Sloan, MickeyD's, and VV

Today we headed into New York. At first, some heavy cloud cover obscured the view, but after we crossed the Brooklyn Bridge, the city skyline finally reared into view, and we got to hear Austin say, "Oh, wow." I guess New York's pretty impressive.

We made our way to Sloan Kettering with one of our bicycles and several boxes of goodies. The latter we left with the volunteers, but we brought the bike into the playroom to give a presentation to some of the kids. This was a little different from what we normally do, but it went pretty well. The kids ranged in age from four to eleven, and most of them have bikes of their own. They asked us all kinds of questions, and afterwards a bunch of them had their pictures taken with us. Apparently the last visitors were the Yankees, and before that they saw the Mets, so Austin and I were in pretty good company. We were having a lot of fun. Since quite a few of our kids have been treated at Sloan Kettering, I was looking forward to finally seeing it, and they didn't disappoint.

After the presentation, we went around to some of the in-patient rooms for a few more visits. We posed for a few more pictures, even signing a couple, and had a good time talking with some of the kids. After we finished, we headed back to the playroom, where the kids were having some ice cream (Apparently, the volunteers have to eat ice cream quite a bit. I sympathized as best I could. With a mouth full of ice cream). After signing a couple more pictures, we headed out.

Now, as we have ridden through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, DC, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and now New York, a steady flow of leftover goodies has slowly accumulated in the chase car. So, right after we left the hospital, Austin decided to call up the Ronald McDonald House here, only a few blocks away. After a quick explanation, we were told they would love to have our extra toys. And thus we set off - with assorted knickknacks at our sides. When we got there, most of the kids were in treatment, but we got to hang out with a few of them. We left the remaining goodies to distribute as they saw fit. Something tells me that the New York City Ronald McDonald House will resound to the sound of bubble gum popping and plush ducks saying, "Aflac. Aflac. AFLAAAAC!!!" Fortunately, perhaps, the bandanas and whale hats don't make quite as much noise :)

Anyway, with our events more or less finished, we quickly drove by Central Park and then headed back to Zachary's family. We hung out with them for a little while - I can now tell you that Pikachu is the evolve of Pichu and that Rychu is the evolve of Pikachu, and I could even tell you what that means - before packing up again. After eating some more ziti and saying our goodbyes, we headed out to the Vineyard Vines headquarters, where we finally had a chance to meet all these people we've been hearing from. They were great, and we'll get to spend a little more time with them tomorrow. They put us up in a nearby inn whence we will ride tomorrow. The next couple of days should be fun.

~ Tom