No radio and sparse cell phone coverage. A car or truck about every 3-5 minutes, and lots of empty unmoving train cars. I cycled in the road.


    Everything about today was a setup for tomorrow. So few towns, or supply points, leave me with a challenging 90 mile ride tomorrow from Sanderson to Comstock. All I can count on is a water stop about midway, and a motel room already assured in Comstock. No food, if I don’t get there before 7pm. I plan to leave to ride at least the first hour in the dark tomorrow.


    Once I got to Sanderson today, my first stop was a truck stop convenience store. Remember my craving for ice. Then I went across the road to my motel. While checking in, I was treated to a live reptile exhibit. I learned that there are 65 varieties of rattlesnakes alone, many of which were in glass aquariums to see. One black rattlesnake was captured near my room just a couple days ago.


    Bar none, this is the best motel that I’ve stayed in on the trip. Good price, huge convenience store across the road, and wonderful motel owners. And plenty of available ice. It’s an old motel, but I love it.


    So, tomorrow will be tough. Then I have figure out how to proceed farther east into Texas. I would like to ride through San Antonio, although Adventure Cycling wants me to turn north and ride more hills. I will close out the third map panel out of seven total for the whole ride on Saturday morning. While the game is on tonight, I am going to study the Texas map. I’ve loaded up on snacks and water for tomorrow.


    That is it for today! Send those wonderful prayers, both for stamina and the right decisions. I appreciate all the support from readers as this journey continues. See you back here tomorrow!

Day 17

by   August 24, 2021 with No Comments

By David Freeze

Managing the route!


  It was very late last night when I got to Fort Davis, and nearly 10pm when I got in the room. Most everything still got done, but I will admit to dozing off near midnight when I was proofing that day’s update. Knowing that it would get daylight later this morning, my alarm got a snoozing, something I never, ever do.


    I rode back through town this morning and out on part of the route that I missed last night when Mindi Fires picked me up. I didn’t realize that had I kept riding, I would have had a huge hill to climb coming into Fort Davis. In a day that seemed to have no ending, I would have missed my motel had she not picked me up. The owner said he was about to close. This was one time, in retrospect, that I did the right thing getting that ride in the pitch dark.


  I did take the time to plan today’s route last night. For the next few days, there are serious supply issues, so many that I am having trouble sorting through them. My plan today was to ride the 56 miles to Marathon, so small that it has only about 500 residents. But it has at least a couple motels, the one that I chose is the Marathon Motel and RV Park. I have a very nice room but major problems with WiFi. I am going to submit the story and photos and then ride downtown for some food. Much better than I did last night.


    Recapping today, I wanted to see what Fort Davis looked liked and found it full of interesting shops and restaurants. It also has a unique attraction, the Fort Davis National Historic Military Site. Fort Davis is the best preserved frontier military outpost. It has lots of buildings and I could have spent have a day there. The fort was used from 1854 to 1891.


    Attached to my motel was a deli and sort of community gathering place. This place had my favorite egg, cheese and potato burrito ready made. They are so good! My favorite store was the one selling barbed wire art. The old bank and courthouse, both still in use, were spectacular. Someday, I will come back and spend a day there.


      I had yet another tough climb up and out of Fort Davis, and continued on US 118. The scenery was wonderful, the grading of the road and its shoulders were not. I also realized this morning that Texas in this area looks just like Montana. Always mountains on the horizon, appearing to be miles away.


    My only other town today was Alpine, a beautiful and busy place but still at only about 5,000 people. Nice people and while there, I called and made the deal for my room tonight. It was 32 miles from Alpine and I rode it in one minute less than 3 hours. One significant hill in the middle, but lots of good riding on US 90. I noticed a bigger presence of border patrol agents in the area. My mileage today was 56.


  I still stop at every historical marker, and I saw one border agent hiding there. They always seem to have long sight lines where anyone crossing the road would be seen.


