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To contact us, please try:
fundraising@ride4ror.com
Jon Natkin
PO Box 866
Wilson, WY 83014
(307) 734-1541
posted by Jon @ 6/08/2006 08:32:00 PM
11 comments
Ride for ROR
A 7000 mile bicycle tour of the United States to benefit Reach Out and Read. Jon Natkin and Erik Balsbaugh will begin this epic journey from Jackson Hole, Wyoming to Key West, Florida around August 20, 2006. Expected completion: December 2006.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
fundraising@ride4ror.com
Jon Natkin
PO Box 866
Wilson, WY 83014
(307) 734-1541
Flat Tires (11/28/06)
Erik = 21
Jon = 4 bike, 5 trailer
11 Comments:
Good Luck Jonathan, your Aunt
Splendid gesture on your part for a very worthy cause! Good luck on the bike tour. Check is in the mail!. Larry H. (a first cousin to your maternal grandmother)
I am very proud of both of you. Be careful , drink water,and watch out for those crocodiles...private joke!!
Hey Jon and Erik from Whitefish, MT. (Dickey Lake) Hope you found Lake Kookanosa a very special place and found lots of camping grounds. We would wish you all luck on your journey and that you would meet lots of nice folks to communicate with you and to help encourage you and help make memories that will last a life time. Good Luck on your journey and God Bless and we will be in touch and keep you in our prayers and frequent your web site to see how everything is going. Drive safely and watch out for those goats!!!
Cora, John, Marcy, Mike, Tom, Sonja, Sage, and Darcy
From Whitefish, MT, Friday night. Smokey here in Montana, but sunny and nice. We are enjoying this indian summer and hope you are also. What a venture the two of you are experiencing. I know that I would never dream of being able to conquer that kind of trip. It's good to see that you can experience such beauty and over come such great obstacles. I have a new found respect for bicyclers ever since I started reading what you are going through. Okay have a great weekend and we'll check in later. Have a great time in Seattle.
Cora (Dickey Lake encounter)
Congratulations on reaching your goal for your cause. Hope that the money will continue to come in.
Despite the rainy weather, the coast is a great place to be this time of year because most of the tourists are gone. Glad that your bike repairs were that easy to get fixed. Loved your pictures. Keep them coming and hope the trip ahead will be just as rewarding as the last part of the trip.
Cora
Erik and Jon.... Great job! I have been keeping up on your travels. Be safe!!!
Hey there from Whitefish Montana,
Thanks for sharing the story of your past struggles. No matter what our strong holds, it is a choice for us to change. Thanks for the encouragement to overcome my own strongholds. Like you said in your story, if you stayed in the place you were, you would not be able to experience life the way you are now, nor will any of us if we stay in bondage. It is a good reminder too, that we can't always get by on our own, that we also need those around us who care and love us. It also reminds me to rely on God to get me through some of those tough days. I am also reminded by your pictures God's creation and that each mountain top or canyon, or lake or river or prairie reflects some attribute of God and reminds me of his presence everywhere we are. Your pictures have been great and I hope and pray that as your bodies scream at you through the cold or steepness or the heat, that you would gather your strength from Him above who reminds you of his presence every day by the beauty around you. Okay, better go. Keep on biking. I hope that you will continue to meet nice people and each day you will build a strength from wihtin that will change your life forever.
Cora
Bals you are totally nutz, this is awesome. What a groovy adventure, hopefully we can make it enough for Thanksgiving. Good luck and enjoy.
tx
Jon & Erik, it was a pleasure having you here, it's wonderful what you both are doing. Enjoy Key West, and come back anytime.
Ana & Miguel
We were headed through the belly of the state on a two lane road in an area that most tourists, heck most Floridians, have never seen nor will ever see - Devil’s Garden. This area is South of Lake Okeechobee, North and West of Palm Beach and North and East of Fort Myers. We hadn’t passed another car in 15 minutes.
It is very flat and the sandy soil struggles to sustain silver oak, scrub pine, saw palmetto and Sabal palms.
The state of Florida is the second largest producer of beef in the US and this is where it is all at. In addition to the cows there are plenty of wild turkey, deer, hog, bear, bob cat and panther.
We were headed to River Ranch, south of Lake Kissimee via Clewiston. Clewiston is a Big Sugar town located on the southeastern shore of Lake Okeechobee renowned for super large mouth bass fishing.
When we first saw Jon he was a small yellow speck off on the shimmering horizon. As Suzy and I drew closer we could see that what I had mistaken for a small glob of bug guts smeared on the windshield was actually Jon on his bike towing his trailer.
We both turned and looked at each and said, “I wonder what his story is?” at the same time.
100 miles latter we arrived in Clewiston around 5:00PM and set up our tent. We took off for dinner and came back latter only to find what I thought was Jon’s bike parked next to our site!
The next morning Jon was sitting there all dressed up in his slipstream bike gear and reading a book. I saw the bike and the trailer and new that it had to be the same guy that we saw in Devil’s Garden.
I introduced myself and asked and sure enough, it was the same guy we had seen the day before. I don’t know how the heck he got there so fast!
We didn’t have much time to talk. Jon was on his way to Boca to spend the day with some friends. Turns out one of them had a captain’s license and it looked like Jon might get some well deserved R&R at sea for the day.
How was the boat ride Jon?
Shook my hand and off he went.
Jon, I lift my glass of Merlot to you and toast you. There was a time that I had a similar dream.
Good for you for sticking to it and believing in your self and taking the chance! Our country was founded on the spirit of people like you.
May the Lord bless you and Jesus ride by your side and if your are ever back in Naples, be sure and look us up!
May the clouds block the sun but may you still be warm. May the rain be far enough behind you to keep you cool but not close enough to get you wet. May the roads be smooth, the traffic light and the wind always at your back.
James & Suzy Kuhar
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