June 23, 1999

OLIVER

I had a pretty good ride out today from Davenport to Coulee City, WA. About nineteen miles west of Davenport, I met up with a lone cyclist heading eastward. Kathy was from Dubuque, Iowa. This was her first time out and she was riding from Washington to Maine. We stood along the shoulder for about twenty minutes sharing information and giving advice.

It was around 4:30 p.m. when I arrived in Coulee City. The park next to the highway on the outskirts of town didn't look to inviting so I decided to see if I could connect with a minister. I got off the bike and started to walk into town.

I was really surprised when somebody called out my name. The person who did this was somebody who I had met in 1995. Oliver was from Britain and I had met him last in Hannibol, Missouri at the post office. He was on some kind of bike tour with a lot of cyclists that time and here he was with another group going eastward again.

The group was camping out at the Presbyterian church. I could have stayed with them but I didn't want to budge in. I sayed goodbye to my old friend after about ten minutes but Oliver told me that we would see each other again since he was going to volunteer at the International Headquarters of Habitat for Humanity in Americus, Georgia in the fall.

After about ten minutes, I connected with the Assembly of G-D minister who invited me to stay inside for the night. It turns out that another Christian cycling group that I'm familiar with (Wheelpower) had stayed there two weeks ago.