Day 44 (Mon 8/10/09)

WAVY10/FOX43 News Interview & NAS Oceana Boys and Girls Club!!!

Yesterday Tomorrow

DAILY REPORT: Weather -- Another heat advisory day. Temperatures are supposed to reach 100 deg. Nice not to be riding in such hot weather.

We were scheduled to be on WAVY10/FOX 43 morning show at 0740. The studio was over at Portsmouth, so the challenge actually would be getting everyone up and going after all the celebrating last night. We were staying with Maria's folks and I was able to get Skip a BOQ room at NAS Oceana. Skip arrived on time for a 0600 departure. After a few miss guided directions (hey a lot of things change when you have been gone for a while) we arrived downtown Portsmouth at the WAVY10/FOX43 Station. Virginia Rideout, the morning Producer met us and brought us into the "green room."

We were called to go on the set. It was pretty neat to see how a show is run and

broadcasted. The cameras were all automated and there were a couple of different locations on the set that they broadcasted from - news, weather, etc. During a commercial break we were brought on the set and met Cheryl Tan, the morning anchor. She was very nice and confused Skip as being the father. Good for a ice breaker. Then we went live and did the morning show segment. You can watch it here. It all went very well except I forgot to mention our web site. Oh well......

We headed back to Maria's house. Our next event was to meet the Boys and Girls Club an NAS Oceana at noon. The boys both went for a short run; yep that's right a run. They figured they needed to start getting ready for cross country running which will be starting up shortly. Me, I needed a nap. Around 1130 we headed over to the base to the youth center.

We headed over to the base and were warmly greeted at the Boys and Girls Club when we arrived. They took us around and showed us their facility. What a nice place and huge!! During the school year they were accommodating up to 270 kids and had a staff of 38. Cathy Mead the director runs a top notch program. While we were there, the Regional Director, Nancy Byrne showed up to say hi and thank you to the Riding44Hope Team. The staff, parents, and youth put on a wonderful lunch for everyone. It was a real treat to sit down and eat with kids. They were very excited about us being there and had lots of questions.

After lunch, the entire youth center got together in the gymnasium for our

presentation and question and answer session. The program was kicked off with several of the students coming in with a poster for John & James belated 17th Birthday and singing them "Happy Birthday!" It was very cute. We talked about our trip, the Wounded Warrior Program and what great things the Boys and Girls were doing. The floor was open to Q&A and boy there were lots and lots of questions. It was a great time. At the end, Cathy and several of the youth presented us T Shirts from NAS Oceana and a scrapbook that a number of boys and girls put together. It was terrific!! They even had pictures from yesterday's arrival at the beach. Wow!! A special thanks goes to Jazmine Wright who spearheaded the whole scrap booking project and sent numerous emails to the Riding4Hope Team while we were biking.

Afterwards, we stayed for almost another hour while John and James signed autographs, played games with the kids, etc. By the time we left we had been at the club for nearly three hours. This truly was great experience for both the Riding4Hope Team and the Boys and Girls Club of NAS Oceana. Cathy Mead, thanks for all you do; you run a super program!! Cathy Heimer of the Jet Observer wrote up a nice article on our arrival and visit to the NAS Oceana Boys and Girls Club.

After we got back in the afternoon; the boy's cousins (Danielle, Alex, & Christina) came over and kidnapped them; taking them to the beach. Unfortunately they were in DC on Sunday so they had missed their arrival. It had been years since they had seen one another and hit it off like they had last seen one another yesterday.

The ladies went out shopping and us guys went out for dinner down town VA Beach. It was great to see Maria's brother Pat. It had been a year or so since Pat had visited us in Silverdale during a business meeting.

We are planning on spending a few more days in Virginia Beach with family. Skip will be flying back to Silverdale WA on Tuesday morning. Maria flies back to WA on Saturday and the boys and I will start our cross country drive back to WA on Sunday morning.

I am planning on adding one more post wrapping up the trip in the next several days if I can get a few moments to capture our thoughts.

YOU DON'T SAY:

James - Today the heat index is supposed to reach 105 index as we walked outside, "Holy smoke, how do people live in this heat!"

Cheryl Tan, morning anchor - As we were getting ready to go live on the morning show, "Skip, you must be proud of your three sons." Skip that was a compliment!!

John - after meeting with the Boys and Girls Club; "Those kids were really cool!!"

David - talking about some of adventures during the trip; "Skip, you should know by now that the twins will play with your mind if you let them."

DID I REALLY DO THAT?

Skip's assimilation has been complete. As we were getting out of the car and talking about his departure tomorrow "David, would you mind if I take John's cell phone home with me?!" I nearly fell out of the car; Skip actually asking to have a cell phone. What has the world come to??

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
John getting all made up for his TV appearance. He needed a lot of help getting ready.	"You are never too old to set goal!" Does that apply to Skip too??
Some fun on the WAVY10/FOX43 set.	The Boys and Girls Club put on a great lunch for everyone.
Cathy & Jazmine introducing the Riding4Hope Team.	The youth had lots of questions to ask John & James!!
The Boys and Girls club presented the Riding4Hope Team members with T-Shirts from NAS Oceana and a scrapbook of our trip. Very nice, thanks much!!	The guys night out after dinner- L to R Skip, Pat (Maria's brother), David, & Pat (Maria's Dad)