10/3/2014
Having a place to stay in Bowie was a blessing. I was teetering on three days without a bath. Like on a comic strip, you could see wavy lines around my body representing odor. I sat under the hot shower for some time washing away the aches of the past couple of days. After the adrenaline of being lost in the desert wore off, sleep set in.
I slept until 7:30. If you have followed the journey, you know that is a late wake up time. I didn’t have too much mileage to cover so I took the morning to call and check up on some of the places and people that have shown me support. It is a mysterious thing to plant seeds everywhere. It would be impossible to see all the fruits of the labor. I loved the story of Johnny Appleseed when I was a child. If anything I can say I have been influenced by the stories of my childhood.
Today’s adventure doesn’t have animals, danger, or mystery. It involves kindness and generosity on a very human level. The story comes from the tail end of the run. We had arrived in San Simon shortly after leaving Bowie. Crystal and I weren’t super hungry but we knew there was only one place to eat. It was a Chevron station with a Quiznos and Noble Roman’s Pizza. I figured I would ask the manager to see if they would like to donate a dinner to Papa Didos. Bree looked very young. She had reddish hair and wore glasses. With customers behind me, she asked me if I’d like a pizza. Of course I never turn down a good cheese pizza. When Bree brought the hot meal to our table, we found out she had bought us dinner with her own money. That made the donation so much more meaningful. We had expected that restaurants throw away food at the end of the day so a donated meal shouldn’t have been a problem. We couldn’t have anticipated the manager buying us dinner.
After we ate we were able to give Bree some of the “Where’s Papa Didos?” stickers. She and her colleague Kalyssa thought Chuck was super cute. They even took pictures with the dolls. It was our first time taking Ivy out in public. They learned more about what we do at the foundation and they decided they would set up a donation jar for us. Every day I am humbled by strangers who are now my new friends. This foundation grows just a tiny bit every day. Like I always tell the kids, you can’t have an ocean without the first drop of water. I am thankful for every drop we receive.
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