100

Friday, September 12, 2008, Coach Bonheim's house, Lynchburg, Virginia
Well, today marked the 100th day of our trip, and it ended in an eventful way, staying the night at my old college wrestling coach's house.
Gloria and I had to get up in the middle of the night because it started to sprinkle, so we set up the tarp. I didn't sleep very well last night. I was still feeling under the weather, and last night I woke up three times in sweaty clothes. After the third time, I had to take a shower, but I felt better. The rest of the gang got up pretty early because we wanted to make it to Liberty University before the admission offices closed so that we could show Becky and Adriana around. We had hills with lots of climbing at first, but we finally made it to the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway, which was right along the ridge of the mountains. Very nice. We all rode and Gloria drove the van. There were some fun long descents and a tunnel, which the kids liked a lot. About 15 miles from Lynchburg, we saw a guy directing traffic into a gas station. Kinda strange. Turns out the gas prices were set to go up to over $5.00 at 5:00 pm and there was a "gas run" going on. Apparently Hurricane Ike in Texas was affecting the refineries, which affected the prices. Lucky for us we had a full tank. Getting into Lynchburg, we had to detour because of bike restrictions. After getting complicated directions, and Becky's flat tire, we finally arrived at Liberty University, my old Alma Mater, at around 7:30 pm. By the time we parked, dinner in the cafeteria had closed. Everyone was hungry and we didn't have a place to stay, so I tried to take care of sleeping arrangements while everyone went to Little Caesar's to eat. The college had grown unbelievably. I only recognized a few of the buildings, one of them was the old building we used to practice wrestling. Still the same, but the wrestling room had been changed into a dance studio. So I went looking for the new wrestling room. Finally, I found it - it was in the field house of the football stadium. Once in there, I saw names of people I knew on the wall, including my own, who were All Americans, had won a certain number of matches, and were team captains. After reminiscing, I got permission to keep the bikes locked in a bike rack overnight. I still hadn't found a place to camp because I hadn't made plans with Jesse, so I called Coach Bonheim, and he invited us to stay with him. It was great to see him and Brenda again. Not only was he my coach, I had spent several summers with them in Maui in the 70s and 80s, when they were directing summer camps there. Actually, it was in 1978, right after finishing Sacramento City College, while visiting my dad and sister in Maui, that I decided to come to Liberty. The students on the summer team were so gung-ho about their school and the Lord that I couldn't resist trying it out, so I enrolled. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. A great school with great people. 61 miles.