Danny’s Ride

1,000 People
$30 Donation
$30,000 Closer To A Cure
Danny’s Ride has set a goal of raising $30,000 for cancer research by June 6th,2009.  This is a big goal but we have a big challenge – finding a cure for cancer.

Sponsors names will be presented on a certificate with the check for the total amount of money raised.

Please be one of 1,000 people who have had enough with the hurt and destruction cancer has caused.  Thank you.

FACT: Cancer is now the leading cause of death in the United States.

We all did our best to sleep in and met for breakfast at 8:50 in the hotel lobby.  The night’s sleep had helped but we were still exhausted from the trip.  We called from breakfast and scheduled a rental car to pick us up.  We decided to go into downtown Dallas to see the city and finish by eating dinner at one of Danny’s favorite places to eat when he used to live in the Ft. Worth area – Trail Dust.

In the early afternoon, we took the rental car to downtown Dallas.  Just before leaving, we received a phone call from Becky Daniel.  We met Becky in Weatherford, Texas on our way out to San Diego and have been in contact with her ever since.  She is truly one of the kindest people we have ever met and were thrilled with the idea of her joining us for dinner.

When we arrived in Dallas we went straight to the old book depository where John F. Kennedy was assassinated.  When we arrived, it looked a lot like a movie set.  Tourists were taking pictures on both sides of the road and the grassy knoll looked much smaller than I expected.  We went inside and went up to the famous 6th floor.  We viewed through glass the window that Oswald shot Kennedy through.

It was amazing to look out a window just a few feet from Oswald’s window and try to imagine what he was thinking and what he saw before he pulled the trigger. The museum was full of Kennedy facts and information about his election, presidency and assassination.

When we finished, we grabbed lunch at a Subway.  We walked back and took pictures of the grassy knoll and outside of the building.  As we were walking back to the rental car, I received a voice message from CBS11 in Dallas and Ft. Worth.  They wanted to schedule an interview with Danny for tomorrow!  It was such a relief to get at least one interview in such a large city that would reach so many people.

It was just the shot of energy that the three of us needed.  We called CBS11 and scheduled the interview for tomorrow.  With time to kill before dinner, we ran to Best Buy to get a replacement for the GPS that had broken.  We pulled in to Trail Dust around 5:00.

At 5:30, Becky arrived.  We sat and talked about the trip and Becky’s husband and family.  It was such a great feeling to relax with someone like Becky.  She is such a down to earth sweet person that you feel comfortable the moment you are in her presence.

After a half hour of talking, Ken’s friends arrived – Leanna and Mike.  Leanna was a teacher at the school Ken was a principal at.  Leanna met a good-looking pilot for American Airlines who swept her off her feet and took her away from Charleston to Dallas.  Leanna and Ken stayed in contact ever since.  We had a great time talking to Leanna.  She has a tremendous personality and kept the night exciting.

Mike was fascinating to listen to as well.  He is now a retired pilot who has not flown since he retired several years ago.  We could tell just by talking to him for a couple minutes that he was a very brilliant person.  It was enjoyable to listen to him tell stories and give advice to someone who wants to fly planes.  I have relatives who have their pilots licenses and would LOVE to get mine.  Mike was more than willing to offer his advice, which I greatly appreciate and soaked in like a sponge.

When we ordered, Danny and I went with the 50-ounce steak.  The waiter told us he had only seen one person eat it and several competitive eaters try.  This made both of us nervous but we went ahead with the challenge anyways.

After we ordered, the 2-man band started up.  They played some terrific music including Folsom Prison Blues and the chicken song.  People were dancing on the dance floor and having a great time.  A group from the Special Olympics was there and was having a blast.  It was fun to watch them enjoy themselves so much.  They showed everyone what it means to truly have fun.

When everyone’s food arrived, Danny’s and mine still needed an additional ten minutes of cooking.  I wonder why?!  When our food arrived, it was the largest piece of meat I have ever seen.  It was as intimidating as it was big.  We dug in right away.  With Danny and I being so competitive, we kept stealing glances at each other’s plate.  I was out to an early lead by Danny showed no sign of slowing.

As I got to the point where I knew I was going to finish it, I started talking more and eating less.  Danny, however, was focused on his meat.  We ended up finishing right about the same time.  It was a delicious portion of meat.  Danny even ate his side of cole slaw while I ate half of my cold mashed potatoes.  When desert came around, we figured we had not had enough to clog the arteries so we decided we would top of the meal.  I ordered a strawberry cheesecake while Danny ordered strawberry shortcake.

When we finished with dessert, we were stuffed.  Everyone, including our server, was amazed that between Danny and I, we put down 100 ounces of steak.  Leanna and Mike picked up the meal.  Thank you so much Leanna and Mike!  We can’t tell you how much we appreciate it!

Danny finished the night by speaking to everyone at Trail Dust with the permission of the 2-man band.  They allowed him to take the microphone and tell everyone about the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (www.llls.org) and our trip.  He got a huge round of applause when he finished.  It was a brave thing for him to do and reminded me of Phoenix when he started telling everyone in our packed tram about our trip.

Before leaving, Danny and I took turns going down an enormous slide from the second floor to the first.  Danny went first and slid on the ground further than I had seen anyone slide, even almost taking out people in the process.

I went next and gave high fives to kids on the way down.  It was a great way to cap one of the best nights of the trip.  Thank you to Becky for being such terrific company and to Leanna and Mike for the great company and meal.

The next day we ran errands, Danny interviewed with CBS 11 which covers both Dallas and Ft. Worth and visited Billy Bobs – the world’s largest honky tonk before returning to La Quinta to prepare for eight straight days of biking.  We are getting up around 5:30 a.m. and driving back to Laguna Park to hit the trail again.