9/23-9/26: Ohio

Our first day in Ohio was full of driving! The first stop was to meet up with one of Alyssa's friends who she knew in California. She treated us to an amazing lunch at a local restaurant in Columbus! We then walked around the city and caught up on life. It is fun to make reconnections along this journey!

Then we drove to meet up with Steve and LeeRoy from Needle2Square. Steve is on an amazing journey to bring funding to Uzima Outreach which is an amazing operation that his buddy started in Africa. They help kids whose parents have been addicted to drugs by giving them food and schooling. There is more to the story, so I encourage you to check it out at www.uzimaoutreach.org! To bring funding and awareness Steve is walking across the country with his goat LeeRoy and talking to people along the way. We spent an incredible 3 hours with him, talking about the journeys we are on. He was an amazing encouragement to both of us!! (Update as of now: LeeRoy passed away from some sort of illness; please pray for our brother in Christ as he has begun walking again with a grieving heart and a new goat named Miles.)

From there we drove across the state to Cleveland where we spent the next few nights. We stayed with the aunt of one of Nicole's friends. She had been a Facebook friend for quite awhile, but now became an real life friend along with her family! It was a delightful place to spend our Ohio time; we loved being a part of the family for a few days. :) 

Alyssa and I decided that going to a National Park sounded wonderful after a long stretch of not going. Cuyahoga National Park was only 30 minutes away from where they lived! We walked along the Ohio & Erie Canal and learned about the canal history. 

During our second full day there we went to the Cleveland Art Museum with the person we were staying with. The art was cool, but the guards were...interesting. They followed us everywhere. You couldn't even check your phone for the time without them coming closer! I've never felt so watched and mistrusted before in my entire life!

*The armory was the best part!

Following the rather uncomfortable visit to the art museum we went to a beach on Lake Erie to enjoy our lunch! It was beautiful.

Our last day we spent at Wigs for Kids. It was one of the highlights of the trip! We were sorting through ponytails that people had sent in. We made sure they were in good condition, long enough, not colored, and didn't have too much gray. Then we rubber banded them so that they would stay together when shipped to manufacturer who makes the custom wigs for kids with hairloss. The people who we were volunteering with were also a lot of fun! :) Great end to our time in Ohio!!!