(20th Anniversary Pictorial Tour)
Post #40:
Today, I will tell stories about a cat and a hog. (A story will accompany each picture.)
~~~
Picture #082
I
found this kitty picture in with those from Jamestown, ND, however I
keep thinking it was a visitor at Tower Motel and Campsite in Tower
City, ND. I learned, today, that a lady who touched my heart, twenty
years ago, still owns Tower Motel and Camp. Here is an email I just
sent their town officials:
"Twenty years ago, this month, I bicycled through your wonderful little town. I was on a quest to become the first known person with AIDS to bicycle 5,000 miles in support of AIDS Awareness and funding. It was a different time, before viable drugs and hope. I was not with a group--only me--pulling my 85# trailer behind a cheap mountain bike, going against the wind, literally, as I headed for Seattle, finally ending in San Diego, Aug. 31, 1995.
I had endured violent storms and attitudes, since leaving Minneapolis, and arrived in Tower City, late night, totally drenched, knocking on the door of Tower Motel and Campground. There, I met a kind lady named Carol Kaim. Not only did she offer me a free campsite (for my cause), she fed me, gave me some hot coffee, and kept me dry in her kitchen, until the rain stopped, so that I might properly set up the tent. As if that weren't enough, she encouraged me to stay an extra day to rest. When her motel chores were done the next afternoon, she hopped on a bicycle to show me around, and why she loved Tower City. On my way out, headed to Jamestown, next, she packed me a sandwich and a jar of homemade strawberry jam.
I met a lot of folks on that 3-month excursion, but only one from Tower City. I didn't find a tower there, only a tower of a human! I will never forget her or your town. If there was a good-citizen award, she most certainly earned it--and a place in heaven! I see that she and Lionel still own the place. I hope to drive by one day, to be a paid customer. But for now, I will post kinds words about her on a blog, and my own Facebook page, celebrating the 20th Anniversary of USAIDS 5,000. It is a day by day, pictorial ride and stories of the road, because we had no way to make that piece of history known, back then. I look forward to telling this story on the blog, later today.
It's been twenty years, and Carol may not even remember me, but give her a call, and tell her Thank You from a stranger she helped so many years ago.
Warm Regards and blessings on Tower City,
Jim Petretta"
(Picture from mid-July, 1995, location, uncertain.)
"Twenty years ago, this month, I bicycled through your wonderful little town. I was on a quest to become the first known person with AIDS to bicycle 5,000 miles in support of AIDS Awareness and funding. It was a different time, before viable drugs and hope. I was not with a group--only me--pulling my 85# trailer behind a cheap mountain bike, going against the wind, literally, as I headed for Seattle, finally ending in San Diego, Aug. 31, 1995.
I had endured violent storms and attitudes, since leaving Minneapolis, and arrived in Tower City, late night, totally drenched, knocking on the door of Tower Motel and Campground. There, I met a kind lady named Carol Kaim. Not only did she offer me a free campsite (for my cause), she fed me, gave me some hot coffee, and kept me dry in her kitchen, until the rain stopped, so that I might properly set up the tent. As if that weren't enough, she encouraged me to stay an extra day to rest. When her motel chores were done the next afternoon, she hopped on a bicycle to show me around, and why she loved Tower City. On my way out, headed to Jamestown, next, she packed me a sandwich and a jar of homemade strawberry jam.
I met a lot of folks on that 3-month excursion, but only one from Tower City. I didn't find a tower there, only a tower of a human! I will never forget her or your town. If there was a good-citizen award, she most certainly earned it--and a place in heaven! I see that she and Lionel still own the place. I hope to drive by one day, to be a paid customer. But for now, I will post kinds words about her on a blog, and my own Facebook page, celebrating the 20th Anniversary of USAIDS 5,000. It is a day by day, pictorial ride and stories of the road, because we had no way to make that piece of history known, back then. I look forward to telling this story on the blog, later today.
It's been twenty years, and Carol may not even remember me, but give her a call, and tell her Thank You from a stranger she helped so many years ago.
Warm Regards and blessings on Tower City,
Jim Petretta"
(Picture from mid-July, 1995, location, uncertain.)
