Angels all Around us ????

As we left Europe last week after pedaling from Lisbon, Portugal to Athens, Greece over a period of 7.5 months, I was instantly reminded of how blessed and fortunate we truly are in so many different ways which in turn made me think of the “angels all around us”.

These angels come in many forms from the ones watching over us from up above, to the living family and friends we left behind, and to the ones we’ve met so far along this amazing journey.

First I’ll start with the biggest angels we left when we began the journey, and that’s our Mom’s, Dad’s, and Sisters (Michelle, Lisa, Debbie, Tammy, & Heather).  They’ve supported, encouraged, and prayed for our safety on a daily basis, and we definitely feel their love surrounding us.  We were able to spend some quality time with all of them before we departed by visiting Rhode Island, Indiana, Tucson, and Boston which meant so much.  Keeping in contact with them via text, and the occasional phone call to our parents is a true blessing with modern technology.

Our friends Darin and Russ who we left multiple totes with of “stuff” that we couldn’t get rid of as we mimimalized our lives in preparation for this trip are deeply missed.  By texting and sending them postcards we keep in touch but we really miss both of them and thankful for all they’ve done for us from having our mail forwarded to them to Darin sending us care packages along the way…(thanks again for the Peeps you sent to France back at Easter).  We feel the love and energy from all our Mo’s ALC friends/teammates and love keeping in touch through Facebook messenger or WhatsApp with these special angels as well.  With both of us calling San Diego our home away from home (Steve-17 years/Tim-8 years), we are fortunate to have the love and support from so many people and again enjoy the communication we continue to have with them so many miles away.  The comments on the blog and/or social media posts from everyone means so much to us and feeds our engery throughout the journey.  

People that we meet along this journey will often ask us what do you miss from back HOME, and we both always answer “our family and friends”.  We’ve met some amazing people in the 11,000 kilometers we pedaled across Europe, and the hardest part is that we only get to interact with them for one day and maybe sometimes two if we happen to take a rest day.  During our Europe trip we had the pleasure and opportunity to see so many friends from home which made it a little easier and they even brought us Caramel M & M’s to Croatia, which were consumed before the ferry arrived in Hvar from Split.  

I’ll never forget the “angel waitress” that gave me Raki to heal the fresh wound on my elbow from falling off my bike on some railroad tracks in Croatia.  During that fall I cracked my helmet once again reminding me why we wear them and why everyone that cycles should.  We will never forget all our Warm Shower Angels (especially Ana & Diego after a full day of rain from Seville to Jerez), that hosted us in Portugal, Spain, Croatia, and Turkey.  We won’t forget our friend and angel Matteo (an ALC hero we met in 2015) that we met up with in Italy for our ride into Venice, and then he met us again in Croatia to bring a care package that took forever to arrive from the states.  We also had some amazing couch surfing and Airbnb hosts that welcomed us into their homes with the warmest hearts and treated us as if we were their family.  

Finally, for me, (Steve), I know that I have some amazing angels watching over us from up above.  Most days while I’m pedaling and looking at the beautiful scenery around me and keeping my eyes also on the road I often glance down at my Garmin (GPS device) and see two different sets of numbers that remind me of my beautiful Grandma’s.  The first number is 57 (in kilometres) which is the ever so young age that my Grandma Carnes was taken from our family way to soon.  The second number I see a lot is 1111 (I see this in the time almost daily or elevation gain once in awhile)  which was the address of my Grandma Greiwe (my Mom’s mother).  When I see these numbers it brings a smile to my face and makes me aware that they are watching out for us from up above just as they did when they were alive.  These two women forever formed the cornerstones of our families existence and taught me so much that I still carry in my life today and always will.  I’ve named my bicycle Edward Vincent which is the name of my Mom’s oldest brother who passed away a couple years ago.  He’s always held a special place in my heart as a man of principle who did so much for others in his 30 years of missionary work in Indonesia (that we hope to visit while we’re on the Asia part of our tour now), and when he returned to the states in 1995.  I think of my uncle Ed often and wonder what parts of the world he saw and just know he’s keeping an eye on our safety and we’ll being too.  I think of several friends who were taken by cancer in their 40’s and wish they could’ve kept on living to enjoy a full life with their families and friends or done a similar trip of travel like we’re on.  I think of many friends of mine who’ve lost their parents unexpectedly in the last couple of years and wish I could help ease their pain as they didn’t get to properly say goodbye to them.

We have definitely felt the “angels all around us” as we acclumatted to a new continent and culture by arriving in India a week ago.  While we know Asia isn’t the first or second choice of destination travel for many family and friends, we’ve been looking forward to this part of the trip so much, so stay tuned.