Greetings,
Thanks to Kristen for volunteering to be the professional photographer for this trip, she snapped over 2,000 photos during the 83 days on the road. They are all uploaded on Picasa, so just click the below link to be directed to them.
Feel free to make comments on any photo you like, find funny, or think is weird!
http://picasaweb.google.com/biking4invisiblechildren
Mark
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Day 82 & 83: Ashland to Williamsburg to Yorktown = WE JUST BIKED ACROSS AMERICA!!!
Day 82
We ate at Perkins for breakfast, gulped down two pots of coffee between Mike and I, applied sunscreen, and set out for the day. Today, the roads were not that secluded, rather busy, a lot of traffic, and loud. We had to ride single-file and it wasn't until about half-way into the day that we found the peace and quiet, country roads we all prefer so much more! It was a hot day and we stopped for a cold beverage at a gas station. Mike came to the table wearing a leather doo-rag and goggles and we couldn't help but crack up.
We made it to Cannon City about mid-day where we had planned to meet up with a few Kiwanis members from the Yorktown Chapter. Mike had been in contact with the group since the start of the trip and they wanted to ride with him for the last 40 miles or so. We met Bill, a former president of the group, Claire, and Jack. They were ready to go and Bill set the pace. I was having trouble keeping up with his 15 mph pace, so although he was 70, he could still definitely get those legs going! They took us on a very scenic tour on the route to Williamsburg, where we had planned on staying for the night. We rode on the Colonial Parkway which was built during the Depression to create more jobs...it's still the same road! It was a bit bumpy but very pretty! As all 8 of us rode into the city, I felt like a celebrity or something. Everyone was looking at us and pointing, we pulled up to the Hospitality House Hotel, which was absolutely beautiful! The Kiwanis graciously set Mike up with a suite in the nicest hotel I had possibly ever seen! They said we were welcome to stay with him as the suite was two rooms, equipped with a kitchen and large restroom! We were so excited! They told us to get cleaned up and meet them at the Green Room Cafe next door where we enjoyed a nice tasty brew and some juicy burgers that were half off!!
We enjoyed their company and to my surprise my great Uncle Stole, Aunt Jan, and second cousin Jeff took time out of their evening to meet me there as well! We visited and it was so neat to have a part of my family there, so far away from home!It had been a great day and we were so close to finishing, we all couldnt help having a lovely time!
Day 83
Today was it, the last day of biking across the country, day #83! We met Bill out front of the hotel at 9:00 sharp and there were some people there taking our pictures and interviewing Mike. We again felt like celebrities, an awesome way to finish our adventure! We had a total of 13 miles to ride and Bill led us through Colonial Williamsburg as well as on the Colonial Parkway once again right next to the York River where we could smell the salty goodness! It was a lovely morning and we made it to the statue mid morning! We took some photos, hip hip hoorayed, and quickly rode our bikes down the hill, so they could taste the Atlantic. We dipped our wheels in and then jumped in helmets and all to bask in our glory! It was a moment to remember thats for sure!
After, Bill and his wife made room for our bikes and gear in their cars and drove us to have lunch with the Kiwani's at their weekly meeting! We arrived at Joe & Mimma's Italian Restaurant where the entire backroom was reserved for the Kiwani Club. As we walked into the room, spandex and all, we were applauded for just biking across the country. As you could imagine we were all a bit suprised and did not expect such a nice welcome! The president introduced Mike and he stood up in front of the club explaining the inns and outs of the camp he was raising money for that was sponsored by the Kiwanis Club in Oregon. They then invited us up to talk about Invisible Children as well as Rob and Dan to talk about Cyclists Fighting Cancer. We realized that between the five of us we had raised close to $20,000, all for organizations dedicated to helping children. It was such an awesome way to finish the tour, I mean to be greeted by all these people who were so eager to find out how they could help and wanting to be there to congratulate us, complete strangers at that. As well as finishing as a group, we had become a family, and bringing it back to the reason that we all decided to do this in the first place; it truly couldn't have been a better ending to a trip of memories that will last a lifetime.
Mark and I have decided that we are each going to write a reflection entry. I'm not sure if anyone will read it because the trips over now, but I have learned alot this summer and have a few final thoughts that I would like to write down, to have to look at in the future. So you all have Kristen's words of wisdom to look forward to! ha Take care and thanks so much for all your support over the last few months, we truly would'nt have been able to do it without all of you! So thank you!!! We've done it!!!!
We ate at Perkins for breakfast, gulped down two pots of coffee between Mike and I, applied sunscreen, and set out for the day. Today, the roads were not that secluded, rather busy, a lot of traffic, and loud. We had to ride single-file and it wasn't until about half-way into the day that we found the peace and quiet, country roads we all prefer so much more! It was a hot day and we stopped for a cold beverage at a gas station. Mike came to the table wearing a leather doo-rag and goggles and we couldn't help but crack up.
We made it to Cannon City about mid-day where we had planned to meet up with a few Kiwanis members from the Yorktown Chapter. Mike had been in contact with the group since the start of the trip and they wanted to ride with him for the last 40 miles or so. We met Bill, a former president of the group, Claire, and Jack. They were ready to go and Bill set the pace. I was having trouble keeping up with his 15 mph pace, so although he was 70, he could still definitely get those legs going! They took us on a very scenic tour on the route to Williamsburg, where we had planned on staying for the night. We rode on the Colonial Parkway which was built during the Depression to create more jobs...it's still the same road! It was a bit bumpy but very pretty! As all 8 of us rode into the city, I felt like a celebrity or something. Everyone was looking at us and pointing, we pulled up to the Hospitality House Hotel, which was absolutely beautiful! The Kiwanis graciously set Mike up with a suite in the nicest hotel I had possibly ever seen! They said we were welcome to stay with him as the suite was two rooms, equipped with a kitchen and large restroom! We were so excited! They told us to get cleaned up and meet them at the Green Room Cafe next door where we enjoyed a nice tasty brew and some juicy burgers that were half off!!
We enjoyed their company and to my surprise my great Uncle Stole, Aunt Jan, and second cousin Jeff took time out of their evening to meet me there as well! We visited and it was so neat to have a part of my family there, so far away from home!It had been a great day and we were so close to finishing, we all couldnt help having a lovely time!
Day 83
Today was it, the last day of biking across the country, day #83! We met Bill out front of the hotel at 9:00 sharp and there were some people there taking our pictures and interviewing Mike. We again felt like celebrities, an awesome way to finish our adventure! We had a total of 13 miles to ride and Bill led us through Colonial Williamsburg as well as on the Colonial Parkway once again right next to the York River where we could smell the salty goodness! It was a lovely morning and we made it to the statue mid morning! We took some photos, hip hip hoorayed, and quickly rode our bikes down the hill, so they could taste the Atlantic. We dipped our wheels in and then jumped in helmets and all to bask in our glory! It was a moment to remember thats for sure!
After, Bill and his wife made room for our bikes and gear in their cars and drove us to have lunch with the Kiwani's at their weekly meeting! We arrived at Joe & Mimma's Italian Restaurant where the entire backroom was reserved for the Kiwani Club. As we walked into the room, spandex and all, we were applauded for just biking across the country. As you could imagine we were all a bit suprised and did not expect such a nice welcome! The president introduced Mike and he stood up in front of the club explaining the inns and outs of the camp he was raising money for that was sponsored by the Kiwanis Club in Oregon. They then invited us up to talk about Invisible Children as well as Rob and Dan to talk about Cyclists Fighting Cancer. We realized that between the five of us we had raised close to $20,000, all for organizations dedicated to helping children. It was such an awesome way to finish the tour, I mean to be greeted by all these people who were so eager to find out how they could help and wanting to be there to congratulate us, complete strangers at that. As well as finishing as a group, we had become a family, and bringing it back to the reason that we all decided to do this in the first place; it truly couldn't have been a better ending to a trip of memories that will last a lifetime.
Mark and I have decided that we are each going to write a reflection entry. I'm not sure if anyone will read it because the trips over now, but I have learned alot this summer and have a few final thoughts that I would like to write down, to have to look at in the future. So you all have Kristen's words of wisdom to look forward to! ha Take care and thanks so much for all your support over the last few months, we truly would'nt have been able to do it without all of you! So thank you!!! We've done it!!!!
Day 81: Charlottesville to Ashland
We hit up Starbucks at 6:30 am where we used our graduation giftcards for the first time! This was the first Starbucks we had run into on the road, besides Fort Collins! We rode past a tree full of butterflies so I was happy and just kept riding! On days like today when you prepare for a long day of riding, everything just kinda blends together, at least for me. I took a video of myself going downhill at one point saying yaa-hoo the entire time and well to be honest thats all I really remember! Except for the story Rob told me about spinning so hard in spin class that the bike started smoking, I almost fell off my bike!