Sue Fleming what a heart warming story. God love that woman. It goes back to the bible. Knock and the door shall be opened unto you. If it were Jesus at the door would you offer him rest? I think i may have said some of this wrong but you know the point i am making.
~~~
Picture #083
Let's
call him a fellow cyclist, lol. Oh yeah! I got my first ride on a
hog, thanks to fellow camper, Danny Gilbertson. Here is a story I wrote
for Pride Ride News, August 11, 1995 (revised):
"Bump, bump, clink, squeal. Oh no! The rumble strips along I-94 took a toll on two more spokes of the rear, snapping them, causing the wheel to quickly warp from the trailer weight. Coming to an abrupt halt, still 20 miles from Jamestown, I hoped one of a thousand pickup trucks would stop. But no, I ended up calling emergency 911 from my 1 lb. cellular phone. (Good think Carl Lebman made me carry that extra weight.) The Sheriff couldn't haul my bike and trailer in his pretty new car, so he called a tow truck, instead. Two hours, and sixty dollars later, (cash that I couldn't really afford), Dale's Service finally got me to Jamestown, stopping by an ATM to collect, before dumping off in the parking lot of a hotel, also not included to give a discount, let alone free room.
Luck had to change. Early Saturday morning, I hiked into town, with my wrinkled Dream Machine, fortunately stumbling across Goodroads Sports Shop, doing a sidewalk sale. The guys replaced the wheel at cost, and routed me to Riverside Campground, where I would wait, until my support, aka Carl, would come to claim me. I was ready to give up. In the middle of a prayer, I drifted off in sleep.
'Yoo hoo' came a wake-up call from Danny Gilbertson and his fiance', Jill, outside my tent. They recognized the trailer and bike from passing me on I-94, the prior day. They claimed I was still peddling at the time; otherwise, they would have stopped to help a fellow cyclist, so to speak. After sharing stories of the road, Danny offered me my first ride on a Harley, one I'll not forget, because he was showing off.
In the afternoon, I took a 27 mile bicycle excursion around Jamestown, making up some miles, while patiently waiting for Carl's return. It had been about ten days, and I only biked 405 miles, but words were not necessary. Hugs were all that were needed to convey how much I missed and needed Carl, with me, on this trip."
(Picture from mid-July, 1995)
— with Danny Gilbertson
"Bump, bump, clink, squeal. Oh no! The rumble strips along I-94 took a toll on two more spokes of the rear, snapping them, causing the wheel to quickly warp from the trailer weight. Coming to an abrupt halt, still 20 miles from Jamestown, I hoped one of a thousand pickup trucks would stop. But no, I ended up calling emergency 911 from my 1 lb. cellular phone. (Good think Carl Lebman made me carry that extra weight.) The Sheriff couldn't haul my bike and trailer in his pretty new car, so he called a tow truck, instead. Two hours, and sixty dollars later, (cash that I couldn't really afford), Dale's Service finally got me to Jamestown, stopping by an ATM to collect, before dumping off in the parking lot of a hotel, also not included to give a discount, let alone free room.
Luck had to change. Early Saturday morning, I hiked into town, with my wrinkled Dream Machine, fortunately stumbling across Goodroads Sports Shop, doing a sidewalk sale. The guys replaced the wheel at cost, and routed me to Riverside Campground, where I would wait, until my support, aka Carl, would come to claim me. I was ready to give up. In the middle of a prayer, I drifted off in sleep.
'Yoo hoo' came a wake-up call from Danny Gilbertson and his fiance', Jill, outside my tent. They recognized the trailer and bike from passing me on I-94, the prior day. They claimed I was still peddling at the time; otherwise, they would have stopped to help a fellow cyclist, so to speak. After sharing stories of the road, Danny offered me my first ride on a Harley, one I'll not forget, because he was showing off.
In the afternoon, I took a 27 mile bicycle excursion around Jamestown, making up some miles, while patiently waiting for Carl's return. It had been about ten days, and I only biked 405 miles, but words were not necessary. Hugs were all that were needed to convey how much I missed and needed Carl, with me, on this trip."
(Picture from mid-July, 1995)
— with Danny Gilbertson
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