For someone who is a “writer”, i sure havent written too many blogs. Today is already day 8, but more like day 6 of riding, and Blog entry number 3. We are in Prineville; the halfway point of Oregon which means that in the next week i should be writing my first blog from Idaho.

And why has this writer not been exercising her pen?
Maybe because i have been too busy absorbing the experience, consumed by the surroundings and overwhelmed by so much beauty that i honestly would have had a hard time transcribing it all into written word.
Or maybe i have been too tired from long rides and use up all my writing energy on filling out hundreds of postcards (NOT AN EXAGGERATION) that i have been sending to all of my friends and family.
I realize how much i miss them.
Being here on a quest for self-discovery, physical challenge, mixed with the exploration of love; i realize how much i miss home. Not Los Angeles home, not Geneva home, not even Cuba home; but rather that feeling of family, of trans-generational connections, the wisdom of my elders, the laughter and physical hyperactivity of the little ones (my little siblings), and the connection to my peers (my cousins and friends). And thus i share this trip with all of the people i Love and care about; my friends, my family, all of you that i miss dearly i share this experience through postcards, letters, maps, blogs, pictures; because since i cannot come to my family and friends, i am bringing you all along for the ride.
This journey of love, growth, and transformation that i will always remember.
Because there is so much more to this country than Los Angeles, Miami and New York...Oregon is beautiful, and so are all the other States that we’ll be crossing on our way East.
And there is so much more to Gaby than just her poetry and her art; Gaby is now also officially teaching herself to be a cyclist!
And there’s so much more to love than passion; there is hard work, compassion, encouragement, team work;
And there is so much more to spirit than going to church, there is the daily act of prayer, meditation and connection to the world around us.

So here i am, Day 8, Day 6 of riding and only Blog number 3. Sharing slivers of this transformative experience that i am in the process of undergoing. I am doing something i never thought i would do in my lifetime; something that had never really occurred to me before, hadnt crossed my mind, something i doubted i had the ability to do and yet something in my gut told me to go for it, to jump into it and trust in the lessons and the gifts that would be born from this experience.
And i am so grateful for the opportunity, so grateful that i have the time, the will and the desire to keep pedaling along on this journey.