Just when I thought nothing would even come close to topping
West Yellowstone as my favorite part of the trip for the entire summer, the two
days that follow it quite possibly could tie as my favorite. We left W.Y. this morning and had
perfect weather for the ride.
After having rain for nine out of the first ten days of riding, I think
the weather lately has made up for it.
Passing through small towns in Montana and seeing rolling hills run into
mountains made for gorgeous scenery.
I know I say it in almost every blog post, but I really cannot get over
how beautiful the scenery is in the state of Montana. We fought terrible winds throughout the day, but the cyclists
pushed on because they knew that what lie ahead will be the time of their
life. When we got to Victor,
Idaho, we had a stage up for our first official arrival. This means that the entire team means
up about a mile or two from the arrival point and forms two lines with a van in
front and two vans behind for protection.
Because I am the photographer and my van mate is the public relations
coordinator, we drive ahead with the project manager beforehand so that he can
meet with the media and I can take pictures of the cyclists pulling into the
parking lot. We arrived at the
destination and I am immediately struck by awe. We had a sponsored lunch at the Teton Springs Club and
Resort. We are driving through the
land approaching the clubhouse and I am surrounded by a golf course that is
surrounded by huge, beautiful mountains itself. Normally in Indiana, if a golf course is located within a
neighborhood, the houses are really cool and fancy. That is an understatement for this neighborhood. After seeing these houses, I officially
want to design my own house when I grow up to be a cabin. The neighborhood had the coolest cabin
houses along each hole on the course.
When we got there, we had an amazing catered lunch of BBQ pulled pork,
Caesar salad, rolls, and potato salad.
They were so kind enough to let us swim and get in the hot tub because
after a 110-mile ride, the cyclists are absolutely dead, especially through the
winds they had to fight. Right
before we left, we were asked if we could help welcome a runner who was
completing his journey of 468 miles that he was running to raise money for kids
with cancer. It was a pretty cool
experience because this was his final spot and all of the people that came out
to see him made it really emotional for everyone.
The place that we stayed at for the last two nights is
incredible to say the least. It is
a ranch in Driggs, Idaho owned by the family of a guy who rode JOH in
1998. The father, just to give you
an idea, is the President of Boy Scouts of America. For the first time since being on the trip, every person was
able to sleep in his own bed. I
cannot even begin to describe how great it was to sleep in an actual bed
again. When we got there from the
resort, people took showers and then immediately got into all of the activities
available to us. Take a deep
breathe because this will BLOW YOUR MIND.
Some of the activities that we participated in were crochet, badminton,
volleyball, swimming, hot tub, skee shooting, hitting golf balls off a cliff
onto a green down below, horse back riding, off-roading in a military hummer,
and canoeing. The family owns over
2,000 acres, so there was an endless opportunity to do activities (“so much
room for activities!” Step Brothers anyone?). People were off doing anything and everything that first
night and we were fortunate enough to have an amazing cook out with elk meat
and chicken with some people that joined in on the party. I actually talked to two architects
that were visiting, so it was interesting to see their reaction to when I told
them I recently switched after two years.
One said I was the smart one, and the other said he completely
understood. So that was a relief,
but after talking with them for about three hours over dinner about what they
do, I found myself interested again, but to a different degree. But I
digress. It is a tradition for the
first night of the ranch visit that they have a poker tournament with all
twenty-eight of us. Throughout the
night, they would put a hat or other prize in the middle and say, “whoever wins
this hand wins the hat.” I was
lucky enough to win a hat. I also
won third place, which was a $25 visa gift card, so I was pretty happy.
Today we woke up with every activity still open for
participating. Today was the first
time I have ever rode a horse, which by the way the trail took us straight into
a perfect view of the Teton Mountains.
It was incredible. It was
also the first time I have ever shot a shotgun; however, I was terrible. I did not hit one skee saucer. But it was still so cool. I was unable to go on the canoeing trip
because I had to go into town to the post office and missed the call out, but I
did hear they came within fifteen feet of a huge male moose because it was
around a corner so they were very surprised. Apparently the moose was even more surprised because he ran
off. We ended the trip with a
classic bonfire and s’mores followed by a trip to the hot tub. I cannot express how fortunate I am to
have the opportunity to experience things like the past two days and
Yellowstone. I am not sure I would
ever experience anything like this had it not been for this trip. And for that, I thank my parents for
letting me participate in the Journey of Hope. If the rest of the trip is 5% as good as it has been so far,
it blows away any other summer of my life. I am truly a lucky man.
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