Help support Alpha One research by making a donation

Several people have been contacting me about how to make a donation to the Alpha One organization. The link on the left side of this page is not working. I am not sure what the problem is but I am working to correct it. Please keep checking back.If you have any problems please let me know. I am working to correct it. You can read more about the Allpha One organization at http://www.firstgiving.com/eatons

Thanks so much for helping us out. And please know that all of this money goes directly to Alpha One. Hap and I are in no way financed or reimbursed for any of this ride. Well, they did give us a really cool cycling jersey! Our pay is in being able to meet with Alpha patients and maybe just maybe make a difference in spreading the word about a disease that is close to our hearts. The only way to fight this disease is to have the funds for research. Dugan started in a research study 20 years ago at THE Ohio State University (GO BUCKS!). He began taking the medication Prolastin before it was approved. For many years it was the only treatment available. Now there are a couple of other medications available.

Riding in Ohio

I thought I would share some pictures of our rides in Ohio. You can see them on the left side of this page. We really do have some good roads for riding around here. And with the trees changing with the season it is just beautiful. From our front door we have the option of riding flat cornfield lined roads, rolling empty roads, or long steep tree lined roads. You can see that from the pictures.

We also have a "little" event here in Circleville called the Pumpkin Show. ww.pumpkinshow.com This year Dr. Leggett grew the largest pumpkin ever, at over 1500 pounds. The city of Circleville pretty much closes down for the week of Pumpkin Show. Schools are closed, businesses are closed. I play in the Pumpkin Show Community Band (see picture). We not only play at Pumpkin Show but play at numerous events throughout the year. There are over 70 members ages 15-80 years. As you can see in the picture we don't march through any of the EIGHT parades that they have. There are two parades per day! We have our own trailer. I love playing with the band. I played in the band in school and hadn't played the baritone for 20 yrs when I joined the PSB about 13 years ago. I love the challenge of trying new music. There are some terrific musicians. Me?? I figure it is a successful song if when the director stops at the end of a song, I end at the same time! It's not a good idea to have any notes left over.

And how are our pregnant girls doing? We had a shower last week for Heather and it was a good time. She looks great and the baby is doing well. I can't wait to see if we have a little girl or boy. Tiffany's twin boys are also doing well. They weigh 4.2 pounds each now. Tiffany is the size of a full term pregnant person. The docs are saying if she doesnt' go into labor they will do a C Section on Nov. 12. Our tickets back to San Diego are for Oct 30 so we'll just have to see when the babies are "done".

I do have to mention our Number 1 rated Ohio State Buckeyes. How 'bout them Buckeyes! GO BUCKS! I probably should do a shout out for that team from Lafayette IN. Let's see what was their name...........oh yeah, Purdue. Now are you happy Hap?

Hopefully we'll be back on the road soon. We sure miss it. We are probably going to be taking our Bobb trailer back with us. We are thinking that will balance out our "extra' weight that we have on this trip. We also bought a new front rack that hopefully is stiffer and will help with the problem we have been having with the bolt breaking on that rack. Hap says he has a "plan" for the front headset problem. I am not sure what he means by that. But knowing Hap he has researched the problem, graphed it, mapped it out, talked about it and whatever else you can do. It will be fixed. We'll keep you posted as to our EDT for San Diego. In the meantime we are enjoying the beautiful riding here in Ohio in the changing of the seasons.

Ohio news

Hello everyone, I thought I would let everyone know that we are still here and are planning to continue our "road" trip as soon as we have healthy twin boys! Adjusting to regular life has been difficult. I have been working alot, and Hap has been making sure that everything here at the house is in good working order. MMMm..... wait was it before we left???.... Yesterday we discovered we had a "guest" in the house. We'll just call him BEN. Don't worry BEN is now in heaven with all of the other BEN'S out there. I am just glad that I did not see BEN first. We have been out riding quite a bit but we do miss riding every day. Above are pics of us on our "5 pound" bikes. No, Bing, they are not really 5 pounds. But I thought by the time you factor in the wt we were carrying and the weight of these actual bikes, do the statistics, draw the graphs etc, they weigh 5 pounds. It sure is a change from what we have been doing anyway. I love riding my Kestrel and Hap is riding his Giant TCR. In fact I am getting ready to head out now, before the next baby shower. I have gotten alot of emails about are we going to not go back to our trip. The only answer is YES, ASAP. The tandem is in San Diego at Hap's cousins house, sitting in the garage, all covered up and just waiting. We'll be there soon................

