The Beginning

According to Doug, a cross country bike trip has been on his list of things to do for most of his adult life. For me, however the dream and possibilities developed only in the last few years. The seeds of this trip were sown in the hours and days after Doug had his coronary bypass surgery in November 2004, when it took all his will and energy to just walk the 100 feet to the neighbor’s driveway and back on the first of our many walks over the next month. Observing and helping him through the recovery process was an amazing journey in itself. We were also given the gift of time to talk and dream and ponder. The idea was given added impetus by the year of grief that followed as we both lost a parent and I lost a precious nephew and beloved grandmother. You just never know what is around the next life corner. I also turned 50, which seems a little like a cliche’ but it definitely factored into my thinking. We finally spoke the words “Let’s just do it” out loud to each other on yet another trip south for the unexpected funeral of my dear Aunt Gladys last October. And so Doug and Donna’s Live Strong Adventure was born: to honor friends and family who have dealt with so much these last few years ... and because we think we can learn alot and have fun doing it.