We went to a chinese food restaurant where they served us each about three pounds of food and then we decided we would call around to find the cheapest hotel room in Ashland. Let me rephrase, I called around to find the cheapest hotel room in Ashland, you'll never believe it $43 for a two beds for the five of us. Even cheaper then camping in some instances!! We were all pretty stoked about that and enjoyed a nice sleep in a real bed except for Mike that is, he had to sleep on the ground poor guy!
Kristen
We went to a chinese food restaurant where they served us each about three pounds of food and then we decided we would call around to find the cheapest hotel room in Ashland. Let me rephrase, I called around to find the cheapest hotel room in Ashland, you'll never believe it $43 for a two beds for the five of us. Even cheaper then camping in some instances!! We were all pretty stoked about that and enjoyed a nice sleep in a real bed except for Mike that is, he had to sleep on the ground poor guy!
Kristen
Friday, August 28, 2009
Day 80 Vesuvius to Charlottesville
This is the day we have all been waiting for! We grabbed a good hearty breakfast at Gertie's Cafe and headed up the hill!! It was pretty darn steep and for about 4 miles we were climbing up and up and up. Seeing some fellow cyclists flying down what we were were slowly climbing, was a bit distracting. The ride was beautiful but tough. Each pedal was a conscious effort especially with only two rings on my bike.
We all made it within the hour and reached the Blue Ridge Parkway which was absolutely gorgeous, lush green foliage lined the parkway on either side of us with valleys and forests glowed in the distance as far as we could see. We stopped at a few overlooks and at one particular one, we met Leo who was having some major problems with his bike. He was headed West to Oregon and we gave him some advice, wished him the best of luck, and as we were leaving we saw a huge black snake slithering into the bush, I screamed! We stopped in Afton, Virginia, another place we had been reccommended to go and planned on having lunch there.
Thats when we met June, the Cookie Lady. She has resided in Afton for most of her life and has been catering to cyclists since the bicentennial in 76. She originally found many cyclists coming through her small town and offered water to them out of her hose. She then dedicated her side house, known as the bike house, to all passing through cyclists. It is a shrine to bicycles, cyclists, their stories, memorabilia and everything else you could possibly imagine about bikes. Over 14,000 cyclists have signed the guestbook, got their pictures taken, and have slept under the bike house roof. It is a truly amazing sight! We were all in shock and just kept wandering around the place, there were about four rooms and you couldn't even see the walls..they were covered in post cards, and newspaper clippings from the years past. We visited with her for a long time, listening to her telling us stories of all the cyclists from over the years. She offered us cookies of course and we ate a lot of them! We said our goodbyes and got our photos taken and headed on our way to Charlottesville.
We didn't exactly know where we were going to stay and somehow arrived at the conclusion of camping out at a church on their back lawn. We originally were thinking of staying at a fraternity house however, after inquiring with a few we weren't exactly 100% they wanted 5 bikers there, especially four men in spandex, i probably would have been fine on my own ha! So we went across the street to the church, everything always works out you know! We took hose showers and grabbed some dinner at a local restaurant in town. We slept under the stars and prepared for a 94 mile day!~
Kristen
We all made it within the hour and reached the Blue Ridge Parkway which was absolutely gorgeous, lush green foliage lined the parkway on either side of us with valleys and forests glowed in the distance as far as we could see. We stopped at a few overlooks and at one particular one, we met Leo who was having some major problems with his bike. He was headed West to Oregon and we gave him some advice, wished him the best of luck, and as we were leaving we saw a huge black snake slithering into the bush, I screamed! We stopped in Afton, Virginia, another place we had been reccommended to go and planned on having lunch there.
Thats when we met June, the Cookie Lady. She has resided in Afton for most of her life and has been catering to cyclists since the bicentennial in 76. She originally found many cyclists coming through her small town and offered water to them out of her hose. She then dedicated her side house, known as the bike house, to all passing through cyclists. It is a shrine to bicycles, cyclists, their stories, memorabilia and everything else you could possibly imagine about bikes. Over 14,000 cyclists have signed the guestbook, got their pictures taken, and have slept under the bike house roof. It is a truly amazing sight! We were all in shock and just kept wandering around the place, there were about four rooms and you couldn't even see the walls..they were covered in post cards, and newspaper clippings from the years past. We visited with her for a long time, listening to her telling us stories of all the cyclists from over the years. She offered us cookies of course and we ate a lot of them! We said our goodbyes and got our photos taken and headed on our way to Charlottesville.
We didn't exactly know where we were going to stay and somehow arrived at the conclusion of camping out at a church on their back lawn. We originally were thinking of staying at a fraternity house however, after inquiring with a few we weren't exactly 100% they wanted 5 bikers there, especially four men in spandex, i probably would have been fine on my own ha! So we went across the street to the church, everything always works out you know! We took hose showers and grabbed some dinner at a local restaurant in town. We slept under the stars and prepared for a 94 mile day!~
Kristen
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Day 79 Troutville to Vesuvius
We were suprised to find Carleen at 7am by the pavilion equipped with her camera in hand snapping photos of us like we were celebrities! We chatted with her for a bit and were on our way. We were riding down the highway and there went Carleen in her car! She stopped twice down the road to take more photos of us! A bit strange but we just kept riding! The boys went to Burger King for lunch and I just couldn't do it, so I ate a pb&j instead. We rode our bikes over a walking bridge which was a bit rickety but we survived!
We made it into Lexington by the afternoon and decided to take a long break there. We toured Washington and Lee University and walked around the old historic town. We ate some ice cream and enjoyed the beautiful sunny afternoon! We rode the last 20 miles or so with a light sprinkle of rain and pulled into Vesuvius behind Gerthie's Store. We ate some delicious peaches and took some hose showers, played some cards and drifted into dream land!
We had been hearing about the horrors of the climb right after Vesuvius for months now. We met numerous people who said they had feared for their lives on the descent down and were uncontrollaby hitting 45 mph while slamming on their breaks. The same mountain that we had to pedal up! We were told it was about a four mile climb and the steepest on the map. I was worried and definitely have dreamt about it! Another guy we talked to actually crashed on his way down, skidding his elbows pretty bad, so bad that Elbows became his nickname, and had to go to the hospital! Others told us that their rims were so hot they were smoking! Tomorrow we would find out for ourselves!!!
Kristen
We made it into Lexington by the afternoon and decided to take a long break there. We toured Washington and Lee University and walked around the old historic town. We ate some ice cream and enjoyed the beautiful sunny afternoon! We rode the last 20 miles or so with a light sprinkle of rain and pulled into Vesuvius behind Gerthie's Store. We ate some delicious peaches and took some hose showers, played some cards and drifted into dream land!
We had been hearing about the horrors of the climb right after Vesuvius for months now. We met numerous people who said they had feared for their lives on the descent down and were uncontrollaby hitting 45 mph while slamming on their breaks. The same mountain that we had to pedal up! We were told it was about a four mile climb and the steepest on the map. I was worried and definitely have dreamt about it! Another guy we talked to actually crashed on his way down, skidding his elbows pretty bad, so bad that Elbows became his nickname, and had to go to the hospital! Others told us that their rims were so hot they were smoking! Tomorrow we would find out for ourselves!!!
Kristen
Day 78 Radford to Troutville
Today we have completed MAP 11 and we are now on our last map!!! We stopped after 13 miles and ate at the Country Kitchen Restaurant in Christiansburg. The boys practiced some aerodynamic bike moves and we found an apple tree and played a version of apple baseball with a bike pump. Oh the small things in life that you'll never forget!
Rob and I were riding along, side by side, in the back of the pack and talking about god knows what, and Rob screamed out in shock! He said, "You just ran over a lizard and his tail shot off!!" So of course, we made a u turn and took a video of the lizard, well two halves of it. The tail was blue neon and still squirming around. Apparently, a lizard can shoot his tail off as a defense mechanism to distract his predator, and in this case he shot his tail off but got run over twice, once by my front wheel and again by my back tire, poor thing.
We made it to the city park and set up camp under the pavillion. While the boys played a game of basketball and another game of horseshoes, I went across the street to the fire station and asked if I could shower and do some laundry! The guys were really nice and let us all shower there! We decided to BBQ and had a feast for dinner. They cooked me dinner! We had steak and brats and potato salad and coleslaw! We met a women named Carleen who loved all the boys and gave us a few laughs! I somehow lost my shoes, they must have fallen off my bungee, (the 3rd time this has happpened) and so Carleen gave me a pair of her Saucony tennis shoes! What a doll! They were a perfect fit and really comfortable! However, before then, when I walked over to the fire department I wore Marks shoes which were, well you could imagine, huge on me and I looked like a clown, pretty priceless as you could imagine. I definitely received a few funny looks!
Night Night Kristen
Rob and I were riding along, side by side, in the back of the pack and talking about god knows what, and Rob screamed out in shock! He said, "You just ran over a lizard and his tail shot off!!" So of course, we made a u turn and took a video of the lizard, well two halves of it. The tail was blue neon and still squirming around. Apparently, a lizard can shoot his tail off as a defense mechanism to distract his predator, and in this case he shot his tail off but got run over twice, once by my front wheel and again by my back tire, poor thing.
