Days 52, 53 and 54- today I was I the lunch van with Jaime. Second time in a row the two of us where able to be in the van together and it honestly was a great day. I generally hate being in the van- I would always rather be on my bike and riding, I mean I love working out and I love spending time outside in the sun and just pretty much everything about 4K… but today was completely different. Today I felt really relaxed in the van and got a ton accomplished- yes I might still be 20 days behind in blogs, and yes I might be slowly loosing motivation when it comes to writing blogs (mainly because im so tired, haven’t had much time lately and well to be completely honest I don’t know where to begin!….so im going to work backwards a bit, while still going forward so I don’t fall further behind) but I really did get a lot done. We had breakfast this morning provided by the youth group of a church 18 miles outside of Missoula (which was organized by my mom and our neighbor Carol- thank you!). They came and made us crispy bacon and incredibly fluffy yummy blueberry pancakes - it was just what I needed to start the day and was absolutely delious. I also have to give them mad props- the church we were staying at was pretty old and so when plugging in all their portable grills to cook the fuse kept blowing, yet despite how challenging it became and how many times the grills had to reheat they pushed through and we all really enjoyed the food as well as their company. After breakfast they joined us for our dedication circle - this dedication circle was extra special because we each were dedicating our day to a specific person. The day before we had gone to camp Mak-a-dream (which fyi I did not forget an “e” when typing the name of the camp- there really is no E at the end and that’s due to tradition, as well as so people don’t confuse it with another organization called make a dream/ make a wish).
Camp Mak-a-dream is a camp that was founded in 1991 by Harry and Sylvia Granader who decided to donate all 87 acres of their Montana ranch and seed money to begin construction on a camp facility that would be solely dedicate to those going through/ or who have gone through cancer. Harry was involved in building a Ronald McDonald House in their hometown of Detroit, Michigan. His love for children, love of the outdoors and desire to give back fostered his idea to give these children a chance to see a working ranch in Montana (and it just so happened that he owned one). After plans were made, funds raised and volunteers acquired, Harry’s dream of bringing sick children to see a working Montana ranch became a reality.
In 1995 Camp Mak-a-dream hosted its first group of 46 kids with cancer for a week at camp completely cost free. Today the amount of camp sessions has increased, as well as the camps programs, facilities and who it caters to. Today they offer programs throughout the yar to children, teens, young adults, and women with cancer, as well as programs for children who have a sibling or a parent with cancer.
When we went to visit it happened the children attending camp ranged from ages 4-14. We began our visit with a tour of the camp- which actually made me remember a lot about when I went to camp as a kid. I used to attend camp cherith- an all girls Christian camp in upstate new york. It was awesome and the perfect way to spend my summer when I was that age. Camp helps children gain independence, helps them discover who they are without their parents and also allows them to find themselves outside of an environment they are used to - which is something kids facing a cancer diagnosis need just as much if not more than kids who are completely healthy. It also made me think of a specific camp counselor I had… so heres the thing, at camp cherith every counselor goes by a bird name… yes you heard me correct a bird, a winged creature of the night or day. The one summer I had a counselor whose bird name was Kiska (they never tell us there real names, we have to guess them, but I never did learn hers) and I remember once we were talking about how we “found god” or our “beliefs” (I mean it was a Christian camp after all, there had to be some “god” talk, it couldn’t all just be archery, horses and fun) and she informed us that she found her way to god when she found out she had cancer. She had been shaving her legs one night and ripped off an entire piece of skin- this is how she discovered a giant lump on the back of her leg that they ended up later determining was cancerous. I thought of her and all the campers we met the next day I sat on my bike.
Two campers in particular I thought about were….
When we first got to the camp and began our tour we met a camper by the name of Manny- it was his first time at camp and he was extremely excited to be there and be able to meet not only other kids his age going through the same thing, but also other kids who had been in his position and were now deemed a survivor. Meeting a survivor who had the same cancer as you or is even the same age as you brings a sense of hope- yes every case is different and everyones experience is different but it does bring an element of hope, some insight into the road they are going to go down and one of the possible outcomes it can have. Manny was diagnosed with ALL and is currently still undergoing treatment but he is optimistic and is prob one of the happiest people I have met. He doesn’t allow his cancer define him and he’s a fighter ( a line used often to describe cancer patients and one that is true). He also has a huge personality- sassy, sarcastic, and full of life- a typical preteen enjoying life the way he should.
The second is a camp counselor by the name of Ellen- she used to attend camp when she was younger and now wants to give back to the camp that she said gave her so much. She went to camp a young scared little girl used to using the “cancer card” and getting “cancer perks” wherever she went- used to people treating her differently and “special”, almost as if she was fragile and that if not treated with caution and carefully she would shatter in front of them. She didn’t like constantly being treated that way or constantly being the center of attention. At camp that wasn’t the case- everyone was experiencing the same thing so no one would pull the “well I have cancer” card, and no one was different (sure they might have had different types of cancer but they were all kids and they all had that single word in common no matter the type or stage). She couldn’t stop smiling when telling us about her experience and I could honestly tell that the lessons she learned and the time she spent at there meant the world to her and she wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. We got to eat with her and her campers, Claire and Mariah - this camp makes amazing pizza btw.
Anyway so back to my day in the lunch van- we didn’t have many tasks that we needed to get done. We had received a ton of yummy goodies once again from our parents and my host proved to be well AWESOME! Missoula was the first host I arranged and to be completely honest I was really nervous going into it because I really wasn’t sure how it was going to go. I have the best mother ever and she helped me a lot with finding hosts for my leg- being able to ask for help and use my connections is a quality I take pride in having. She was a ton of help and is the reason I was able to find this perfect host for our rest day in Missoula. We stayed at an older church that is often used to host families that need a place to stay when things at tight. They allowed us to stay in the basement of the one building in the youth rooms, and allowed us to take over their entire kitchen space. If that wasn’t enough they had showers for us and helped in arranging dinner for both nights and breakfast the one morning. The second morning was provided by the youth group I discussed earlier.
