Days 18, 19, 20 -BREAK with Drew!

About a year ago, a 17 year old young man from North Carolina named Drew began planning to ride this cross USA benefit with CJ. Being homeschooled had allowed him to already complete enough credits to take off a semester of his senior year and still graduate from high school on time. He worked at a local bike shop and planed to come along with us as a support rider and do all the bike maintenance. Sadly about 3 months before the trip, we found out that if he did come on the trip and take the semester off he would loose many of his scholarship opportunities for college. So he reluctantly decided he'd have to stay home. About a week before this ride began we found out that Drew had a bad skin cancer on his nose that had bored down into his nasal cavity. He would need to undergo multiple surgeries to remove the cancer and rebuild his nose. These surgeries would be best performed in Tucson, AZ where a specialist was located. 
Since we were so close to Tucson on our route. We decided to stop in and see Drew and his family. On Thursday (day 18) we hung the bikes on the bike rack, climbed into the bus and drove about 2 hours down to Tucson. Thursday and Friday night we were grateful to have a spot donated at the Lazydays KOA in Tucson. On Friday we got to go to the grocery store, get haircuts (Thanks Bullets Barber Shop!!), and spend several hours with Drew and his family. It was so refreshing to see them and see that Drew is in great spirits and progressing very well.  While we met with Drew's family a news station KGUN also covered the ride. You can view the story on their website at http://www.jrn.com/kgun9/news/9-year-old-biking-cross-country-makes-special-stop-in-Tucson-275863531.html.
On Saturday (day 20) another news station KVOA covered the story! We we got a chance to go to a local BMX track and let the little boys race while CJ promoted loveFAR and the NCCS. We enjoyed the break from riding while we were in Tucson and our legs appreciated the recovery time! Saturday night we drove back to Safford, AZ where CJ will speak at Victory Fellowship Church on Sunday morning.