The team got up bright and early at 5:30 am to prepare for our departure from Lakeland and our 60-mile journey to Orlando. Morale was especially high this morning because the team was excited for our upcoming friendship visit, and we have an off day tomorrow in Orlando. The ride itself was beautiful, we zig-zagged through beautiful forest landscapes, which were also shaded so we were able to beat some of the Florida heat. Each pace-line made it to its destination safely and efficiently thanks to the help from all of the crew members.
Our friendship visit took place at the friendship villas in Orlando Florida. We got to eat lunch on location and hear some of the resident’s stories. What was unique about this place is that the residents lived in villas surrounding the property. Additionally, all of the residents have jobs in the surrounding area ranging from Publix to even working in some corporate offices in Orlando and surrounding areas. We also got to meet two residents who were special Olympics gold medalists in their respective sports which was very cool. We ended off our visit with a mock arrival where the residents could ride their bike along with us, which was really cool.
We are staying at the Rosen Inn in Orlando. The team went to the pool and played some water basketball prior to our sponsored dinner at Sweet Tomato Salad Bar. Our dinner was sponsored by the chapter advisor at The University of Central Florida, and many of the chapter brothers came to dinner to meet with us. Dinner was phenomenal and the team did a lot of networking with other brothers from different universities. Since we have an off day tomorrow, the team gets to sleep in, so we were all very excited about that.
