Not What I Expected

March 25^th to April 3^rd.   Spring Break.  These words hold so much promise and hope for teachers in those dark winter days of February and March.

 On my spring break I expected to travel with my family to North Carolina to spend time with my brother and his family.  I expected to wear flip-flops, play with my nephews, watch my niece get baptized and do all sorts of other spring breaky things.  I was also planning on taking my bike to North Carolina so that I could find some real hills to practice on before I head to the west coast.  But that's not exactly what happened.

 On Thursday I drove to Michigan to meet my sister and her family.  As I drove further and further north I ran into layers of ice and 8 inches of snow.  Not exactly what I was expecting on spring break, but it didn't worry me because the next morning we were all going to pile into my sister's van and head south.  On Friday morning before we left we checked the weather for NC and found that the warmest day was going to be 43 degrees...and raining.  That's when we decided to take the bikes off of the car and admit biking defeat.  I would not be practicing hills on this trip.  Not taking the bikes turned out to be a good decision because not only was it cold, but it also SNOWED - in North Carolina - at the end of March - on Spring Break!  Not what I expected.  The flip-flops that I packed are still in the bottom of my suitcase and I'm wearing the same long sleeve shirt that I've worn for the majority of the break.  I should have packed some warmer clothes. 

 Another thing I expected to do on spring break was eat a lot of delicious food.  That sounded like a great idea until I got the flu.  Instead of seeing my niece get baptized on Sunday morning I was laying on the couch with a trashcan next to me.  For the next two days, while everyone else was eating those delicious spring break foods, I was excited to keep down two bottles of Gatorade.  The good news is that I was the only one who got sick, but it’s not what I expected to do on Spring Break.

Although my Grandmother's funeral was nice, and it was good to have all the family together, it was not what I was expecting to do for spring break.  Grandma was an adventurous women who would take us for hikes in the woods, break zoo rules to get me a peacock feather, cook delicious Mac-N-Cheese and let me blow bubbles in the sink when I was supposed to be washing my hands.  Grandma was also a woman who loved God and helping others.  I think she would be proud of me and my efforts to help the Blood:Water Mission by riding my bike across the Pacific Coast. 

 I expected to ride in the car some this break, but I didn't expect to spend over 46 hours in the car.  Here’s the breakdown of the driving: Plainfield, IN to Midland, MI to Greensboro, NC to Midland, MI to Huntington, IN to Midland MI and the final leg of the trip brings me back to Plainfield, IN.  That’s a lot of car travel, but fortunately I was able to ride with my family for most of the trips.  I got to do activities is the car with my nephews, chauffer the van while everyone else watched a movie in the back, give my niece a bottle, eat snacks, sit by a frog potty, talk to my sister, solve all the world’s problems with my Dad, listen to the radio and sleep in the back seat.  I covered a lot of distance over spring break, about 2,600 miles.  All those miles have given me a new perspective for this summer when I will ride over 2,000 miles…on a BICYCLE!

Between the snow, the flu and the funeral I have not been on my bike in over a week.  Since getting this new bike that is the longest I have gone without riding.  Not exactly what I expected for spring break.