Penn Yan --> Niagara Falls

It's been a fun couple of days. The day off in Penn Yan was relaxing. We basically ate lots of food and saw the new X-Men movie. It was wonderful to sit in a dark, quiet, air conditioned room for a few hours.

The next day was an awesome one. I spent part of the day with a few teammates volunteering at the Rochester Hope Lodge. 4k supports the Baltimore Hope Lodge and volunteers regularly there, so it was interesting to see another Hope Lodge. For those who aren't familiar, the Hope Lodge provides housing to cancer patients receiving outpatient treatment in cities that are too far to commute to easily. This particular Hope Lodge was literally in a building that looked like a castle. Apparently it was built in the late 1700s and they were going to tear it down because no one wanted it so the American Cancer Society bought it. We were there to cook dinner for the guests and to hang out during their one year anniversary party. We spent a long time talking to some of the guests and it was really awesome to get to know them. We exchanged email addresses and I really do hope to keep in touch. One woman in particular, Helen, was diagnosed was stage 4 lymphoma. It was really nice talking to her and listening to her story. After Helen went to bed, one of the Hope Lodge employees told us that Helen had seemed really down and that after eating our food and talking to us for a while, Helen really seemed a lot happier. It means a lot knowing the the support we provide by visiting (and donating to) the Hope Lodge really does make a difference to people.

The next day, I rode in honor of Helen and the others we met at the Rochester Hope Lodge. It was a 60 mile day entirely along a trail right next to the Erie Canal. While 60 miles is short and the trail was dead flat, the day was actually fairly tiring. The trail was gravel so we got pretty tired, but eventually we arrived at our host in a town outside of Niagara Falls. My favorite feature of the church we are staying at is in the Sunday School room we are sleeping in. There is an upside down bin with the words "Box of Shame" written on it in child's writing. It's kind of sad and funny at the same time.

We spent a day off yesterday at Niagara Falls. We visited Canada, ate the worst eggs I have ever eaten, saw the amazing waterfalls, took a nap next to them and overall had a fantastic day.

It's thunderstorming now so we are trying to wait out the rain, still at the church with the Box of Shame.