We made it to the city park and set up camp under the pavillion. While the boys played a game of basketball and another game of horseshoes, I went across the street to the fire station and asked if I could shower and do some laundry! The guys were really nice and let us all shower there! We decided to BBQ and had a feast for dinner. They cooked me dinner! We had steak and brats and potato salad and coleslaw! We met a women named Carleen who loved all the boys and gave us a few laughs! I somehow lost my shoes, they must have fallen off my bungee, (the 3rd time this has happpened) and so Carleen gave me a pair of her Saucony tennis shoes! What a doll! They were a perfect fit and really comfortable! However, before then, when I walked over to the fire department I wore Marks shoes which were, well you could imagine, huge on me and I looked like a clown, pretty priceless as you could imagine. I definitely received a few funny looks!
Night Night Kristen
Day 77 Troutdale to Radford
We ate breakfast at the same diner and Mike ordered the biggest bowl of grits they had to offer. He paid $8 for the bowl, we all had a pretty good laugh about that one!
We had a climb early in the morning and then it was pretty much all rolling hills on a downhill slope for the majority of the 77 mile ride. We were given a business card about a week or so previous to stay with the Lee Family in Radford and thats what we had planned to do. The boys made me call Dr. Lee and I am happy I did because he offered me the guest room with a queen size bed as well as a lovely view from the second floor and all the boys pitched their tents on the front lawn! Yay!!
We arrived at the Lee's and Sarah, Thad's wife offered us cold drinks and showed me to my room! I knew we would get along because she was a Volvo driver! We got cleaned up and did some laundry and after, Sarah offered us her car to drive to dinner! Mike played guitar for us and the boys went outside while I went upstairs to my comfortable bed! The Lee's were so generous and we all appreciated their hospitality!!
Night Kristen
We had a climb early in the morning and then it was pretty much all rolling hills on a downhill slope for the majority of the 77 mile ride. We were given a business card about a week or so previous to stay with the Lee Family in Radford and thats what we had planned to do. The boys made me call Dr. Lee and I am happy I did because he offered me the guest room with a queen size bed as well as a lovely view from the second floor and all the boys pitched their tents on the front lawn! Yay!!
We arrived at the Lee's and Sarah, Thad's wife offered us cold drinks and showed me to my room! I knew we would get along because she was a Volvo driver! We got cleaned up and did some laundry and after, Sarah offered us her car to drive to dinner! Mike played guitar for us and the boys went outside while I went upstairs to my comfortable bed! The Lee's were so generous and we all appreciated their hospitality!!
Night Kristen
Day 76 UMC to Troutdale
As we woke up on the comfy church pews, we gathered our belongings and headed out for an early start. Now as there were five of us, we set off into the early morning and enjoyed the rolling hills through the countryside. I will always remember this ride because it was one of my favorites. If I could wake up every morning, drink a cup of java, and take a ride in that exact same place I would be in heaven! However, it didn't last too long before we had to start climbing, climbing and more climbing.
We reached the peak of the mountain and got ready for the biggest descent toward Hayters Gap, we had had in awhile. Usually I would be more than excited to fly like the wind down the hill, but with only one brake working I was a bit more hesitant. The boys let me go first, because they said that I would be going the fastest, ha. I think it was because they wanted to get a good look at me wiping out if that was the case! What sweet men!
We stopped at a diner for breakfast and after the food was brought out, we had to split up on two tables because the boys ordered sooooooo much food! After we all had food babys, we stopped in Damascus at the bike shop to remedy a few problems on our bikes. Mike had a shredded tire, myself, one brake, and Mark needed to get his tire trued. After about an hour or so, we were ready to head up the hill and begin a 13 mile climb, however it was POURING! We had a meeting and although probably not the smartest decision, we decidied to keep treking!
So up we went, laughing and sheilding our eyes from the painful rain drops. It was a beautiful ride and we made it! We got to the bike hostel which consisted of two rooms equipped with bunk beds, a nice little porch and a nice shower! We ate dinner and crashed!
Kristen
We reached the peak of the mountain and got ready for the biggest descent toward Hayters Gap, we had had in awhile. Usually I would be more than excited to fly like the wind down the hill, but with only one brake working I was a bit more hesitant. The boys let me go first, because they said that I would be going the fastest, ha. I think it was because they wanted to get a good look at me wiping out if that was the case! What sweet men!
We stopped at a diner for breakfast and after the food was brought out, we had to split up on two tables because the boys ordered sooooooo much food! After we all had food babys, we stopped in Damascus at the bike shop to remedy a few problems on our bikes. Mike had a shredded tire, myself, one brake, and Mark needed to get his tire trued. After about an hour or so, we were ready to head up the hill and begin a 13 mile climb, however it was POURING! We had a meeting and although probably not the smartest decision, we decidied to keep treking!
So up we went, laughing and sheilding our eyes from the painful rain drops. It was a beautiful ride and we made it! We got to the bike hostel which consisted of two rooms equipped with bunk beds, a nice little porch and a nice shower! We ate dinner and crashed!
Kristen
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Day 75 Breaks to UMC of Rosedale
I woke up in the morning, thanking God that I survived the night and wasnt supper for the raccoon, however my towel wasnt so lucky. Yup, thats correct, the fury little guy ate my towel.
It was a misty morning and we packed up our things and while dining at the same restaurant as the night before, we met a man who approached us and showed us some pictures from the previous year of his cross country ride. We also met a group of three couples who donated both to our cause as well as Rob and Dans ride for cancer. People are so generous, I tell ya!
Today's ride wasn't too long but we had a pretty long hike up one of the taller peaks. It was hot but we reapplied our 50 spf sunscreen!! I tried beating Mark up the mountain but was unsuccessful!
We asked a couple if they knew where a grocery store was and they said it was 5 miles down the road. We got a second opinion and are happy we did because we came to find out it was actually 12!! Thats a huge difference when you are on a bike! We decided to eat at the gas station and to my surprise, I had a really nice salad!
We made it to the United Methodist Church and found the sign that said Cyclist's Welcome! The door was open and we made ourselves at home! There was a kitchen for me to use and really comfortable pew cushions that were reccommended for us to sleep on. There was also a huge cabinet full of food for all the cyclists! We were ecstatic and used the hose out back to take showers. I even took some girl time (by myself) and napped on the swinging bench outside in the hot sun.
The boys tightened my back brake because the front one was out of order while I cooked dinner! I made a plethera of pasta, macaroni and cheese, and spaghetti and we had a feast. A guy pulled up to the church by the name of Michael Henry. He was pulling a bob trailer and was from Portland , Oregon, surprisingly headed East! That meant that he had been riding like a crazy man in order to catch up to us, at least 100 miles a day! He turned out being really cool and we all had some good laughs! From that moment on we were like a little family (I was like a mom with 4 boys) and we all decided to finish off the trip together and ride into Yorktown as a posse!
We crashed and set our alarms for 6 am! Yikes!
Kristen
It was a misty morning and we packed up our things and while dining at the same restaurant as the night before, we met a man who approached us and showed us some pictures from the previous year of his cross country ride. We also met a group of three couples who donated both to our cause as well as Rob and Dans ride for cancer. People are so generous, I tell ya!
Today's ride wasn't too long but we had a pretty long hike up one of the taller peaks. It was hot but we reapplied our 50 spf sunscreen!! I tried beating Mark up the mountain but was unsuccessful!
We asked a couple if they knew where a grocery store was and they said it was 5 miles down the road. We got a second opinion and are happy we did because we came to find out it was actually 12!! Thats a huge difference when you are on a bike! We decided to eat at the gas station and to my surprise, I had a really nice salad!
We made it to the United Methodist Church and found the sign that said Cyclist's Welcome! The door was open and we made ourselves at home! There was a kitchen for me to use and really comfortable pew cushions that were reccommended for us to sleep on. There was also a huge cabinet full of food for all the cyclists! We were ecstatic and used the hose out back to take showers. I even took some girl time (by myself) and napped on the swinging bench outside in the hot sun.
The boys tightened my back brake because the front one was out of order while I cooked dinner! I made a plethera of pasta, macaroni and cheese, and spaghetti and we had a feast. A guy pulled up to the church by the name of Michael Henry. He was pulling a bob trailer and was from Portland , Oregon, surprisingly headed East! That meant that he had been riding like a crazy man in order to catch up to us, at least 100 miles a day! He turned out being really cool and we all had some good laughs! From that moment on we were like a little family (I was like a mom with 4 boys) and we all decided to finish off the trip together and ride into Yorktown as a posse!
We crashed and set our alarms for 6 am! Yikes!