    Just as today, if I had continued past Marathon, I had 55 more miles to go for a place to stay and supplies. Tomorrow may be similar but I will research it tonight.


    Mindi Fires is now a significant sponsor for my coast to coast journey, and I want to  welcome Wayne Cobb to the group as a new sponsor.


    A cloudy day, with a little drizzle, never got past the low 80s. Hoping for another like it tomorrow. Join me back here to see what happens!

A Season of Brokenness

by   August 23, 2021 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

     If you are in a season of brokenness, you may not want words of advice. You want breakthrough! I understand. I sure have been there. During those difficult seasons of my life, much of my day would be spent going through the motions, watching and wondering how others kept going about their daily routine as if everything was normal. For me – nothing felt normal. 

     You may be grieving, sick, discouraged, facing a difficult circumstance, in a broken relationship, or dealing with broken expectations. If so, read this with your heart, and let God apply it to your life. If you are not in a season of brokenness, read it with your mind, and use it to encourage others along your path.

       I haven’t walked in your shoes. I haven’t traveled your path. But… I can tell you what God has done for me. Here is some of what I have learned in my seasons of brokenness:

     *Brokenness shows God’s provision. Even the strongest can be broken. It is not a sign of weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9 – My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

     *Brokenness shows God’s plan. It is part of life. John 16:33 – In this world, you will have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

     *Brokenness shows God’s purpose. Your tests become your testimony. 2 Corinthians 4:17 – For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

     *Brokenness shows God’s providence. We don’t have all the information. Our knowledge is limited. God knows why. We don’t. Deuteronomy 29:29 -The secret things belong to the Lord.

     *Brokenness shows God’s power. We can’t fix it. God can. Psalm 147:3 – He heals the broken in heart.

     *Brokenness shows God’s proximity. He is near! Psalm 34:18 -The Lord is near to those with a broken heart.

     Vance Havner wrote, “God uses broken things. It takes broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to give rain, broken grain to give bread, broken bread to give strength. It is the broken alabaster box that gives forth perfume. It is Peter, weeping bitterly, who returns to greater power than ever.”

      Having been through seasons of brokenness in my life has more equipped me to help bear the burdens of others as they travel through difficult days. You see, my brokenness has become a weapon of usefulness, and my setbacks were actually  setups!

      Oh, how my heart hurts for those of you who may be struggling in your season of brokenness.  May your good days slowly begin to overtake the ‘not so good’ days, and one day when you least expect it, I know the sun will break through the clouds and begin to shine in your life again.

Day 16

by   August 22, 2021 with No Comments

By David Freeze

There are good things even on bad days!


  My ride started out in Van Horn early, but not early enough. I was in the Central Time Zone and had to wait forever to get enough light in the sky to ride on Interstate 10. Even with another great burrito for breakfast, I felt behind all day.


  I watched the sun rise while facing it amid light traffic and cool temperatures. While my map called for 89 miles without services, there was a truck stop at 20 miles. Nothing afterwards for the rest of the day. I was hauling extra water and food.


  My only goal of the day was to cover the 89 miles between Van Horn and Fort Davis. I knew it had a bunch of climbing, but I had no idea how much. From 37 miles on, I climbed and climbed, always on a rough road. Near the end, I wanted to see the McDonald Observatory. Top elevation was 6,000 plus.


  There was so much climbing that I fell behind time wise. I saw the observatory from a distance only, as I was still riding at 9pm. More on that later. I will get my story done, grab a shower and then turn in. It has been a very long day, but something good happened near the end.


    Mindi Falls stopped and asked if she could take me to Fort Davis, the next town. In fact, the only town for miles. I had a sort of reservation at an unusual motel. Mindi got me there in time, just in time as he was about to close for the evening. I really enjoyed meeting her. she prayed over my ride just before leaving.


  Only 86 miles were completed since Mindi picked me up in the dark. I will go early and ride that part tomorrow morning, then head on at least to Marathon. The supply point issue is going to be big for several days to come.


