Day 18- Darryl and Heidi

Day 18 Wednesday May 26, 2010 Distance 76.81 km. Time 4 hrs. 56 min. Total so far 1203.61 km
.Elevation climb today 7000 ft. Shortly after leaving Pymatuning State Park, a group of Amish men stopped us and asked us some questions and gave us their business card. They had seen us yestersay. We finally met some other tourers. Marty and Elie are returning to Cleveland, Ohio from a wedding in Buffalo,New York. We had a long chat. They have been to Algonquin Park and Quetico and have a lot of outdoor interests. See , we are not the only crazy ones out there! Today along the highway , we see houses , businesses and farms. In Saegerville at lunchtime, I had a chat with Cliff who is unemployed but helps his mother on the farm. They have 30 horses and 6 stallions and sheep. They also breed Doberman Pinchers. A horse now sells for $500 and a Doberman $1000. Today was hill, after hill, after hill!!! We are following the East Bicycle Y Route through the north of Pennslyvania and the signs led us to Union City for the night. Dave asked permission at the borough office to stay at the park and they said YES. WOW When we arrived at the park, we said hello to a young man who was sitting at the picnic table with a lot of books. Dave and I noticed his study bibles and Greek books. HIs name was Darryl and he is a pastor. After talking for a while and taking his photo, we headed to a pavilion on the other side of the park. In a little while, Darryl came over and invited us to stay at his home for the night. He had checked with his wife, Heidi and warned us that they have four children under 6 and also a Bible study tonight. It sounded good to us so we bicycled two more blocks to his home where we met Andrea 6, Landon 5, lucas 2and a half and 13 month old Zachary. They let us shower and shared their supper of Stromboni and pizza and cupcakes. About 20 people came to the bible study where they discussed the beginning of Matthew 5- The beatitudes. Toward the end of the evening , they broke up into smaller groups for discussion and prayer requests and then we had snacks and fellowship time. It was a very enjoyable evening and I even got to hold 3 week old Andrew. Late to bed but very content! In only three short days, we have met two wonderful couples that have welcomed us strangers into their homes and lives.