Into West Virginia
Date : August 6th 2008
Day: 61
Miles: 80
Destination: Huntington, WV

Today started as what seemed to be a usual day. We woke up, got dressed and packed our bags ready to depart for Huntington, WV. As I exited the front door of the dorms I realized that today was not like other days. Instead of being greeted by the usual van 1 half loaded with bags, I was greeted by van 4 with a pile of bags outside of it. Jesse was running around doing his usual morning work but Jay seemed to be a little distressed and confused. After a few minutes of whispering among the cyclist to try and figure out what was going on we were told that the keys to van 1 were missing! Turns out that there seems to be a key stealing gnome at Morehead State University!!! Thats right a key stealing gnome! How weird. Tell me about it.

In an attempt to distract us cyclist’s the crew instructed us to go eat breakfast which was provided by the guys of Delta Eta. It is always great to see guys from other chapters of Pi Kapp coming out to help support the mission of Push America. After eating breakfast the cyclist headed back outside to load the bags in other vans and begin our day. We had circle up and headed towards the road. This is when the day got a little more interesting for me. Turns out that last night, in an attempt to keep my cycling shoes safe, I placed them in my van. Of course that van is van 1 and the keys are still hiding with the gnome. There were rumors flying of today being called "the derby" last year and we were soon to find out why. The rest of the guys took off while I waited for the keys to be found, which they were shortly! Whew! I rejoined the team at mile 10 and started my day. We weren't 5 miles into my day when "the derby" began. As we rode through the "mountains" we were kindly greeted by the local K-9 association. Thats right my friends! The dogs of eastern Kentucky sure do like their exercise, especially when it involves chasing bicyclist! We made it through the beautiful ride though and arrived at our lodging into the Holiday Inn in Huntington, WV. which was sponsored by Mountain State Center for Independent Living.

Lunch was a crew lunch at lodging so some of the guys went out and got food on their own. I had my first experience with Schlotzsky's deli which was very good. We then had some down time before dinner. Dinner was sponsored by Mountain State Center for Independent Living and was a friendship visit as well. They are a great organization that helps people with disabilities live independently in the area. Dinner was provided by Famous Dave’s and was a great barbecue. The organization was also kind enough to serve as a mail drop for us. The guys always love the days we get mail. It is always nice to receive encouraging words from family and friends. After dinner the guys all went there own ways. I stayed in and watched some baseball and I was pleased to find out that my Cubs won and are 5 games up on Milwaukee. It is hard to believe that we are so close to D.C. It seems like yesterday that we were starting or journey in Seattle on that misty morning of June 11th. This will most likely be my last journal entry and I would just like to thank everyone who has helped to make this dream come true! Without all of our sponsors the Journey of Hope would not be able to continue to touch the lives of hundreds of people living with disabilities, as well as 28 young men who started as strangers and will be leaving the steps of our nations capital as a family. So thanks again to everyone!

Jamie O’Brien
Cyclist
Zeta Zeta – University of North Florida

Today's Photos
The Journey So Far