Day 8 Walla Walla, Washington

When we woke up this morning, the weather was absolutely incredible. High 50s and sunny. So perfect.  It was a pretty standard ride today. Hills every now and then but nothing the cyclists have never seen or could not handle.  Farther into the ride, there was a huge downhill that I am sure they loved, but was even more impressive to my since I was in a van was the wind farm. The wind farm in northern Indiana is the only other one I have seen, and I must say that one tops the one in Walla Walla, but the fact that they were on top of mountains and even more in the middle of nowhere.  Like I said, it was a pretty easy day on the road and not a whole lot happened.  I guess it’s all thanks to the wonderful crew members for making things run so smoothly.

For lunch, we were sponsored by a family of a Pi Alpha, which is anyone who does a Push America Summer Event.  They fixed an amazing meal of salad, lasagna, garlic bread, asparagus, and ice cream.  Before and after we ate, we were fortunate enough to enjoy some time in the pool and hot tub.  One would not think of these things as tools to bond and get even closer with people, but for some reason, hanging around the pool was great to talk to everyone.  After a relaxing afternoon of lounging, naps, and exploring, we went to an organization called the Lilly Rice Center.  The food, as always, was exquisite.  Grilled hamburgers and hot dogs was the meal I figured would be served the most this summer, and I was surprised it took eight days for it to be introduced to our trip.   So far, this night has stuck out the most to me.  Along with two friends, I sat with an old could and their son.  The dad was 83, the mom 75, and the son was 19.  It was such an interesting story.  The two parents owned a foster care house for the longest time, and once they were tired of that, they decided to adopt.  After adopting five children, they adopted David.  When David was born, he was not expected to live two weeks into his life, and once he survived, doctors expected severe mental disabilities.  He just graduated high school and is going to a community college to study Phlebotomy, which is the study of drawing blood.  The dad is actually from Switzerland and legally deaf, so while it was hard to get him to understand what I was saying, it was interesting to see how he picked up on things I was trying to get across.  We talked about my amazing days of learning german and his life of how he got to America.  He was great.  Every time I gain a friendship like this where we talk for the entire time I am at a friendship visit, it just reminds me why I wanted to do this trip: to learn more about people with disabilities and get people to notice their abilities.