Kristen
Day 74 Hindman to Breaks
Today we had planned a 65 mile ride, but somehow it turned into 80. Lets just say that if we had planned to ride 80 miles, it would have been fine, but to be on the bike for an additional hour....that can get annoying. Anyways, we finally left Kentucky and made it to our last state, Virginia!!!
In the morning we climbed Pippas Pass as well as 5 other peaks. I think we all agree that one of those peaks was the hardest pass on the ENTIRE map. Although it only lasted for about 2 miles, this was the steepest thing I have ever seen for the longest amount of time. Without stopping, because if I did I wouldn't have been able to get back on my bike, I met Mark and Dan at the top, who both looked like they had just taken showers. My face was about as red as a tomato, possibly even turning into a purple shade, (red onion status).
As we descended into Lookout Valley, I was in the back of the pack, seeing that I only had one working brake at the time, I was taking it as slow as I could. Thats when it happened, a huge black rot weiler put his turbo boost into gear and was inches away from taking a big juicy bite out of my calf. I quickly grabbed my spray bottle full of extreme hot sauce and shot that sucker in between the eyes. While still pedaling as fast as I could, I heard wimpering and right as I turned back to look, the dog was down, he took a faceplant in the grass and I was home free with a heart rate that was off the charts.
Looking back at this moment, I realize I could have seriously injured the dogs sight however, my life was endanger! I really do love dogs but not when they are about to eat me. I consider this act as taking the necessary means to keep my leg, thus it is justified.
So after that additional hour of riding, up and down hills, we found a campsite at Breaks National Park. It was so beautiful!!! We set up our tents and took showers. I took some of the boys clothes to the sinks and began hand washing them, they all called me Cinderella. Thats the thanks I get for washing their dirty clothes. Anyways, come to find out, on our way to the restaurant, they had a laundry room!!! Another hour of my day wasted. After dinner we rode back to our campsite, but this time in the pitch black darkness. It was about a mile ride and we couldnt see a darn thing. Rob was hit in the face with a bat!!!! That had me laughing for a long time!!!!!!!
We went to bed and in the middle of the night, I woke up to a breathing sound right next to my head. I turned my head around to find a raccoon practically in my tent. I was speechless. Literally, I couldn't speak and I really did try. I was terrified! I didnt move and finally fell back asleep.
I can't believe we are in our last state! WOOO-HOO!!!!
Kristen
In the morning we climbed Pippas Pass as well as 5 other peaks. I think we all agree that one of those peaks was the hardest pass on the ENTIRE map. Although it only lasted for about 2 miles, this was the steepest thing I have ever seen for the longest amount of time. Without stopping, because if I did I wouldn't have been able to get back on my bike, I met Mark and Dan at the top, who both looked like they had just taken showers. My face was about as red as a tomato, possibly even turning into a purple shade, (red onion status).
As we descended into Lookout Valley, I was in the back of the pack, seeing that I only had one working brake at the time, I was taking it as slow as I could. Thats when it happened, a huge black rot weiler put his turbo boost into gear and was inches away from taking a big juicy bite out of my calf. I quickly grabbed my spray bottle full of extreme hot sauce and shot that sucker in between the eyes. While still pedaling as fast as I could, I heard wimpering and right as I turned back to look, the dog was down, he took a faceplant in the grass and I was home free with a heart rate that was off the charts.
Looking back at this moment, I realize I could have seriously injured the dogs sight however, my life was endanger! I really do love dogs but not when they are about to eat me. I consider this act as taking the necessary means to keep my leg, thus it is justified.
So after that additional hour of riding, up and down hills, we found a campsite at Breaks National Park. It was so beautiful!!! We set up our tents and took showers. I took some of the boys clothes to the sinks and began hand washing them, they all called me Cinderella. Thats the thanks I get for washing their dirty clothes. Anyways, come to find out, on our way to the restaurant, they had a laundry room!!! Another hour of my day wasted. After dinner we rode back to our campsite, but this time in the pitch black darkness. It was about a mile ride and we couldnt see a darn thing. Rob was hit in the face with a bat!!!! That had me laughing for a long time!!!!!!!
We went to bed and in the middle of the night, I woke up to a breathing sound right next to my head. I turned my head around to find a raccoon practically in my tent. I was speechless. Literally, I couldn't speak and I really did try. I was terrified! I didnt move and finally fell back asleep.
I can't believe we are in our last state! WOOO-HOO!!!!
Kristen
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Day 73
Booneville to Hindman
Today is the second day in the Appalachians. There has been a lot of hype over the Aps, but I personally don't think they are too hard. I think the hardest mountain range we crossed was the Ozarks in Missouri! The Aps are similar to the Ozarks, but the only difference is the climbs are a bit longer, but not as steep!!
Our experience in Kentucky has been excellent. The people have been accommodating when we had questions on directions and gave us some good recommendations on restaurants to eat at. We rode about 35 miles with the heat index reaching around 90 degrees and our stomachs telling us we needed some serious calories ASAP! We were in luck and noticed a church was having carnival and had FOOD STANDS! We chowed down on some cheeseburger and listened to live Christian rock music.
Back on the road another 35 miles to the small town of Hindman. The 35 miles went by fast because our new English friends, especially the stand up comedian Rob kept us laughing with his Seinfeld commentary! As we arrived in the town we heard from other cyclists that there was Historical Society which allows cyclist to spend the night and warm showers. The only downfall for this lodging situation was we had to climb the steepest hill of this entire trip. No exaggerations the grade was 18%. Rob, Dan, and me tried climbing up with grade, but failed halfway up! I thought my chain was going to snap! As we arrived at the Historical Society we were greeted by a nice man with ice tea. The owner in the lodge was nice, but his price was a bit ridiculous. He wanted to charge 30 dollars a person...to expensive for our tight budget! Instead we parked our bikes next to a creek and decided this was the best place for camp. Kristen knew she wouldn't be having a shower, but she's getting better these days with not having a warm shower. She has become content with other means of showers such as gas station sinks, water hoses, ect.. Today she was in luck because the creek was 3 feet wide and 2 feet deep! The only negative about this creek was that it was heavily polluted with fertilizer runoff from agriculture. When we were showering one of the town's residents yelled at us "Tomorrow you are going to wake up with rashes all over your bodies from all that pollution!" We just laughed it off and continued bathing.
We went out for pizza and now going to sleep at 9pm cause I will be waking up at the crack of dawn!
Night Mark
Today is the second day in the Appalachians. There has been a lot of hype over the Aps, but I personally don't think they are too hard. I think the hardest mountain range we crossed was the Ozarks in Missouri! The Aps are similar to the Ozarks, but the only difference is the climbs are a bit longer, but not as steep!!
Our experience in Kentucky has been excellent. The people have been accommodating when we had questions on directions and gave us some good recommendations on restaurants to eat at. We rode about 35 miles with the heat index reaching around 90 degrees and our stomachs telling us we needed some serious calories ASAP! We were in luck and noticed a church was having carnival and had FOOD STANDS! We chowed down on some cheeseburger and listened to live Christian rock music.
Back on the road another 35 miles to the small town of Hindman. The 35 miles went by fast because our new English friends, especially the stand up comedian Rob kept us laughing with his Seinfeld commentary! As we arrived in the town we heard from other cyclists that there was Historical Society which allows cyclist to spend the night and warm showers. The only downfall for this lodging situation was we had to climb the steepest hill of this entire trip. No exaggerations the grade was 18%. Rob, Dan, and me tried climbing up with grade, but failed halfway up! I thought my chain was going to snap! As we arrived at the Historical Society we were greeted by a nice man with ice tea. The owner in the lodge was nice, but his price was a bit ridiculous. He wanted to charge 30 dollars a person...to expensive for our tight budget! Instead we parked our bikes next to a creek and decided this was the best place for camp. Kristen knew she wouldn't be having a shower, but she's getting better these days with not having a warm shower. She has become content with other means of showers such as gas station sinks, water hoses, ect.. Today she was in luck because the creek was 3 feet wide and 2 feet deep! The only negative about this creek was that it was heavily polluted with fertilizer runoff from agriculture. When we were showering one of the town's residents yelled at us "Tomorrow you are going to wake up with rashes all over your bodies from all that pollution!" We just laughed it off and continued bathing.
We went out for pizza and now going to sleep at 9pm cause I will be waking up at the crack of dawn!
Night Mark
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
WE JUST BIKED ACROSS AMERICA!!
Sorry for the delayed updates on the blog. We have been riding 80-90 mile days and didn't have time to update the blog. It was great to finish with a group of people. We literally rode our bikes into the ATlantic with Dan Rob and Mike.
Kristen mom is flying across the country CA to VA (only takes a 5 hr flight instead of 11 weeks haha!) and meeting up with us to celebrate this great accomplishment!
We are going to drink some victory champagne right now. Check back in 2 days for complete update of our trip
Thanks for all your support!
Mark
Sorry for the delayed updates on the blog. We have been riding 80-90 mile days and didn't have time to update the blog. It was great to finish with a group of people. We literally rode our bikes into the ATlantic with Dan Rob and Mike.
