First off, Mill Creek isn’t really a place; we’re back to camping in the wilderness now and stayed near Mill Creek road at a place called the Beaver Lodge, where I ate lunch and dinner. Some of the folks; Julia, Emily and Kelly especially, are filming a “music video” using the song “1000 miles” by Vanessa Carlton but substituting our own lyrics and they had me sing, which was fun, I hadn’t done something like that in a while.

Today was the day we left our 4K for Cancer friends so I wanted to talk a little bit about that. They are all younger, and the idea is that it was started by a younger guy (19) who got cancer and wanted a support system for research about cancer specifically in young adults. They have an age cap, and I think I understand why. It was like summer camp on wheels; they do morning dedication, which is a set of rituals including a song, a chant, a mosh pit, and a reading about someone they know who has cancer. Everyone dedicates the ride to someone; either the person in the reading or their own choice. They had a lot more togetherness than we do; some of it forced, of course. It really was like a parallel universe. I sort of hope we run into them again or groups like them because I think there are things we could learn from them and we shouldn’t be so afraid of togetherness.

On a final note, I rode for 7 hours today with Kelly and we talked about so many things; relationships, life, passions, family. I really cherish these long conversations and this one in particular was something I needed at that moment, it was very grounding.