Because of weather, hills, wind, and old tired bodies we got one day behind on our schedule. Today is our rest day so John and I took our maps and iPad and we spent some time recalculating the rest of the trip and by picking up a few miles each day we have it figured to end right on time, we will make our plane and be home October 3rd! Yeh!

i have a cool App on my iPad where you can put in pins of the route from our paper map that I purchased from Adventure cyclist Association of the sanctioned route called the “Northern Tier” that we are following. Each time I put in another pin it gives me the total miles to that point for that route for the day. When it goes over 70 miles we move to the next town that would not be over 90 miles that has a camp ground, or a Warm Shower host, or a cheap motel and begin sending texts and making phone calls until we get something lined up. We then type the name of that town in on our list along with the address and phone number where we are staying. We got the entire rest of the trip planned out today while drinking 3 cups of coffee.

I enjoy planning the future, and making plans on how to accomplish something like what we are doing. Often the planning is as fun as the doing is for me. Planning gives me a feeling of confidence and replaces a nervousness or even fear of the unknown with a great and positive sense of anticipation of adventure and accomplishment.   But, all plans are subject to change. Reminds me of one of my favorite Bible verses in Proverbs, “The mind of man plans his way, but The Lord directs his steps”. Proverbs 16:9

God expects that we will do all we can to be successful and to do well, being wise, diligent, and responsible, but we also acknowledge that He is in charge, and so we are flexible and submissive and trusting at the same time. Being diligent to plan but being genuinely flexible and trusting when our plans  change without getting uptight is a fun way to live life with God.

I love you all very much, Dee