Kristen mom is flying across the country CA to VA (only takes a 5 hr flight instead of 11 weeks haha!) and meeting up with us to celebrate this great accomplishment!
We are going to drink some victory champagne right now. Check back in 2 days for complete update of our trip
Thanks for all your support!
Mark
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
DAY 69-72...almost caught up!
Day 69 Rough River Dam to Convenient store off highway 84
Because we were in an "RV" site rather than a tent site, this old crazy lady charged us $20, $8 more dollars than we should have paid. Mark was angry and when he tried talking to her about it, she raised her voice and put her foot on the pedal of her golf cart and peeled out, leaving Mark with a strange look on his face. I, of course, was laughing hysterically! We enjoyed a lovely breakfast with our neighboring friends and headed on the road. The terrain was the opposite of flat and after two big riding days, we were pretty tired. We had a water fight and minutes later a huge storm erupted! We took some awesome pictures and made it to a bike hostel right off the side of the road!
We were instantly greeted by Lauren, who gave us freeze pops and welcomed us into the store. We visited with Arnold and Lucy, her mom and dad, and took nice warm showers and even learned how to snap green beans! Arnold took us to their garden where we picked potatoes and tomatoes, squash and cucumbers, which were washed up and cooked for dinner! We thoroughly enjoyed their company and had a wonderful dinner with them! Thanks again for your warm hospitality!
Day 70 Hostel to Bardstown
We woke up early and Lucy made us cheesy eggs! It was Lauren's first day of high school and we waved goodbye to her as the school bus pulled away from the house. It was a bit overcast and we decided to grab some caffeine at the gas station about 15 miles into the day. Mark couldn't resist a peanut butter and Oreo milkshake at 10 in the morning and I decided to try a five hour energy hour shot. After two episodes of Judge Judy and one Maury talk show, we finally decided to end our two hour break at the gas station!
We rode a mile off route to tour Abe Lincolns birthplace and saw the actual cabin where his family lived as well as the spring where they retrieved their water from! It was pretty cool but we had to get back on the road!
We were reading the newspaper in the town of ..... Where the headlining articles were about two men stealing generators and one about the mold forming on Lincoln's cabin. After lunch I decided that to change the routine up a bit, I was going to make Mark navigate to Bardstown, about 35 miles away! I was enjoying watching him look at the map and acting concerned about not missing a turn, it actually made me quite happy. I was kicking back enjoying the ride, not knowing where the heck I was going and it was lovely! We had a few steep up and downs for the last handful of miles and pulled into a campground at the edge of town, about 6:15. We met Dave, the camp host who gave us some info about restaurants and laundry and such. He even gave me a ride to the showers in his nice little golf cart! (which was not very far away at all but I still enjoyed it!)
We met east bounders, Dan and Rob, our two new English friends whom we've adopted to our cycling posse. Or shall I say, they have adopted us because they know what's going on and we are just basically following them! They are a bit older and wiser than us but we all get along quite well! After a shower and a bit of a chat with some other riders, we grabbed some food down the street and enjoyed listening to live karaoke! Mark chickened out although I know he wanted to sing Avril Lavine!
We decided to wake up early in the morning and try to ride with the other boys! A 5:30 alarm was set and a 92 mile ride to Berea was in store!
Day 71 Bardstown to Berea
Hearing the alarm go off at 6 am makes me sick to my stomach. We haven't woken up this early in about two weeks, but it feels good to start pedaling before the scorching sun comes out in midday. Rob and Dan wanted to stop for a quick breakfast and they came up with McDonald's. We didn't want to complain so we swallowed our pride and Kristen had fruit and yogurt(fruit was still frozen) and I had the Mcgriddle(around 800 calories).
We cranked out 45 miles in 3 hrs. I think all of us were happy to share our cycling stories with each other and it made the time drift by. All of us were feeling hungry, looking for lunch when Lees Buffet for 5 dollars a person caught our attention. We owned that buffet and definitely got our moneys worth for fried chicken! We taught our new friends, about Kristen and mines little saying which can be put in front of any saying or expression, for example; we are biking across America SO HARD! It's a little inside joke we wanted to share with everyone, sorry if you don't get it but it's become part of our cycling vocabulary.
The riding for the rest of the day was filled with rollers and some nice descents. The temperature was pretty hot outside, but our new friends and the scenery kept our minds off the heat. The last 10 miles we had a good pace line and pretended we were in the Tour de France.
We found a campsite for cheap and took our beloved and long anticipated showers and grabbed some dinner. Recap of dinner..all of us enjoyed Cracker Barrel but never got the milkshakes. Rob and I paid 2.60 for strawberry flavored milk!
Another early morning ahead of me.
Mark
Day 72 Berea to Booneville
Today in a nutshell:
1. My stereo gone, someone stole it....:( ipod gone too...of course it's the first day in the Appalachians.
2. Ate breakfast at Walmart and bought large sandwiches for $4.98 for lunch.
3. Shredded the first day of the Appalachians...so hard!
4. Ate our lunch in shady grass patch on the side of the road.
5. I almost ran a cat over, by accident! But it moved at the last second.
6. I sprayed some dogs with hot sauce that got in my way
7. We rode 57 miles
8. We found a guy named Joe with a crazy beard, no teeth, and a cat named sissy who is riding from Florida to California on a mountain bike, packed for the end of the world.
9. We drank real milkshakes.
10. Mark went running and had a few close calls with some dogs.
11. We had a debate over top ramen noodle soup.
Because we were in an "RV" site rather than a tent site, this old crazy lady charged us $20, $8 more dollars than we should have paid. Mark was angry and when he tried talking to her about it, she raised her voice and put her foot on the pedal of her golf cart and peeled out, leaving Mark with a strange look on his face. I, of course, was laughing hysterically! We enjoyed a lovely breakfast with our neighboring friends and headed on the road. The terrain was the opposite of flat and after two big riding days, we were pretty tired. We had a water fight and minutes later a huge storm erupted! We took some awesome pictures and made it to a bike hostel right off the side of the road!
We were instantly greeted by Lauren, who gave us freeze pops and welcomed us into the store. We visited with Arnold and Lucy, her mom and dad, and took nice warm showers and even learned how to snap green beans! Arnold took us to their garden where we picked potatoes and tomatoes, squash and cucumbers, which were washed up and cooked for dinner! We thoroughly enjoyed their company and had a wonderful dinner with them! Thanks again for your warm hospitality!
Day 70 Hostel to Bardstown
We woke up early and Lucy made us cheesy eggs! It was Lauren's first day of high school and we waved goodbye to her as the school bus pulled away from the house. It was a bit overcast and we decided to grab some caffeine at the gas station about 15 miles into the day. Mark couldn't resist a peanut butter and Oreo milkshake at 10 in the morning and I decided to try a five hour energy hour shot. After two episodes of Judge Judy and one Maury talk show, we finally decided to end our two hour break at the gas station!
We rode a mile off route to tour Abe Lincolns birthplace and saw the actual cabin where his family lived as well as the spring where they retrieved their water from! It was pretty cool but we had to get back on the road!
We were reading the newspaper in the town of ..... Where the headlining articles were about two men stealing generators and one about the mold forming on Lincoln's cabin. After lunch I decided that to change the routine up a bit, I was going to make Mark navigate to Bardstown, about 35 miles away! I was enjoying watching him look at the map and acting concerned about not missing a turn, it actually made me quite happy. I was kicking back enjoying the ride, not knowing where the heck I was going and it was lovely! We had a few steep up and downs for the last handful of miles and pulled into a campground at the edge of town, about 6:15. We met Dave, the camp host who gave us some info about restaurants and laundry and such. He even gave me a ride to the showers in his nice little golf cart! (which was not very far away at all but I still enjoyed it!)
We met east bounders, Dan and Rob, our two new English friends whom we've adopted to our cycling posse. Or shall I say, they have adopted us because they know what's going on and we are just basically following them! They are a bit older and wiser than us but we all get along quite well! After a shower and a bit of a chat with some other riders, we grabbed some food down the street and enjoyed listening to live karaoke! Mark chickened out although I know he wanted to sing Avril Lavine!
We decided to wake up early in the morning and try to ride with the other boys! A 5:30 alarm was set and a 92 mile ride to Berea was in store!
Day 71 Bardstown to Berea
Hearing the alarm go off at 6 am makes me sick to my stomach. We haven't woken up this early in about two weeks, but it feels good to start pedaling before the scorching sun comes out in midday. Rob and Dan wanted to stop for a quick breakfast and they came up with McDonald's. We didn't want to complain so we swallowed our pride and Kristen had fruit and yogurt(fruit was still frozen) and I had the Mcgriddle(around 800 calories).