  This morning as I started to ride, I thought the weather was the best yet. Clouds came and went, helping to keep the temperature down. Kent and Fort Davis were the only towns. There was no cell service and no radio reception. But I did get caught in a brief downpour.


    So, I am going to grab a late shower and hit the bed. I need to do both!


Thanks for riding along. See you tomorrow!

Day 15

by   August 21, 2021 with No Comments

By David Freeze

Why I love this so much!


    When I chose the Southern Tier trip, I saw some of the challenges and thought that I had done those things before. But as the first 15 days have developed, with the topper being today, I wouldn’t want to have missed any of it. The heat and lack of supplies has been part of the whole trip. In fact, I’ll try to explain why I do love these adventures.


    Today had a particular challenge. I had to cover close to 100 miles and get to Van Horn, Texas, the jumping off point for yet another big challenge for tomorrow. I got in late last night, got my writing, planning and shower done way late too. Just as I shutting down for the night, I realized one of the two straps that hold the bike cyclometer (juiced up odometer) to the bike was broken. I had a pull tie and only one, but it was defective. If the cyclometer fell off, I would not be easily able to keep up with my mileage. I went to sleep with about 4 1/2 hours until I would start today.


      Up early, I tried the truckstop across the road, the county rescue squad in Fort Hancock and a 7 Eleven. Nobody had one, but the woman at the rescue squad suggested trying the tire place.


    I had been riding on flat roads within site of Mexico for the first three hours of the morning. Border patrol was on hand in several places. I saw some of the wall early but as I traveled east, but then it had disappeared farther on. There were lots of abandoned houses and other buildings, and very little traffic!


    Needing to fix the cyclometer binding, I did ride up to the tire place and happened to ask a county deputy if I could ride on the interstate. Another had told me yesterday that I could, and this one confirmed the same. The tire place had the pull ties that I needed and I secured the odometer as it should be.


    My Adventure Cycling map called for us to ride the interstate a little later in the morning, but after the Arizona State Trooper didn’t want me on the freeway, I made sure. I rode it the rest of the way today and will start on it again tomorrow. Early on, I had a tailwind and flat ground. The only towns all afternoon were Sierra Blanca and Van Horn, where I am tonight after 97 miles.


  Riding on the interstate is Ok because the shoulder is usually smooth and the Texas 80mph traffic doesn’t bother me. In this area, the traffic isn’t very heavy. Late this afternoon, some storms started against the mountains and changed my tailwind to a fierce headwind. I climbed the last mountain of the day and wind was less on the other side. The time zone changed to Central just before I arrived in Van Horn. My plan was to stay at the Knight’s Inn that I called last night, but the desk person wouldn’t give me the promised price. I had lots of choices and half a block away will spend the night at the Value Inn for even less money.


    Already, later than I hoped to be in the room because of the weather, I found a great convenience store where I bought ice cream, pizza and a sandwich, plus three ice cups and some pineapple. I am always so hungry.


    Tomorrow’s challenge includes midday climbing to over 6,000 one more time. It’s 90 miles with no supply points and no motels, so I have to carry lots of stuff tomorrow and make it to Fort Davis. It will likely be a very long day!


    Join me for a report tomorrow. Bet something interesting happens!

It’s Monday

by   August 21, 2021 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

            When I opened my eyes this morning I thought, “Well, I better get moving, it’s Monday.” I have to admit, I wanted to roll over and keep sleeping. I got myself up and started to get ready. I teach classes online. It’s a great job; I only have to get the top half of me ready. I usually wear sweats and slippers on the bottom and a shirt and tie on top. If my wife sees me dressed like that she gets a good laugh for the day.

            This morning as I started to set up my online classroom, I noticed that the internet wasn’t working. It went out last night but I thought surely it would be working by the morning. I had five classes and I wasn’t going to miss them. My option at this point was to drive to church and teach on my laptop.

