Brutal Day 8 but we Achieve

Day eight- brutal

Yesterday we started the day with an event with the ARCs of Onondaga, Madison, Cortland Counties. We started it at Chittenango New York in the Erie Canal Museum. We had a wonderful event with proclamations and discussion of employment and outcomes for people disabilities.

We always knew that this day was going to be a longest. On paper, it is 45 miles from Chittenango to Utica-lock 20. We were excited because this day we had trained for four weeks earlier. Last year, it was pouring rain all day and it was a very rough trip.

Both Doug and I in our introductory speeches at the museum mentioned that it rained a lot last year. And of course we must have good karma because it brought a days worth of rain yesterday.

About 2 miles in Doug told me to go ahead because he was slow in the mud, and about 2 miles after that I realized it was going to be a brutal day.

Doug was stopped by two flat tires. It put him 10 miles behind. Rain normally slows us down by about 4 miles an hour to go through the muddy stone dust, and it did.

We ended up as two separate groups, the Hamlin’s with Jayson White and Trish Zdep behind us and the Robinsons with the three boys in front.

We arrived at lock 20 at 5 o’clock after three rainstorms, and climbing over 5 down trees. The 5.9 miles section of stone dust after the city of Rome, had at least 10 trees crossing the path. When we arrived it locked 20, we called Doug’s group to tell them there was no way they could get Doug over the trees, so they ended up taking the city highway to get to lock 20. They arrived at 7 PM.

It was an absolutely brutal day, but I can tell you we both felt like we accomplished something not thinking we would get to the end all day long.

John Robinson
518-429-9256
https://www.ourability.com

Using Siri to type. She’s not perfect, either am I.