We cranked out 45 miles in 3 hrs. I think all of us were happy to share our cycling stories with each other and it made the time drift by. All of us were feeling hungry, looking for lunch when Lees Buffet for 5 dollars a person caught our attention. We owned that buffet and definitely got our moneys worth for fried chicken! We taught our new friends, about Kristen and mines little saying which can be put in front of any saying or expression, for example; we are biking across America SO HARD! It's a little inside joke we wanted to share with everyone, sorry if you don't get it but it's become part of our cycling vocabulary.
The riding for the rest of the day was filled with rollers and some nice descents. The temperature was pretty hot outside, but our new friends and the scenery kept our minds off the heat. The last 10 miles we had a good pace line and pretended we were in the Tour de France.
We found a campsite for cheap and took our beloved and long anticipated showers and grabbed some dinner. Recap of dinner..all of us enjoyed Cracker Barrel but never got the milkshakes. Rob and I paid 2.60 for strawberry flavored milk!
Another early morning ahead of me.
Mark
Day 72 Berea to Booneville
Today in a nutshell:
1. My stereo gone, someone stole it....:( ipod gone too...of course it's the first day in the Appalachians.
2. Ate breakfast at Walmart and bought large sandwiches for $4.98 for lunch.
3. Shredded the first day of the Appalachians...so hard!
4. Ate our lunch in shady grass patch on the side of the road.
5. I almost ran a cat over, by accident! But it moved at the last second.
6. I sprayed some dogs with hot sauce that got in my way
7. We rode 57 miles
8. We found a guy named Joe with a crazy beard, no teeth, and a cat named sissy who is riding from Florida to California on a mountain bike, packed for the end of the world.
9. We drank real milkshakes.
10. Mark went running and had a few close calls with some dogs.
11. We had a debate over top ramen noodle soup.
Friday, August 7, 2009
DAY 68
Day 68 Seebree to Falls of Rough
Today we rode 75 miles and for some reason I was feeling like a triathlete. I got an extra energy boost and was bolting up the hills. We stopped at a convenient store and were delightfully surprised to find homemade turkey sandwiches from a lady who had been making sandwiches for 31 years! The terrain got a bit hillier and the day and miles got a bit longer! I wasn't feeling like a triathlete for the last part of the day, thats for sure. We stopped in a small town and ate some grapes.
30 miles later we found a campground by the Rough River Dam and I took a shower immediately! All Mark could think about was food, so he went to restaurant while I passed out in the tent for a bit. When he returned, with a nice chicken salad for me, our neighbors at the campsite invited us over to hang out by the campfire. We met Denise, Danny and Maddy, who lived in northern Kentucky. They offered us s'mores as well as cold Pepsi's and we enjoyed their company very much! Maddy put on a show for us and danced to Hannah Montana, blonde wig, sequenced dress and all! As we were headed to our tent, they invited us for breakfast in the morning!
Kree
Today we rode 75 miles and for some reason I was feeling like a triathlete. I got an extra energy boost and was bolting up the hills. We stopped at a convenient store and were delightfully surprised to find homemade turkey sandwiches from a lady who had been making sandwiches for 31 years! The terrain got a bit hillier and the day and miles got a bit longer! I wasn't feeling like a triathlete for the last part of the day, thats for sure. We stopped in a small town and ate some grapes.
30 miles later we found a campground by the Rough River Dam and I took a shower immediately! All Mark could think about was food, so he went to restaurant while I passed out in the tent for a bit. When he returned, with a nice chicken salad for me, our neighbors at the campsite invited us over to hang out by the campfire. We met Denise, Danny and Maddy, who lived in northern Kentucky. They offered us s'mores as well as cold Pepsi's and we enjoyed their company very much! Maddy put on a show for us and danced to Hannah Montana, blonde wig, sequenced dress and all! As we were headed to our tent, they invited us for breakfast in the morning!
Kree
Day 67
Day 67 eddyville to seebree
Today we geared up for a 90 mile ride! We knew we had a long day ahead of us! Chowed down on some good breakfast that would provide us with the needed energy. The whole day there were rolling hills. Kentucky is quite beautiful with the majority of the states lands used for agriculture purposes. We rode through fields of corn, soy beans, cucumber, and tobacco crops. We stopped for lunch to refuel and 2 hours later we stopped again foe me so I could eat another cheeseburger.
We had been on our bikes for about 7 hours and the sun was beginning to set with only 2O miles left until warm showers and a home cooked meal. A funny thing that happened to Kristen was that her head almost was taken off by a turkey vulture which literally came out of the bushes. I tell ya this girl always has really random animal encounter! My story wasn't so funny...I think the bad burger that I ate was tainted and had to GO number 2 REALLY bad!! Lucky to say that when I thought there wasn't any more strengh to hold it anymore I saw the wonderful church with Pastor Bob standing out front, greeting us with a warm smile.
The church was really nice and very accommodating. Bob let us have the whole basement of the church which has showers, tv, mattresses, and a mean ping pong table. Bob was kind enough to invite us to dinner that hid lovely wife Violet made. Bob and Violet have been letting cyclist stay and eat warm delicious dinners for years! Violet made an amazing dinner and we stuffed our faces until Kristen and I got food babies! Thanks again Bob and Violet for our hospitality and taking us in like your own. Your kind gestures will not be forgotten.
After dinner we exchanged stories with the West bounders and they gave Kristen a spray bottle filled with extra extra hot sauce the fend off the ferocious dogs in E Kentucky. Hope it works!
Well we stayed up late..it's about 2 am wayyy past our bedtime!
Night
Mark
Today we geared up for a 90 mile ride! We knew we had a long day ahead of us! Chowed down on some good breakfast that would provide us with the needed energy. The whole day there were rolling hills. Kentucky is quite beautiful with the majority of the states lands used for agriculture purposes. We rode through fields of corn, soy beans, cucumber, and tobacco crops. We stopped for lunch to refuel and 2 hours later we stopped again foe me so I could eat another cheeseburger.
We had been on our bikes for about 7 hours and the sun was beginning to set with only 2O miles left until warm showers and a home cooked meal. A funny thing that happened to Kristen was that her head almost was taken off by a turkey vulture which literally came out of the bushes. I tell ya this girl always has really random animal encounter! My story wasn't so funny...I think the bad burger that I ate was tainted and had to GO number 2 REALLY bad!! Lucky to say that when I thought there wasn't any more strengh to hold it anymore I saw the wonderful church with Pastor Bob standing out front, greeting us with a warm smile.
The church was really nice and very accommodating. Bob let us have the whole basement of the church which has showers, tv, mattresses, and a mean ping pong table. Bob was kind enough to invite us to dinner that hid lovely wife Violet made. Bob and Violet have been letting cyclist stay and eat warm delicious dinners for years! Violet made an amazing dinner and we stuffed our faces until Kristen and I got food babies! Thanks again Bob and Violet for our hospitality and taking us in like your own. Your kind gestures will not be forgotten.
After dinner we exchanged stories with the West bounders and they gave Kristen a spray bottle filled with extra extra hot sauce the fend off the ferocious dogs in E Kentucky. Hope it works!
Well we stayed up late..it's about 2 am wayyy past our bedtime!
Night
Mark
Day 63-66
Day 63 Pilot Knob to Ozora
We grabbed some breakfast at the Hitchin Post Restaurant, across the street from our pavillion/home for the previous night. To my surprise, there were two smashed beetles next to where my head was and Mark said he saw them headed straight for my hair in the dim light when he was going to sleep! He smashed them to pieces for me, oh how sweet! Maybe I should sleep with something over my head!!!!
We made it to Farmington after 17 miles and grabbed some caffeine, coffee and mountain dew usually do the trick! After talking with a local, we found out about the winerys close to Coffman another 25 miles away! We hopped on our vehicles and began thinking about a nice refreshing taste of wine! We met a very nice couple who bought us a glass of wine, they were celebrating their 26th year anniversary! Another couple gave us 20$ to support our cause! I tell ya, its teuly amazing how generous people are, even complete strangers!?! We rode another 20 miles, and met George W. Lawson, a westbound dude who carried an insane amount of water! He showed us a picture of him holding a roll of toilet paper and taking a dump by a no dumping sign! It was pretty classic, not gonna lie!
We rolled into Ozora, basically a truck stop/gas station four way corner and found our favorite place to eat lately. We ate Subway for dinner, once again!!!! After a lovely dinner we went across the street to the motel and asked the front desk if we could pitch our tent in the grass patch in front of the closed down bar and frog infested pool that was murky green! They said it was fine but if we got a bug bite that it wasnt their responbility, whatever that was suppossed to mean! We literally slept by a marsh, and had to be careful where we walked, it was like quick sand but muddy grass instead. Ha! I actually found it quite funny! We took sink showers at the gas station and I went to bed thinking I was going to get attacked by a large bug of some sort!
Day 64 Ozora to Carbondale
We woke up in marsh land, grabbed a few hearty snacks at the gas station and were on our way for a 75 mile day! We mastered bike dancing, could possibly be a new sport!