Our babies are all healthy. The twins are 4.2 pounds each and Tiff is doing super. All system's are go and hopefully they will cooperate with our EDT of Oct 30. Heather is also doing well and we are headed to her baby shower today. I am in debt from buying baby gifts but who knew what going to Baby's r Us would be like. Have you ever been there? Mostly I picked up "stuff" and said what's this for?

I am getting Physical therapy on my back, massages and seeing the chiropractor. It is tough to know just how much to do. I am used to lifting wts, swimming, etc here at home, but I don't want to mess up our BIG RIDE. So I'll just play it safe and do what they tell me. I am loving being back at work. Berger Health System has been awesome to me. Everyone is so supportive of our ride and what we are doing. We just opened up a new Berger Medical Center that will be a real asset to our community. It is a beautiful building.

So that's all the news that is news today. Check back and I will let you know when we will be headed to San Diego. The plan is to ride east from San Diego to Tucson, across N Mexico, Texas (maybe go down to the tip, Brownsville) and on east to Daytona Beach by March. Then back to Ohio. Oh, One last note. HOW BOUT THEM BUCKEYES! GO BUCKS!

One more note about Dugan. He and Sonnie have just started doing their own home infusion of Prolastin. I am so proud of them! Nurse Sonnie has really stepped up and is doing an awesome job.

Back in Ohio

What! Back in Ohio! Whassup with that? Like I've been trying to tell you....we're having twins! I'm going to be a grand-aunt. Our boys are coming -- out boys are coming. We left the tandem in San Diego and plan to fly back to continue our adventure after they are born. We are looking forward to making our next LEFT TURN across the southern US. Hopefully, we have planned it so that the weather will be nice for our winter lap.

We rode through San Diego to Imperial Beach and left our tandem with Hap's cousin Jon and his wife Joy. The ride into San Diego was really pretty. It was right along the ocean with beautiful scenery. It was also really nice because there was alot of cyclists out riding. More than we have seen since we have left home. Traffic became heavier the closer we got to the city. But overall was pretty good. It did seem like San Diego drivers were not quite as patient as they were in LA. We were really surprised by that. We had another flat tire today. That is three in two days! Hap found a cut on the inside of the tire, so that's what the problem was. He got it fixed and we rode on. We rode to downtown San Diego and took the ferry across the bay to Coronado. We were alittle worried that the tandem would fit on that "little boat", but it did with no problem. Once across the bay we had an easy ride down the strand to Jon and Joy's. Joy fixed us a wonderful supper. The next morning we took a walk on the beach and stopped for breakfast. We walked out on the pier and watched people catching alot of big fish called Bonita's. We also saw some dolphins. We could see Mexico very easily. We are maybe five miles or so from the border. Hap cleaned up the bike and I took a nap. Hey I offered to help................... For dinner we went out to a great mexican restaurant with Jon, Joy, daughter Jenny, husband Nate and new baby (3 wks) Chase.

Today Jon took us to the airport for our flight home. The flight was uneventful. It was alittle wierd to think that it took us almost five months to get to California and about 5 hours to fly back to Ohio. Does that mean we have to start all over again?

Bill and Jill picked us up at the airport and we got a very special bonus. Tiffany came up with them. It was so good to see her. I thought I was going to have to wait til tomorrow. What a surprise. The house was still standing. It is alittle sad being home. We are looking forward to making our left hand turn in California. And NO we are NOT tired of riding the bike. In fact, my little 5 pound bike is sitting here looking at me. Too bad it's dark outside! Stay tuned for baby news. I am also planning to work while I am here. We'll see how all of this plays out.