Friday, August 2, 2013

Wheels for Wheels--Day 3

Key West, FL

We're here!  It was 55 miles today from Marathon.  I lost count of the various Keys we passed through.  Some were smaller than the Causeway Islands going to Sanibel!  Grandson Zak was with me for about fifteen miles of the ride. 

My day started with a phone call to the Friday morning meeting of the Sanibel-Captiva Rotary.  Using a coupling of a speaker phone and a microphone, I was able to provide an update to my fellow Rotarians.  Imagine my surprise later in the day when we discovered the "Welcome to Key West" sign was provided by--you guessed it--the Key West Rotary Club!

The big challenge today was the Seven Mile Bridge.  Granted, it is a beautiful passage.  Water all around, turquoise and green.  Gorgeous.  But it is also a two lane road, with fairly narrow shoulders and no formal bike path.  And trucks traveling at fifty-five miles an hour!  So my attention was fully focused on riding and not on the view!  But, thank God, I made it safely across.

I learned today that the word "key" is a very poor translation of the Spanish word cayo, which basically means an island made of coral or sitting on coral.  Some suggest that our growing Hispanic population here in Florida is a new development, but the truth is Spanish has been part of our heritage of the last five hundred years (at least!)

This has been an amazing journey.  I am so very grateful to all of you, my congregation, my family, my friends, me fellow Rotarians, for your support, and most especially to my wife Linda.  She had to endure a fair amount of waiting for us to catch up. 

It looks like we will at least triple the original goal of 60 wheelchairs--we may even reach 200!  I feel so blessed to be able to help make life better for those who have great need.  God is good!


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