We entered Illinois, across the Mississippi River and into Chester: the home of popeye! We snapped some photos and grabbed some lunch at the grocery store, we sat inside on a bench and people watched for awhile until the rain began! We decided it was only a light sprinkle and kept riding, southern Illinois is beautiful! Rolling hills and green fields and lots of trees! The storm was chasing us all day but somehow we made it to Motel 6 just in time! I took a shower as fast as I could and Mark was glued to the television! We slept in a lovely, real bed and enjoyed the use of the air conditioning! We planned on meeting Irene, Marks mom the following day and taking a rest day, the first one since Fort Collins!!
Day 65 Rest day in Carbondale
The day consisted of going to the bike shop, WalMart, the laundry mat, and Applebees! It was a productive rest day and so nice to see a familiar face! Poor Irene was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic and after driving for eight hours she made it!
She went to all the trouble of bringing us both new clothes and plenty of food in an ice chest! We gave her all the stuff we didn't want and exchanged some of our old stuff with the new. We downsized a bit to lighten our load for the Appalachians! We enjoyed each others company and got a good rest in a bed for the second night in a row! Thanks again Irene! It was so great to see you and we will see you again very soon!!!
Day 66 Carbondale to Eddyville
We didnt wake up until 9:30, I blame it on the beds! After Irene's hotelmade breakfast which was delicious, we picked up our bikes, had a photo shoot and pedalled out of town! We said our goodbyes and planned to ride 60 miles to Eddyville.
It seemed that today, EVERYONE was mowing their lawns as we passed by their house, church, school, whatever! It was very strange! All day we encountered great roads! Not much traffic, not too steep, and beautiful country! We rolled into Eddyville about 6:30 and found Hayes Campground, about 1 mile off route. It was horse friendly you could say and our campsite was directly next to a horse stall! Our neighbors showed us their awesome RV equipped with horse and human quarters! We met Rebel, the black stallion, and when he went pee, it literally sounded like someone turned on a fire hose! We met another man from washington named James who we joked and chatted with for a bit. He gave us some money out of the blue and told us to have a safe trip.. No questions asked! At that moment, as we were siting on the picnic bench, boiling water for some mac and cheese, the storm approached and conquered! It poured cats and dogs and we ran under the office porch for shelter!
As we walked back to camp, there were rivers running down the sides of our tent and we were happy to find that somehow our tent was perfectly dry! We slept like rocks and were hoping to find the storm gone come morning time!
Kristen
We grabbed some breakfast at the Hitchin Post Restaurant, across the street from our pavillion/home for the previous night. To my surprise, there were two smashed beetles next to where my head was and Mark said he saw them headed straight for my hair in the dim light when he was going to sleep! He smashed them to pieces for me, oh how sweet! Maybe I should sleep with something over my head!!!!
We made it to Farmington after 17 miles and grabbed some caffeine, coffee and mountain dew usually do the trick! After talking with a local, we found out about the winerys close to Coffman another 25 miles away! We hopped on our vehicles and began thinking about a nice refreshing taste of wine! We met a very nice couple who bought us a glass of wine, they were celebrating their 26th year anniversary! Another couple gave us 20$ to support our cause! I tell ya, its teuly amazing how generous people are, even complete strangers!?! We rode another 20 miles, and met George W. Lawson, a westbound dude who carried an insane amount of water! He showed us a picture of him holding a roll of toilet paper and taking a dump by a no dumping sign! It was pretty classic, not gonna lie!
We rolled into Ozora, basically a truck stop/gas station four way corner and found our favorite place to eat lately. We ate Subway for dinner, once again!!!! After a lovely dinner we went across the street to the motel and asked the front desk if we could pitch our tent in the grass patch in front of the closed down bar and frog infested pool that was murky green! They said it was fine but if we got a bug bite that it wasnt their responbility, whatever that was suppossed to mean! We literally slept by a marsh, and had to be careful where we walked, it was like quick sand but muddy grass instead. Ha! I actually found it quite funny! We took sink showers at the gas station and I went to bed thinking I was going to get attacked by a large bug of some sort!
Day 64 Ozora to Carbondale
We woke up in marsh land, grabbed a few hearty snacks at the gas station and were on our way for a 75 mile day! We mastered bike dancing, could possibly be a new sport!
We entered Illinois, across the Mississippi River and into Chester: the home of popeye! We snapped some photos and grabbed some lunch at the grocery store, we sat inside on a bench and people watched for awhile until the rain began! We decided it was only a light sprinkle and kept riding, southern Illinois is beautiful! Rolling hills and green fields and lots of trees! The storm was chasing us all day but somehow we made it to Motel 6 just in time! I took a shower as fast as I could and Mark was glued to the television! We slept in a lovely, real bed and enjoyed the use of the air conditioning! We planned on meeting Irene, Marks mom the following day and taking a rest day, the first one since Fort Collins!!
Day 65 Rest day in Carbondale
The day consisted of going to the bike shop, WalMart, the laundry mat, and Applebees! It was a productive rest day and so nice to see a familiar face! Poor Irene was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic and after driving for eight hours she made it!
She went to all the trouble of bringing us both new clothes and plenty of food in an ice chest! We gave her all the stuff we didn't want and exchanged some of our old stuff with the new. We downsized a bit to lighten our load for the Appalachians! We enjoyed each others company and got a good rest in a bed for the second night in a row! Thanks again Irene! It was so great to see you and we will see you again very soon!!!
Day 66 Carbondale to Eddyville
We didnt wake up until 9:30, I blame it on the beds! After Irene's hotelmade breakfast which was delicious, we picked up our bikes, had a photo shoot and pedalled out of town! We said our goodbyes and planned to ride 60 miles to Eddyville.
It seemed that today, EVERYONE was mowing their lawns as we passed by their house, church, school, whatever! It was very strange! All day we encountered great roads! Not much traffic, not too steep, and beautiful country! We rolled into Eddyville about 6:30 and found Hayes Campground, about 1 mile off route. It was horse friendly you could say and our campsite was directly next to a horse stall! Our neighbors showed us their awesome RV equipped with horse and human quarters! We met Rebel, the black stallion, and when he went pee, it literally sounded like someone turned on a fire hose! We met another man from washington named James who we joked and chatted with for a bit. He gave us some money out of the blue and told us to have a safe trip.. No questions asked! At that moment, as we were siting on the picnic bench, boiling water for some mac and cheese, the storm approached and conquered! It poured cats and dogs and we ran under the office porch for shelter!
As we walked back to camp, there were rivers running down the sides of our tent and we were happy to find that somehow our tent was perfectly dry! We slept like rocks and were hoping to find the storm gone come morning time!
Kristen
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Day 60
Day 60 Hartville to Houston
We started our ride and decided we would take a short day because of the location of campsites in the next few days. Plus we are planning on meeting Marks mom, Irene, in Carbondale, Illinois which gives us plenty of time to get over the Ozarks and cross the Mississpi River! We stopped at a general store about 20 miles in, where we snacked a bit and Mark turned the hose on and started spraying it all over himself while dancing like a weirdo! We rode another 20 miles or so and hit up the Subway in Houston, suprise, suprise!
After an hour and a half of enjoying the air conditioning, and Mark napping we headed to the park to set up camp! We were able to take warm showers at the pool and played frisbee for two minutes, that's the longest you can play without sweating profusely!
We ate and went to bed, the essentials of life!
Kristen
We started our ride and decided we would take a short day because of the location of campsites in the next few days. Plus we are planning on meeting Marks mom, Irene, in Carbondale, Illinois which gives us plenty of time to get over the Ozarks and cross the Mississpi River! We stopped at a general store about 20 miles in, where we snacked a bit and Mark turned the hose on and started spraying it all over himself while dancing like a weirdo! We rode another 20 miles or so and hit up the Subway in Houston, suprise, suprise!
After an hour and a half of enjoying the air conditioning, and Mark napping we headed to the park to set up camp! We were able to take warm showers at the pool and played frisbee for two minutes, that's the longest you can play without sweating profusely!
We ate and went to bed, the essentials of life!
Kristen
Day 62
Even though we went to sleep late, we got an early start to the morning. On the road before 9...we knew it was going to be a good day. The weather was overcast, so the scorching sun wasn't at our faces. Within the first 1 mile, we had a steep climb. Lets say our legs weren't warmed up and we began sweating profusely. The rest of day was filled with rollers and the sweat ran faster down our entire bodies.
We stopped for lunch in Ellington. We were starving because we didn't eat any breakfast. I ordered a ranch double cheeseburger..thinking it was a double cheeseburger with ranch as the dressing. When it came out it seriously was a pound of meat with a little bit of lettuce and NO RANCH. I'm proud to say I was able to eat the whole thing. It was difficult for Kristen to enjoy her meal due to my greasy burger right in front of her face.
