Day 58 - A Fellow Cincinnatian (July 29th, 2024)

City To City: Damascus - Draper

Miles: 84

Miles Total: 3,914

Flats: 13

Video: https://youtu.be/gUkXvyKd7b4?si=VIIruBJT38MLMJhO

A Delicious Dinner With Curtis And Jenny

The Baseball Game

Us In Box Seats

    That morning, we had a filling breakfast.  But it was raining.  Our bikes were in the rain because the bike rack wasn't under a shelter.  Also, bikes weren't allowed in the hotel room, and since there were cameras, we took them back out.  So, our bikes were wet, and we pulled them under the shelter so we didn't have to stand in the rain packing everything up.  All morning it rained.  We got our second dog attack along the road, and the two dogs weren't fazed by it.  Once again, Mark, in the front, squeezed by, and the middle people got some more holes in their panniers.  Since I was the last, I went right through with no problem.

    Later, we stopped for a snack under a church pavilion.  Then I went to use the restroom at the Dollar General nearby.  When I returned, some men and two dogs were outside talking to the rest of us.  And those dogs were super friendly, but we're pretty sure they are the same dogs we ran into earlier.  But they minded their own business and sniffed everything.  They had no reason to be hostile since they weren't guarding their territory.

    The winery where we stayed for the night couldn't host Matt and Mark either, so they stayed at a park and stealth camped.  

    When we got to their long driveway, we weren't sure which house/building to go to, but immediately, my dad got a message from them saying to come right down until the driveway ended. So we did, and we met Curtis and Jenny. They owned a winery and had many customers on the weekends when they were open.  They made us spaghetti and garlic bread and cookies for dessert.  My dad doesn't like wine that much, but when he tasted Curtis and Jenny's, my dad's eyes opened wine and he was impressed with how delicious it tasted.

    They have a daughter, Sybil, an avid hiker who did the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Trail, and when she worked, she worked for REI as a hiker guide.  On the trails as a guide, she would pack everyone else's things, be the last one to leave, carry it all, and have to be the first one there with everything set up for the other hikers.  So, she carried everyone's things and was able to pass them.  In her short vacation, she would go hiking, and her parents would ask her why she wanted to go hiking, even though that's what she did for the past month or two.  She replied, "I don't have anyone to drag around and hold me up."

    Curtis had this kidney genetic disease, and Sybil, who had the same blood type and didn't inherit the disease, gave one of her kidneys to her father.  Curtis and Jenny had said that Sybil didn't have to and that they could sign up to get one, but Sybil was firm and said she was giving it one way or another.  She had said, "Well, I would prefer it to be someone younger, but I'm willing to give it to you."

When Sybil healed, she and thirteen other kidney donors and a kidney transplant doctor climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa to help raise awareness for kidney transplants and to show that people could still live healthy and active lives after being donors.

    Later, as we were getting ready for bed, Curtis came down to the basement and asked us if we wanted to go to a college baseball game for an hour.  Henry was super tired and didn't have the energy to go, so my dad and I went along.

    Each baseball team's players were from all over the States and had joined the summer league to practice and stay in shape for the coming school year.  We had front-row box seats just above the away team and were within fifteen feet of third base.  My dad looked at the list of players and found one of them, CJ, from Cincinnati!  So, Curtis and Jenni graciously waited until CJ's turn came around.  Then my dad said, "Go, CJ! Represent Cincinnati!!"

    CJ looked around with a half-amused, half-confused face.  His face said it all.  His expression said, "What?! Who? Who's cheering for me? Me, a player from the away team?"

    But we did get some questioning and disapproving looks from the home team's fans.

    After CJ made it home, we left.  We immediately went to bed because it was past 10 pm.

The next morning, Curtis and Jenny said that the away team had won and started making a turnaround after CJ had made it home.  The score had been eighteen to six.