The first night dinner was prepared by a women by the name of Sabrina. Since it was my first host and their first time hosting us I wanted to make a great impression so I took it upon myself to go help out in the kitchen- dinner that night consisted of Spaghetti with two sauces (a meatless one and one with meat so as to cater to both our carnivores on the team and our vagitarians), two salads (one with tomatoes, and one without since one of our girls is allergic), garlic bread, and ice cream for dessert. I really enjoyed helping out in the kitchen- although honestly I think I did more talking then actually helping, but every time I asked them what I could do they couldn’t think of something that had to be done. I ended up telling her and the other women there about how I got involved in 4k and in turn found out their own connection and why Sabrina was so interested in helping us. When she was in her twenties she lost her mother to intestinal cancer and since then was always looking for a way to help out within the cancer community… however being a mother to three (two boys under the age of seven and an adopted seventeen year old daughter) left her little time to get involved with the relay for life event within her town like she had been hoping to. Her mom had been known as the church grandma - whenever a kid was bad in Sunday school they were sent to the church secretary. No one ever knew exactly what happened there, only that the children who went there always came back to class repent and in better spirits - turns out when they went to her office they were given hugs and candy until they stopped crying, and she would tell them to be good or else next time they wouldn’t be allowed to come to her office. So being that it was a church that was hosting us and the cancer connection she had- she thought it was perfect and incredibly fitting that she get involved and help in feeding us for the night- and if that wasn’t enough she also brought us five dozen or so doughnuts for breakfast the following morning to have before going to camp Mak-a-dream. I really enjoyed talking to her and I was really happy when she sat down and joined us all for dinner.
Dinner the second night was also provided by the church- this time by two women named Lynn and Philis. Once again I found my way to the kitchen and helped them cook- I really enjoy being in the kitchen, and I have always enjoyed the company of those who are older than me and who have had more life experiences than me. Dinner was ham with a pineapple glaze, served with a side of salad, tons of fruit, an amazing oatmeal cake (that I have the recipe for somewhere, yay!), and a ton of pasta salad - we will have left overs for DAYS! I can’t thank this church or their congregation enough, and I really hope next years team seattle has a chance to stay there again.
Hmmm…. Ok so what else is there to say about Missoula. I wouldn’t say this is my most organized blog but im trying to make sure it has everything in it, and im trying to make up for all the days I haven’t been writing (thank you lack of cell phone service, lack of 3G, and lack of internet - and welcome to the wild west, the great outdoors, and farm country with a touch of city every now and then). Both going into Missoula and leaving Missoula I had the opportunity of creating the route- this was my first time doing this and just like I was with it being my first host I was rather nervous. I tend to worry and stress when there isn’t actually to stress about- call it my flaw if you wish but because of this quality it often leads me to focus more on the tasks at hand and work until they are not only perfect but complete in their entirety (in terms of finding hosts- this means that not only do we have a roof over our heads but we also have food, and showers…. Put it this way “I stress to impress” and I think I do a damn good job at it). Going into Missoula the route was not only short but it was also insanely easy and flat- that’s three points in my favor. It was a 46 mile day, one of the shortest we have had thus far (which allowed people to go to the thrift shop, take a ton of pictures, goof off and take as long as they wanted to get to the host), and pretty much all of it was on a bike path! My group for the day was Dalton, Jaime, and Cat – great group, we pace really well together, we are always on the same page, and we really have fun riding together. We made it to the host with massive amounts of time to spare- so much in fact that it was like we had two rest days instead of just one, and gave us time to check out Adventure Cycling. Adventure cycling is a nonprofit that promotes biking, specifically long biking adventures from one part of the country to another- they absolutely love cross country cyclists. Upon getting there they gave us free ice cream, free cold drinks, free stickers for our bikes, took our picture for the wall of fame, and allowed each one of us to sign up for a six month free membership (which includes six months of their magazine they print). It was awesome, and im honestly really tempted to look into the rides they have (they have tons of routes they organize and have maps for) and maybe finding a crazy group of friends to do it with me (YO 4K….reunion in a few years????!?!?!?! Lol).
The second route I made leaving Missoula (the day I was in the van) didn’t go as smoothly and didn’t have as many points in my favor unfortunately, but it was a realively easy ride and it brought them along Flathead lake, so it had a great view. Our host for the night was another church, that also acted as a chirstian life center of sorts. They had everything we could have needed for the night- laundry, a fridge we could use, a projector we were allowed to watch a movie on, couches, showers, and wifi! ( yet there was too much going on so the only thing I used the wifi for was to watch big bang theory, no bloging was done but I guess you already know that) They even had a hose which was awesome because it allowed me to finally wash my bike and decorate it! I had been saving up all the stickers I got along the way and now that my bike was finally clean I was able to put them all on. Kevin helped me wash my bike- it was the first time all trip I actually washed it, it had been washed before but never by me whoops. Afterwards Bradley changed my handle bar tape for me so now my bike looks completely different and its totally personalized. I love it! The only thing this host didn’t have was breakfast and dinner for us, which was fine and actually a good thing since not only did we have a TON of left overs but we also had received 100 dollars worth of goodies from perkins that Jaime and I since we were in the van got to hand pick - we ended up with four pies, 24 muffins, and 3 things of mac n cheese (as per some requests).
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