We are on our way home and are stopped in Niagara Falls, NY tonight. We had a great trip and the ALS TDI research symposium was very informative. Eric is always researching about ALS on line and I really don’t know much about what researchers are doing for ALS and how they do it. We actually toured their lab on Sunday and then they took a group of us to dinner where we met some really great people, many who also have ALS. On Monday, we spent the whole day at the symposium where Dr’s presented their studies they are conducting with tons of information, most of which went way over my head but Eric and I both learned a few things and felt glad that we came. I think it gave Eric’s parents a better understanding of ALS as well. One thing we found interesting is that they call ALS a syndrome rather than a disease since most people with ALS are not the same as far as onset, age, life expectancy, symptoms etc. This is why ALS is so hard to cure, there is no known cause and there could be more than one cause for that matter! They are doing most of their studies with familial ALS which is genetic and accounts for about 10% of ALS cases ( they are saying it may be more like 20% now). One common thing that they are finding is that men younger than 40 who get ALS with onset in their limbs are more likely to live longer for whatever reason. This was encouraging to hear for us.
We were able to go to a couple more states last night and met our good friends, Rob and Danea who are living in New Hampshire for dinner. We headed out of Boston into New Hampshire and drove to the coast and up highway 1 which was incredible! The sun was just about setting and we got out by the ocean for some pictures. The waves were huge! It is always so amazing to think about how the United States is surrounded by the vast oceans that our Creator made. We had dinner in NH and Rob drove us up to Maine for coffee! Isn’t that cool! We had fun catching up with them and were excited to hear about a ministry they are part of! We will create a link to their website soon. We have been reminded by many people of the Veggietales song where they sing “we’ve never been to Boston in the fall” and I kept singing that in my head while we were there. Boston is very quaint but not very friendly. People, whether they are driving or walking down the street are on a mission and you had better not get in their way. We decided that we couldn’t live there but I got pretty good at driving in Boston after the first day or so. Eric was impressed. His parents were a little nervous in the back when I was taking pictures over my steering wheel of the city as we came over the bridge :0). We ate lunch at the original bar that they made the sitcom Cheers from which was quite tiny actually and Eric and his mom got stuck in the elevator.
On the way home this morning, Eric wanted to knock out a few more states so we drove south to Rhode Island and then over to Connecticut and back up through New York. Eric added five more states that he has never visited yet. He has less than 20 to go. Anyone up for another road trip? I am only interested in Hawaii at this point :).
Please keep us in your prayers tomorrow morning as we travel the rest of the way home. It is actually snowing tonight!! Can you believe that? We are planning to get up early and view the falls and then head home. We are excited to see Zach and Maddie and get some good rest again in our own bed. In Christ, Eric and Lori
P.S. the house showing on Saturday was a “no” but we have another showing on Wed. night so keep praying!
We were able to go to a couple more states last night and met our good friends, Rob and Danea who are living in New Hampshire for dinner. We headed out of Boston into New Hampshire and drove to the coast and up highway 1 which was incredible! The sun was just about setting and we got out by the ocean for some pictures. The waves were huge! It is always so amazing to think about how the United States is surrounded by the vast oceans that our Creator made. We had dinner in NH and Rob drove us up to Maine for coffee! Isn’t that cool! We had fun catching up with them and were excited to hear about a ministry they are part of! We will create a link to their website soon. We have been reminded by many people of the Veggietales song where they sing “we’ve never been to Boston in the fall” and I kept singing that in my head while we were there. Boston is very quaint but not very friendly. People, whether they are driving or walking down the street are on a mission and you had better not get in their way. We decided that we couldn’t live there but I got pretty good at driving in Boston after the first day or so. Eric was impressed. His parents were a little nervous in the back when I was taking pictures over my steering wheel of the city as we came over the bridge :0). We ate lunch at the original bar that they made the sitcom Cheers from which was quite tiny actually and Eric and his mom got stuck in the elevator.
On the way home this morning, Eric wanted to knock out a few more states so we drove south to Rhode Island and then over to Connecticut and back up through New York. Eric added five more states that he has never visited yet. He has less than 20 to go. Anyone up for another road trip? I am only interested in Hawaii at this point :).
Please keep us in your prayers tomorrow morning as we travel the rest of the way home. It is actually snowing tonight!! Can you believe that? We are planning to get up early and view the falls and then head home. We are excited to see Zach and Maddie and get some good rest again in our own bed. In Christ, Eric and Lori
P.S. the house showing on Saturday was a “no” but we have another showing on Wed. night so keep praying!
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