Awesome Day, 1st Friendship Visit!!!

Today was a really long day we woke up early and had breakfast as a group at the hotel. After breakfast we headed over to REI who was kind enough to donate a meeting space to us for the day. We went over policies and procedures for the vast majority of the day, covering road safety to ensure we're all safe on the road. Lunch was provided by a former Pi Alpha (some one who has participated in the Journey of Hope in the past) from 2003. He was able to provide some useful advice to us and had some fun stories from his trip. After lunch we were given some time to shop around the store and make some last minute purchases. We returned to the meeting room to cover some remaining information and walked back to our hotel to prepare for our first friendship visit.

We headed to Gas Works park on Lake Washington for our first friendship visit, also the site where we'll be leaving Seattle from. We met with an organization called ARK, and met some amazing individuals who were really fun to hang out with. The team did a meet and greet and ate dinner together, provided by another Pi Alpha.

I played football with Paul, a young boy with Down syndrome who had a rocket for an arm and was very excited to spend time with us. Below are some photos of todays events and sites, again it was difficult to take photos but here are some of the ones I did take.

The view from Gas Works Park

Kevin with Paul (Paul didn't want us to go)

Once we returned from our friendship visit we began practicing for KOB (Kids on the Block) a puppet show we use to teach young children about people with disabilities. The skits are really fun and well each be participating in the shows throughout the summer. Tomorrow we have a short day, getting up early for a practice pack of the vans and a skills assessment on the bikes. We'll have the afternoon off to explore the city and go out for a good meal. Today was an incredible day, certainly the first of many!