Content Advisory: This blog post is written and designed with children ten years old and younger in mind. Kids, you can go ahead and skip this paragraph and start reading. Adults, make sure you get permission from your child before reading. If you don't have a child, it's okay to get permission from your niece, nephew, 2nd cousin once removed, or that little girl who lives next doors who's always leaving her toys in your driveway (In all seriousness, I encourage all of you to share these blog posts with your children, maybe even read them to your children who are not yet able to read).
(Click here to find out what this ride is all about. I encourage all who are able to support the children of Ryves Youth Center with a donation. Click here to make a donation.)
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Today, I ended up in Jackson, Tennessee, where I am visiting my cousin Faith and her family. I rode 82 miles, which was about the same distance that I rode yesterday. But today I had to make a lot more turns onto a lot of different roads, instead of taking only one or two roads the whole way. In just one day, I went down four different highways in Kentucky, and five other highways in Tennessee. I also went down four smaller roads when I got close to my cousin's house. That was way too many roads for me to remember in my head, so I had to write it down.
When people are travelling from one place to another, sometimes they will use a GPS to tell them which way to turn. I like to use the GPS on my phone sometimes. In fact, I used it to help plan my route for today. However, I also like to be able to look at a map and understand where I am going. It makes me feel good to know that I can get around without a GPS--and if my phone ever breaks, I know I'll still be able to get from one place to another.
I like to use regular maps sometimes when I'm travelling--the kind of maps that are on paper. I like them because you can look at them very quickly and see where everything is, unlike the screen on a phone or computer, where you have to zoom in or out. If you've ever looked at a map, you'll see that they are very complicated--there are a lot of roads on them, and most of those roads you don't need to worry about, except the ones that are on the way that you'll be travelling. To help me remember which way to go on this trip, I used what is called an overlay. It's just a piece of plastic that you put on top of the map, and then mark your route. For this one, I drew a black line over the roads I needed to take. That way, I wouldn't forget which roads I needed to turn on. The reason you use plastic for an overlay, instead of drawing right on the map, is so you can use the map again for another trip, without having a lot of lines all over your map. Here is the map (with overlay) that I used for today:
Can you see the black line I used to help me remember my route? The route starts in Mayfield, Kentucky, at the northern (top) part of the map, and it ends in Jackson, Tennessee, which is farther south (at the bottom of the map).
I used another type of map to help me today, called a "strip map." A strip map is a map that you draw by hand, and it shows only the roads and towns that you need to know for your trip. The reason you might use a strip map is that sometimes a map of a state won't have some of the smaller roads you need to go on (Look at a map of Indiana, or whatever state you live in. You will see that it probably has your town on it, but it probably doesn't have the street or road that you live on). So you draw in the roads you need, to help you remember where to turn. Once I got close to my cousin's house (about 10 miles away), I had to go on some smaller roads that weren't on my state of Tennessee map, so before I started today, I looked at the map on my phone and made a strip map of all the roads I needed to take to get to my cousin's house. The strip map showed me how to get to my cousin's house, but it only showed the roads I needed to know. So even if my phone broke during the day, I would still know where to go. Here is my strip map:
A strip map doesn't have all the roads on it. So if you have to stay on all the right roads for it to work--if you get very lost, you'll need to look at a regular map, or ask someone for directions.
Way behind the sign, between the two signposts, you'll see a small yellow blotch in the picture. That was a actually and woman and a little girl who were sitting at a table under an umbrella, enjoying the day. I stopped and asked the woman how far it was to the next town, and she told me that it would take about 45 minutes on my bicycle. I told her what I was doing and gave her a card to that tells about the ride and how to get to this blog. The little girl (I think she was about 6 or 7 years old) told me that she had gotten sunburn (I guess they'd been on vacation recently). I told her that I use sunscreen and that, even though sunscreen isn't always fun to wear, that it keeps our skin safe from the sun. I thanked the woman for her help and later in the day I prayed to God to bless the two of them.
One of my favorite things about this trip is that I have gotten to meet all kinds of helpful, interesting people. If these people can take their time to help me, then can't I also take time out of my day to help others? And even if I can't do anything to help them (like the woman and the little girl), I can at least pray for them. It has reminded me that I need to take time every day to stop and talk to people and try to help them if I can. That's true for people I know and people I don't know. That's true even when I'm at my regular job and not just when I'm doing a bicycle trip.
Next to meeting people, though, I love enjoying God's creation as I go. As I pedal along, I try to take in the sights: Trees, fields, blue skies peppered with clouds. Even if I've had a rough day, it makes things a little better. So I wanted to share with you a picture I took at the top of a hill in Tennessee. Each side of the road is lined with beautiful, looming evergreen trees:
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