            I had to get fully dressed, pack up my things, and drive as quickly as I could to church in hopes that I could make it for my first class. The clock was ticking. I was a few minutes late and the company locked me out of my first class. I wasn’t terribly shocked and thought that I would have more time to set up everything for my next class.

            I logged in and started to set everything up, only to discover that I didn’t have my camera with me. My laptop doesn’t have a camera. I jumped back in the car and drove back home to get the camera and return to the church in time to have my second class of the day. I made it. My classes went smoothly.

            When I finished my classes I was emotionally and mentally drained. I had to run an errand while I was out. My stomach was complaining about when breakfast would arrive. While I was driving I thought to myself what a crazy and stressful way to begin the week. I took a deep breath and decided I wasn’t going to allow one missed class to ruin a good day.

            As I was making my way home I noticed trees and limbs down. A little farther down, I saw utility trucks parked and men working. Then there were cable and AT&T trucks. There were people dragging limbs out to the road. Then I saw a house where a tree had fallen right through the middle of it. A once beautiful two-story home, now demolished.

            I knew we had severe storms in the area the night before, which was why the cable was out. I didn’t know so many other people were dealing with such terrible problems. I saw the man surveying his once beautiful home. My heart sank for him and his family. I heard from a neighbor that there was quite a bit of damage in another neighborhood not too far from mine.

            I sat quietly on my porch this morning having my quiet time. I realized that my little hiccup was nothing compared to what some people were facing on this Monday morning. I prayed for the family that lost their home. Here are some other people I prayed for this morning: some friends who are fighting COVID, some friends who are fighting to keep their marriage alive, all the students and teachers heading back to their classrooms not knowing what kind of year they will have with this virus, the people who are in the path of the tropical storm that was coming ashore, the people living in Afghanistan, some people who have never believed in Jesus as their savior, and others who have walked away from their faith.

            Losing my internet and missing a class seemed so unimportant compared to what others were facing. I texted my pastor about my morning, and he texted back that Psalms 145 was a part of his scripture reading for the day. I read it twice. There was so much there to meditate on. God’s love, His protection, His worthiness to receive our praise, and His abundant provision were just a few of them.

            No matter what kind of day you’ve had, I want to encourage you to remember that God loves you and has His eye on you and your situation. He is with you and He will see you through whatever you face. He loves you profoundly. If you have walked away from Him, He is waiting for your return. He will quiet your fears, take away your doubts, and forgive all your sins and failures. God promises to be with you today, tomorrow, and every day if you will put your faith in Him.

Doug Creamer has a new book at Amazon: EncouragingU: Summer Stories. Contact him at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com

Day 14

by   August 20, 2021 with No Comments

By David Freeze

Crossing America, one convenience store at a time!

  Today was very busy, but fell just short of my expectations! I left the home of Joe and Grace Myers at first light this morning. About 7 miles into it, I found a convenience store that had a woman making breakfast burritos by order and I got one. It was fantastic with egg, cheese and potato. She was out of tomatoes, or I would have had that too.


  Afterwards the riding began in earnest, I rolled through Mesilla and turned down an offer for free pancakes at a church. I pedaled through 8-10 miles of pecan tree canopy with plenty of other cyclists out there too. I then rode through several interesting Hispanic towns named San Miguel, La Mesa, Chamberino, all that on US 28. The sweet smell of hay being processed made for an even better day. Then I followed the suggested route of taking a 7 mile bike way into El Paso, before attempting to follow two sets of directions to cross the east side. I got lost once, but asked a border guard at one of the Mexico entrance points for directions. He pleasantly helped, then I had to deal with a detour before finally getting on US 20 East for the rest of the afternoon.


  Traveling though the center of El Paso was very crowded and hilly, plus I saw no bike lanes in that area. I did not enjoy that part, especially the endless intersections. Gradually as I moved on east, there were Socorro, Clint and Fabens. I am spending the night next to Interstate 10 at the Fabens Inn Motel. I paid too much, but it was the only option for 25 more miles. All this after 87 miles today.


