Day 5 started with a 14-mile bike ride from Shepherdstown, WV to Harper's Ferry, WV. All three of us completed the ride, and we were blessed yet again with beautiful weather (not too h
ot, no rain!) In Harper's Ferry, we enjoyed a guided tour of the town, which included lots of Civil War History and lots of stair climbing (whew--that's one hilly town!) The hiking was challenging for everyone, but it was hard to complain while watching German (that's his first name) from Mexico climbing the stairs two at a time with a prosthetic leg! He is amazing! In any event, we really enjoyed seeing the landmarks and taking in the beautiful scenery.Following the tour, we had the option of continuing on with the bike trek for 14 more miles (which Scott chose) or enjoying a "relaxing" tubing trip down the Potomac River. Todd was a bit spent from the morning's bike ride, so we opted for the latter option. After a mix-up with communication about which van to take, we were relieved to catch up with the 11 members of our tubing group. Unfortunately, that's where things took a turn for the worst.
The river was low, and there was little to no current to carry us on our tubes. That meant that after spending all morning on the bike, we found ourselves paddling and kicking with our hands and feet non-stop in the river to achieve the slightest movement. It was exhausting
-- no one told us this would be a triatholon! Eventually, we would hit some currents, but this just meant we were jossled into the numerous rocks on the river (which could really hurt if you weren't careful!) At one point, I got sucked down off my tub into a particularly fast and rocky whitewater area, where I was hit underwater by the rocks on both elbows, both knees, my chin, my hip, and my back and then got stuck in the rocks under water with the current rushing over my head. NOW THAT WAS SCARY! Luckily, I was able to free myself and get my head back above water, but there was still another hour of so of tubing (ahem, paddling) ahead, and now we were facing a s
trong head wind, so it seemed we were going backwards if anything (plus, I had a hard time paddling with my sore arms and legs!). It was pretty miserable to say the least, especially for the sarcoma survivers in our group who were facing a variety of physical challenges. Our whole group finally made it out of the water at 6:15 p.m. (which so happened to be the time our dinner started) and we were eventually bused back to the hotel to quickly shower and run off to the restaurant. The good news is that our anger at the situation ultimately turned into a great bonding experience for the 13 of us, and it probably made for one of the most memorable parts of the trip!We did make it to dinner eventually, and just in time to hear Dr. David Loeb, an oncologist from Johns Hopkins, speak about the research he is doing thanks, in part, to funding by the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative (see everyone - your donations to Team Sarcoma/Liddy Shriver are really making a difference!!!) And we were thrilled to learn that just yesterday, a new clinical trial was approved for sarcoma patients with metastatic disease. Obviously I asked lots of questions and spoke to Dr. Loeb afterwards, and I'm going to investigate whether it is possible for Todd to get into this trial. So stay tuned! It sure was a wonderful way to cap off the evening and to put into perspective the real reason we are here.
Thanks again for continuing to follow our journey!
Love,
Karen
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