Day 44 Part 1: America

JULY 22 St. Claire, MI to Port Glasgow, Ontario

I slept on the floor at the Murphy Inn... and did my best to stay in my sleeping bag Tuesday morning, even after dad had crawled out of bed. Leaving the hotel, we had some difficulties finding the route, and only made it 8 miles into Marine City by 10:00.

At the Marine City post office, we displayed our pass ports and asked for any mail, "Greendale? Oh, yeah. I think you guys got a bunch!" the woman behind the counter said. She left, then returned with a stack of mail for us, including a cardboard tube with a spare set of tent poles for my tent (Big Agnes, my tent's manufacturer, was more than helpful when we told them about my breaking tent poles. They replaced the poles, sending them to us on the road, without even asking how we had broken them.) We also received some personal letters, plus a packet full of more hand written letters from my Aunt's first graders. I know getting post cards means a lot to them, but I wonder if the know how much I love getting their letters. It's my favorite part of every mail stop.

As we exchanged the old tent poles for the new ones in the lobby, the woman from behind the counter ran out, "Oh, good, you're still here! I found one more for you!" she handed us a white express package.
"It's from FAAN!" Dad said excitedly. We opened it to find a letter signed by all of the staff at FAAN, as well as 5 rubber wrist bands that say "Food Allergy P.A.L." (PAL stands for Protect A Life).

(This is a good chance to remind everyone that my ride isn't solely about the adventure... I'm also trying to raise Funds and Awareness for FAAN, the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, becuase my cousin Nathan is deathly allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. My goal is to raise $10, 000 for FAAN. To learn more about my mission, read the very first most on this blog; to learn more about FAAN, visit them at www.foodallergy.org, and to donate to FAAN, go to http://www.firstgiving.com/cycling4allergies)