Dealing With Doubt, Celebrating The Old Man's Birthday, Giving And Receiving At Christ The King Catholic School

Eight weeks in. Some people may look at that and say, "That's it?" Others look at that and can't believe we've made it this long! Depending upon the day, or even minute, I can view it either way, too.

Eight weeks in.

Today, I'm impressed and encouraged. I look at our map on our website from time to time and I'm amazed by what we've accomplished already. We're just about 1/5 of the way through the states and just about 1/5 of the way to our goal for our charities, World Bicycle Relief and Achilles International.

Thanks to Adam's 29th Birthday Challenge this past week, we made over $1,000 in donations. Yup, you read right! Adam turned 29... Old man. (I can make fun of him for a couple months at least.)

So today I am proud of what we're doing and of what we've accomplished. Earlier this week I was having my doubts of whether or not I could do this for eight more months. It may have been because we were in Arkansas for what seemed like forever. It may have been the fact that we only had five guests at our last presentation and one of them was a dog. It may have been because I started having day dreams about owning a house and even gardening ... Since when have I ever been a gardener???

Whatever the combination of events that got me thinking those thoughts ... They're gone now. Adam's Birthday Challenge (you can see the results here!) gave us a huge burst of donations and we are so excited for each and every one.

But I think the thing that really pushed me through was the kids at Christ the King Catholic School in Oklahoma City, OK. A few weeks ago, on our way through, we met up with teacher, Tanya Brown and gave a presentation to a group of about 120 students there. They were so excited by what we were doing that they decided to do a fundraiser for our charities. One of the fourth grade classes held a bake sale and raised $300!!

Tanya sent us pictures and even a video of the kids doing their own dance for us taken after our state line dances with them. Tanya keeps thanking us for inspiring her students to give back and help others, but really, we have them to thank.

Meeting those students and seeing their excitement in our cause is what keeps us going. It's people like them that help to push us through the tough days and give us even more of a drive to continue. So thank you to the students and teachers at Christ the King, and to everyone else who has smiled after we told them what we're doing. It's your smiles that keep pushing us through!

Christy and Adam are currently in Louisiana. To find out more, check out their blog at http://giveabike.blogspot.com/ or their Facebook Page at https:/ /www.facebook.com/giveabike. To see where they are, you can check out this map at Track My Tour. Christy will be writing occasional stories for Patch as she and her husband make their way through the U.S.

Madison Patch is proud to be the Connecticut sponsor for Adam and Christy's trip. If you'd like to sponsor their trip, visit this page on their website.