Pedal Trans-America 2008: Chenoa

A message from the Connecticut Burns Care Foundation

Ryan and Dwight hope to raise $10,000 to support the burn camp, which will host 70 children between the ages of 8 and 18. They are determined to reach the West Coast as a personal challenge as well as helping young burn survivors.

Started in 1991, the Arthur C. Luf Children's Burn Camp is located in northern Connecticut on 176 acres. Every summer, burn survivors come to the burn camp, which is a safe and fun environment that helps kids heal emotionally and physically. The Burn Camp is free to the children, who come primarily from the Northeast and some foreign counteries, but any burn survivor child anywhere is welcome. More than 70 adult counselors, primarily active and retired firefighters and burn unit nurses, occupational and physical therapists, child psychologists and even a doctor will serve as mentors for the week.

It's also our goal to promote burn awareness and fire prevention and education, which we do year around. We sponsor a burn survivor, burned in a car accident that involved speeding and drinking alcohol, who speaks to high school students throughout Connecticut. We also support the burn unit at Bridgeport Hospital, helping to purchase equipment.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Chenoa

From Dwight we headed southwest on the famous Route 66. We got a late start (I mean a LATE start) and had the heat and the wind to contend with, so by the mid-afternoon we had only moved about 35 miles. Our luck changed (if not our mileage) when a couple of girls pulled up beside us and offered us their help. Apprarently the gas station attendant we had just been chatting with told them about our trip, and they decided to see if we needed anything. One of these lovely people was named Rachel, and she gave us a lift back to her farm in Chenoa, where we met her delightful family and had supper. They invited us to freshen up and use the computer, and Rachel's mom, Nancy, did our wash for us. They were so good to us. Ryan and I agreed that even if they had done nothing for us we would still feel grateful just to cross paths with such totally pleasant, wonderful people. Rachel's dad happens to be an authority with the Fire Department (imagine that) so he fixed us up in the Fire House for the night. I feel like the ancient Greek rites of hospitality are being observed throughout the midwest, most of all in Chenoa, Illinois. So we didn't go very far, yesterday, but after meeting people like this is it still felt like a huge success.