Sunday, August 19th was the 8th Annual Slow Food Sunday. The summer months have really slowed us down and we rose earlier than we had in two months. Up at 6am, I made a hot chocolate for Alyssa and some black coffee for me, wrapped our steaming mugs up and put them in the basket on my bike. We live just before Mount Currie so to make sure we arrived in time for our volunteer shift at 7:15, we left on our bikes at 6:30. We made it to the end of the driveway when we discovered the flat tire, so with a quick turn around we grabbed another bike for Alyssa and were on our way.

Our 6:30 am ride along highway 99  was a leisurely pedal filled with chit chat and laughter – so different than the usual herding of kids away from speeding cars. We saw only a handful of cars that early on a Sunday. We arrived in Pemberton to find familiar faces setting up the registration tent – Jill and Bettina have to be two of the most efficient and accommodating people I have ever met!

We donned our bright orange t-shirts and set up our stations. Registration was fun. I could hear Alyssa greeting people on the other side of the tent, guiding people through the sign-in process with ease. I got caught up with friends and acquaintances registering, with fellow volunteers like Marisa and Hank, Heidi and Mark and met relatives of long time locals who were visiting and being recruited to ride.

By 8:30 we were done our time at the desk, so we hopped on our bikes with Mike and Oliver, signed in and rode up to the Helmers – stopping to pet cows, drink coffee and lick lavender brownies off our fingers.

What a fabulous day for family and community.

Alyssa began to crash around noon, the last stretch back into town heard her wee tummy grumbling and her legs tiring. Back at the registration desk, she fueled up with some Happy Planet and a rest in the shade. We made it home and she spent the rest of the day drawing and in the pool.

Even though the 6am start was a jolt to both of our systems it was an amazing experience to share with her, the family and our small community.