  All afternoon, I kept refueling at convenience stores and it was hard to delineate one town from another. With daylight running out, I gave up on my plan to go way over 100 miles. Storms were in the area too. It will be many days before I have lots of supply points available. They begin getting scarce tomorrow.


    I did have a very pleasant conversation with Carmelo Morales of El Paso who said that if he didn’t have to work he would doing this too. He is the first person I have ever met that offered me a tire tube that fit my bike out of his truck. Carlos gave me plenty of insight on the road ahead.


    Starting tomorrow, I am going to be limited in supply points and places to stay. But still, I have big plans for the day. Big ones too for the next day. I will explain all of this tomorrow.


  I was reminded today how the most famous river in the area keeps showing up, same as the Ohio River did on my Underground Railroad adventure. The more I see the Rio Grande, the more I understand how the local economy relies on it. Agriculture is everywhere!


    Thanks for riding along today. I am going to start on some ice cream in an effort to keep the massive calorie burn fueled.


    See you tomorrow with possibly yet another great story!

Twenty Year Journey

by   August 20, 2021 with No Comments

By Roger Barbee

Twenty years ago this morning I awoke in an ICU ward in Fairfax Hospital. The night before I had had two nineteen-inch titanium rods screwed to my back because that afternoon a building I was taking down collapsed– pinning me beneath it. My broken back had to be stabilized, thus the rods.

I remember a little of  that morning: Seeing through the fog of morphine a friend who had flown on a red eye from California to see me; The ICU nurse’s long, black, curly hair that fell over my face when she leaned in to ask me a question; My body still carrying the dust and dirt from the collapsed building; My family huddled in fear and worry; But not much more. Snippets in memory that may or may not be accurate run together with what I know to be true. But what I know to be absolute is that that morning and many after it held doubt and fear and dread until I, as Mary Oliver writes, realized.

Like the narrator in her poem, The Journey, I realized one morning or at one moment or with a particular encounter that it was time—time for me to expel all the bad that I had allowed to enter into my life.  I realized that at times during those four years, my dark time, I ignored what I knew to be the truth and allowed the voices to continue tugging at “my ankles.” But as Oliver writes, “One day you finally knew/what you had to do, and began,…” And like most beginnings, mine was full of slow progress, but “Little by little” I improved, and I eventually left the “Old man” that Paul writes about behind. But like all journeys, mine was not just me placing a foot in front of another. I had begun journeying, but I was not walking alone.

After I set aside the leeches in my life, I was able to reckon myself and take an honest sounding. This sounds selfish, but when you find yourself so miserable that the only option seems to be to continue your denial or to admit that you have been at the bottom of a dark hole, digging and digging, all the while wondering why you cannot escape and see the sunlight and feel its warmth, it is then that you set aside the shovel those takers had given you and deeply consider where you are.  Finally able to lean the shovel against the hole’s side,   I began to stop going down and began to move up, ever so slowly. It was on that going upward that I saw my true friends and learned to allow them to help me.

One of the best advantages of any journey is the people you will encounter. You will meet them in unlikely places and in unusual circumstances. Because your journey is one of renewal, you will move slowly, so you will see and hear more. While your journey may not be one of steps,  you will still discover that your frantic pace to satisfy others has ceased, and you now see and hear what you had not experienced before. The ground you are traveling over becomes a sharing place for you to hear the stories of others, to smell the air of an autumn day, to feel the sun’s warmth through a  window, to hear a child’s laughter, and more. You are alive.

My journey continues because of family and friends. While I could list all of them, there is no need to because they each know what they did to help me as I finally leaned the shovel against the hole’s wall. The hole, by the  way, is still there, however, and it will never go away. It is a reminder of life’s danger, but I have learned to accept its existence and walk around it.

When measured in years, twenty is many. But when measured as a journey, it is short. Therefore, wherever you are on your journey, enjoy each step that brings more people to share it.  They are the balm for your sore and tired feet.

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