The day started with a 5:00 AM wake up at the Memorial United Methodist Church in McCook, NE. Ms. Melanie Goodenberger and the church committee that volunteered to host us gratiously treated us to egg and sausage breakfast casseroles. It was an easy route for the crew to mark, by setting up crew stops every 10 miles we lead the cyclists to Minden High School, our lodging for the night. After we arrived to the school the team took their showers, had snacks and relaxed for bit. We went on to clean the squad cars in preparation for our arrival into Lincoln the next day. At 5:00 PM we had a sponsored dinner at Pizza Hut thanks to Ms. Joylayne Ginder. Surprisingly we have not been treated to pizza as often as some people would guess, so this was a welcome change. There were several types of pizza available to us, vegetarian, supreme, chicken, meatlovers… you name it! This was accompanied with a salad bar and breadsticks, then followed up with cinnamon sticks. This trip to Pizza Hut was surely a treat for the team.
Since there were no friendship visits today the team had a lot of free time. Some of them played basketball, listened to music, or even watched movies. I stepped aside and took time to reflect on how much of the trip still remained. I called my family and wished my brothers Brian and Brandon Jackson a happy birthday. I tasted a bit of homesickness for the first time. Yet at the same time I realized that it won’t be much longer before we arrive into Washington, DC, and I would return home to see them. With these thoughts in feelings in mind I realized that the time that we have must be savored. Thus far, I have made attempts to build meaningful relationships with my brothers here. From here on out I intend to enjoy the remaining time we have together and make some lasting memories as we venture into the second half of our Journey of Hope.
Zerrick Barlow
SUNY Geneseo
Crew