| Cyclist teacher completes his ‘manifest destiny’ by Rachel Hatzipanagos South Florida Sun Sentinel 6:36 p.m. EDT, August 30, 2009. Other Giraldo photos by Deanna Dent. |
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There were 3 stops to Mr. Giraldo’s welcome home:
August 28, 2009
From the Desk of Hans Meijer
Dear Friends of Rafael Giraldo:
We have received permission from the City of Weston and the Sheriff Department to welcome Rafael Giraldo into Weston.
Rafael will end his Tour of Discovery www.tourofdiscovery.com on Sunday, August 30th at 1:00 p.m. in Weston, Florida. However, we will be waiting for his arrival on State Road 84 behind Publix on Exit 22 at 12:15 p.m. St. Rd. 84 starts parallel with St. Rd. 27. In order to get there you need to go:
1. From I-75 North go to Exit 23 and turn South on St. Rd. 27. After about a mile or so turn left cross the median into St. Rd. 84 and we will wait there for his arrival as he comes South on St. Rd. 27 from Clewiston early Sunday morning.
2. From St. Rd. 27 North go to where St. Rd. 84 starts just on your right before you reach the intersection to get on I-75.
3. From I-75 South (coming from Naples on Alligator Alley) after the toll booth exit South of St. Rd. 27 and turn left into St. Rd. 84.
Suggest you bring water and sun tan lotion. Also make as many welcome signs for Rafael.
Once Rafael reaches us on St. Rd. 84 he will be escorted by the Weston police and all his friends and followers of the tour into Weston ending in the parking lot of the Sun Trust Bank next to Publix on Exit 22 from I-75. We should reach this final point around 1:00 pm.
Feel free to contact me for further instructions.
Hans Meijer,
After arriving at the Sun Trust Bank Parking Lot, the jubilant well wishers then went to the St. Katherine Drexel Catholic Church in Weston, adjacent to the bank. I have pictures from each stop in my flickr photoset. Rafael has posted 97 pictures here.
Hey!
A job WELL DONE! Thank you for how you covered this event and drew us all into it. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey! I’ll bet it was quite the treat to ride in with him and be part of that greeting!
Later!
Thanks Zeke, It was fun covering Rafael and being there to see how his community responded to return. Riding and talking for 2 days was a special delight. On arrival, I extracted myself as best I could. Tour of Discovery was/is about mr. Giraldo. There is a lot more yet to happen. He has asked that I participate. I’ll try as best I can.
I still have the Day After blog post to publish. It is difficult to be a part of an event and comment on it in a timely fashion. The power supply in my PC failed. That excerbated my reporting problem. I purchased a laptop yesterday that will give me portability, with all me software. That will ease whatever I may need to do away from home. Although, I had a LT with me, it did not have key apps installed. Lessons learned… Thanks for your email of concern because of the absence of blog post for several days. I appreciate your thinking about me.
Thanks for your comments here. I trust I’ve done a bit to help tell Mr. G’s story. His community knew of me before my trek with him. I was surprised at their response when Rafael called my name.
Until…
Jim
You did a very fine job of bringing this journey to life for us, Jim. Thank you so much for all your hard work.
How wonderful that you rode home with Mr. G.!
Thanks Adrienne, It is gratifying to know the work is read. Yep, behind all the time on Destiny is a man with a darling wife and two lovely daughters; brothers & sisters; fears; hopes and dreams. I think I learned of some of those feeling from Mr. G. We are brothers for life. I was quite an experience. Getting to ride 2 days with him was my bonus. –jim
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