Old friends who feed and house and pick up right where you left off

New friends who welcome well on what feels like the first day of school (I.e. Week 8 of a 10-week adventure)

Churches that fling wide their doors and nourish body and soul

Feasting while living simply

Angels who change flat tires and air them up

Volunteers who drive miles and miles and load and unload all the things over and over again

Row after row after row of ripening field corn

And acres and acres of soy beans

Standing cows, sitting cows — even some running cows

Storms held at bay

New sites in a state I’ve known my whole life

Morning glories climbing an old fence row

Fog sitting on soybeans in the early morning

Not one, but two, fields of gorgeous sunflowers

And a patch of water lilies to rival Monet’s

A foal with its mama

And a pig sharing a pen with chickens and roosters

A paved road in the middle of a forest

Flying with a yellow finch

Queen Anne’s lace and black-eyed Susans

Chicory and purple cone flowers

Tail winds that carry bicycles up hills

Crosswinds and tailwinds to help appreciate the tailwinds

The sing song sound of the GPS announcing progress at every turn

The “no-no” sound of the GPS that keeps everyone on track

A country lane which rides a lot like a roller coaster except slower and more enjoyable

Sharing the road with an Amish buggy

And children delighted to see cyclists go by

Living a week with super heroes who wear orange jerseys and fly across America on bicycles

Homes repaired and built

The life and light and hope of Christ