Devoted to helping little hearts

2009.09.15 05:47:58

copsadmin

Well we started the day at a very nice time and got to sleep in a bit for the first time since Friday. Yesterday was the Blueberry Paulsen and everyone worked very hard and was quite tired and sore by the end of the day but all finished with a smile on their faces knowing the reason we all ride....for the kids.

We got started in Castelgar this morning and were served a lovely breakfast by the members of the Legion. It was great and they continually supply us with a nice warm breakfast and a few laughs to start. We had some special breakfast guests, Brendan, Angela, Tory and Orsen. Brendan is a 7 year old boy that we have supported and he was such a sweetheart. I was lucky enough to have him and his family sit at my table and he kept us all entertained. He loves all sorts of vehicles and talked at length about these with us. He is a very sweet little guy and we set him on the police Harley Davidson motorcycle after breakfast and took some photos of him. He was thrilled!

We left Castlegar after breakfast and pedalled to Nelson. We were met just outside of Nelson by the Nelson Police department who gave us a police car escort into town and blocked off all intersections for us en route to our lunch destination of the Nelson RCMP office. We were so touched by the reception that was waiting for us. We were greeted by Nelson city police members, Nelson RCMP members, the mayor of Nelson and another very special guest.........., who was another child that we supported. She is an adorable little girl who, we learned today will be receiving a special camera and laptop computer which will assist with her vision and classroom studies at school. Her mother, .......was so appreciative of all of our efforts and it was great visiting with her. We were treated to a nice barbecue lunch and presented with funds that were donated by businesses in Nelson and collected by the Nelson PD.

After lunch we travelled 31 kms from Nelson to the Balfour ferry, which is where we will start tomorrow. It was a beautiful ride, led by one of our seasoned riders and original Cops for Kids founders, Garth Letcher. All of the riders commented on what a great ride it was.

We checked in at the Prestige on the Lake, which is where we have stayed the last several years that I have been on the ride. This is a BEAUTIFUL hotel and we LOVE staying there and look forward to it every year!

Dinner was hosted by the Kiwanas Club of Nelson. They are amazing and treat us like royalty when we come here. Edith, Eugene and Reit (and many others whose names I can't think of right now) made us a PHENOMENAL (that's for Julio) steak dinner with very special potatoes made by Reit. This is one of our highlights of our trip. It is a night where we can all relax and kick back and have a casual social evening. Not only did they feed us an amazing meal, they also gave us a donation!!

All in all, it was a great day.

Signing off for the night and thanks for reading,

Sandi Fazan
Kelowna rider