DAY 16 MARATHON, TEXAS

This morning, we left early, due to the 53 miles that would take a number of hours of riding in order to get to our next destination, Marathon, Texas.  The scenery was once again so beautiful that all each of us wanted to do was stop, take pictures, and just soak up everything surrounding us.  Since I'm always 15 minutes behind the riders, I have the luxury to get out of the van, scan the area, and enjoy the beauty around me.  I even got to see lots of wildlife roaming on the many hillsides of rock formations and mountain areas.

 When we reached Alpine, Texas, we were met by a local reporter, who greeted the riders in order to take some pictures for the newspaper.  In the background of these pictures, I noticed one of my most favorite places in the world....a general airport!!  Watching a few small aircraft taking off and landing, truly whet my appetite to be in one of those planes!!  What a great place to fly.....open space and sky everywhere with very little wind.  So, after the newspaper photos were taken, I stayed behind for about 20 minutes to enjoy other pilots enjoy the friendly skies of Alpine, Texas.  I was very jealous!
We reached Marathon around 3 PM, arriving at a lovely and rustic motel area.  As Michael and Mike Brown collapsed in their rooms and got in a nap, Adolf, never one for losing any energy, took time to look around and enjoy the area, while I was able to get a load of laundry done, with time left over for a short nap as well.
During the bike ride today, a train passing parallel to the highway, tooted the whistle twice to wave on the riders...this was definitely a high point for Michael, in particular!

At 6 PM, we left to meet up at the Community Center for a pasta supper and a meet/greet with local residents, including a very special group of people from the Relay for Life program, which provides many fundraising activities and worthwhile projects for cancer awareness.  We want to especially thank Marsha Roberts for organizing this lovely and special evening for us.  We are so grateful for organizations such as this, for the extraordinary warmth and graciousness they have shown us.
 It truly touches our hearts to be in the company of wonderful people such as those we met tonight and I've mentioned this many times before, but none of these suppers/meet and greet eves would have happened without our incredible and amazing volunteer, Jan Welsh, from Sun City Center, Florida, who has spent countless hours researching and pulling this all together.
We are so fortunate to have a strong network of volunteers in our community who continue to work tirelessly for SammyRides, despite our being away for 60 days.  These individuals represent the best of what a community is all about and we are beyond grateful for what each has provided in all that has been accomplished throughout these many months of preparation and what lies ahead before our return on April 30th.  These individuals represent integrity, decency and a belief in that what we are doing will make a difference in the lives of kids now and those in the future suffering and being treated with some form of cancer.  We are just the messengers to raise awareness to the national public, but it's the many, many volunteers who have brought this all to where we are today.
Until tomorrow from Sanderson, Texas, Michael, Adolf, Mike Brown and myself, send our love and best wishes to you all......Lois