We rode to a small town called Pilot Knob and got dinner at our favorite place SUBWAY. Seriously we have been eating at Subway for the past 7 days. It's just economical to eat there. After eating we went to the city park to setup home under a pavilion. The park was right next to a famous Civil War Fort called Kaskia. We went into the visitor center and the tour guide named Brick gave us a history lesson about how the Union soldiers upheld the Fort from being overtaken by the Confederates.
Kristen had the itch to do the laundry cause we were running out of clean clothes. We walked across the street from the City Park to a motel to see if we could use their laundry and possibly jump into the pool (What we consider a shower!). Brent the manager on duty was kind enough to let us do both!
I want to thank the loyal fans of our blog. We appreciate everyone's support! Keep on keepin on!
Mark
We stopped for lunch in Ellington. We were starving because we didn't eat any breakfast. I ordered a ranch double cheeseburger..thinking it was a double cheeseburger with ranch as the dressing. When it came out it seriously was a pound of meat with a little bit of lettuce and NO RANCH. I'm proud to say I was able to eat the whole thing. It was difficult for Kristen to enjoy her meal due to my greasy burger right in front of her face.
We rode to a small town called Pilot Knob and got dinner at our favorite place SUBWAY. Seriously we have been eating at Subway for the past 7 days. It's just economical to eat there. After eating we went to the city park to setup home under a pavilion. The park was right next to a famous Civil War Fort called Kaskia. We went into the visitor center and the tour guide named Brick gave us a history lesson about how the Union soldiers upheld the Fort from being overtaken by the Confederates.
Kristen had the itch to do the laundry cause we were running out of clean clothes. We walked across the street from the City Park to a motel to see if we could use their laundry and possibly jump into the pool (What we consider a shower!). Brent the manager on duty was kind enough to let us do both!
I want to thank the loyal fans of our blog. We appreciate everyone's support! Keep on keepin on!
Mark
Friday, July 31, 2009
Day 61
Today we woke up to "The most annoying sound I have ever heard," Kristen says about my cell phone alarm. We packed everything up before 9am and waited for the library to open, so we could catch up with emails and update the website. I personally spent the time emailing tourism outfitters in downtown Chicago where I could do my 2 month internship. I tell ya it's a bit scary that this trip is going to be ending in about three weeks and our simple lives of biking, eating, and sleeping will come to an abrupt end and we will have to start looking for jobs. However, Kristen and I both discussed our life after this trip and knew it was going to be different, but the exciting thing is that we will be going on a new adventure, with more new people to meet, and new experiences to share. We wouldn't trade this summer that was filled with heartwarming stories of acts of kindness that strangers have done throughout the states we passed, or the funny people we met along the way, or myself learning a thing or two about women. The most important thing we will take out of this summer is that we "just two ordinary college student" had the passion, motivation, and determination to pursue something that we truly cared about and wanted to make a difference in the world. We used a lot of the skills that college has taught us and incorporated that into a bike ride which will help children have the chance to receive an education.
After the library we went to our favorite one-stop shopping center.....Walmart. We bought some breakfast food and 1 pound of beef jerky! We really don't like shopping there, but its perfect for our budget that is slowly dwindling because all the food we consume in order to hit our 5,000-6,000 calorie daily intake. We love burning so many calories because seriously we can eat whatever is in front of us and still lose weight.
We got back on the road and into the Ozarks again. This day is when we really entered the Ozark Mountains. I thought all the hills we were climbing for the past two days were the Ozarks...was I in for a treat! The scenery reminded Kristen and I of Costa Rica. The Ozarks are really lush and green, with trees closely spaced in high canopies. It was absolutely stunning. I felt like I was riding through the Amazon Rain forest. We must admit, we had no idea the Ozark Mountains (I wouldn't necessarily consider them mountain just CONSTANT STEEP HILLS) existed. The 60 or so miles we rode were hard. It was probably the steepest grades we faced in this whole trip. The good part about these hills was the downhill we got up to 45 mph and the climbs only lasted about 1/2 mile.
We stayed at a campground in the town of Emienence. It was nice because there was a river were we could wash up our sweaty bodies. That evening we met fellow campers Bre and Rob and they invited us for a few drinks. We enjoyed spending the night sharing stories about our trip and learning about their lives. Thanks for cooking up the late-night brats. Time flew up and it was almost 1am. We were just about to part to our tent when Bruce the maintenance guy at the campground came by with a guitar and starting playing the Eagles. Great way to finish up the night!
Night
Mark
After the library we went to our favorite one-stop shopping center.....Walmart. We bought some breakfast food and 1 pound of beef jerky! We really don't like shopping there, but its perfect for our budget that is slowly dwindling because all the food we consume in order to hit our 5,000-6,000 calorie daily intake. We love burning so many calories because seriously we can eat whatever is in front of us and still lose weight.
We got back on the road and into the Ozarks again. This day is when we really entered the Ozark Mountains. I thought all the hills we were climbing for the past two days were the Ozarks...was I in for a treat! The scenery reminded Kristen and I of Costa Rica. The Ozarks are really lush and green, with trees closely spaced in high canopies. It was absolutely stunning. I felt like I was riding through the Amazon Rain forest. We must admit, we had no idea the Ozark Mountains (I wouldn't necessarily consider them mountain just CONSTANT STEEP HILLS) existed. The 60 or so miles we rode were hard. It was probably the steepest grades we faced in this whole trip. The good part about these hills was the downhill we got up to 45 mph and the climbs only lasted about 1/2 mile.
We stayed at a campground in the town of Emienence. It was nice because there was a river were we could wash up our sweaty bodies. That evening we met fellow campers Bre and Rob and they invited us for a few drinks. We enjoyed spending the night sharing stories about our trip and learning about their lives. Thanks for cooking up the late-night brats. Time flew up and it was almost 1am. We were just about to part to our tent when Bruce the maintenance guy at the campground came by with a guitar and starting playing the Eagles. Great way to finish up the night!
Night
Mark
Monday, July 27, 2009
Day 57-59
Day 57 Walnut to Golden City
We set out to find the infamous Cooky's Cafe, located in Golden City that we had heard so much about! I think everyone we ran into headed West mentioned this restaurant and the delish homemade pies! We said our goodbyes to Bernie and rode 22 miles to Girard where we enjoyed a nice Subway sandwich in the air conditioning! We ran into three westbounders who warned us of the dogs in Kentucky once again and the pie we have been eagerly awaiting!
We stopped at the bike store and Mark bought a new helmet, it's white and shiny! We crossed into the border of Missouri, which for now doesn't look too much different than Kansas. We caught a tailwind when our route was headed straight East which was the first day we had experienced that kind of riding in a very long time! I think Kansas didn't like us too much and was trying to get us out of there!
I stopped to tinkle because it's hard to hold it when you are on a bike! I was crouched down in a ditch by the side of the road and as I went to hike up my spandex, something wasn't right! Not exactly sure how it happened but my shorts were filled with tiny little fuzzy like thorns, along with my gloves, socks, shirt and HAIR! Mark found it funny while it took me a while to get them all out!
We had to take a detour which added 8 miles onto the ride because of road construction and finally reached Cooky's Cafe right before closing time! Yummy food and superb pie! Mark had strawberry rhubarb and a piece of blackberry pie while I tried chocolate banana! All the pies are made daily and they gave us a whole apple pie for free that they were planning on tossing!
We took showers at the city park where we slept under a pavillion but got attacked by Mosquitos in the middle of the night! I woke up and found Mark in the tent, so I happily crawled inside for shelter from the little critters!
Day 58 Golden City to Fair Grove
Today we experienced our first taste of the Ozark Mountains! Small climbs yet steep grades, up and down, up and down, and up and down! When you get to the top of one you can see about another six in the distance! It's almost like a self-propelled roller coaster ride!
We grabbed some lunch at Willy B's diner and enjoyed the AC! It was a scorcher outside and the humidity was in full effect! We got back on the road and rode the roller coaster again for the last half of the day! Mark began to get angry at the hills and I could hear him yelling from afar!
We planned to stop in Fair Grove where we pitched our tent under a pavillon built by the historical society, with bathrooms and hot showers! Yay! We went to a cute cafe called the Oddfellows and it had some similar features to my future cafe (mine and Lisas 8-10 year plan)!
It was bedtime finally!
Day 59 Fair Grove to Hartville
Today I spent the majority of the day thinking about why people do the things they do. I believe that sometimes people in general, get in such a routine that often times it's easy to loose sight of the reasons they do the things they do. When you find a reason to perform a certain task, it makes it a bit easier to complete it. It's easy to get wrapped up in our own lives, having selfish thoughts, and focusing on simply what affects only ourselves. Instead, it's important to realize the big picture, the forces behind the actions we take, and the reason we wake up every morning and live our lives.
The reason we are riding across America on two wheels is to give children a classroom of their own and learn, laugh, and live through their childhood. Yes, we all have hardships and issues, and sometimes it feels like the hardest thing we've ever experienced but when you grasp the big picture, sometimes our problems are just small ones that can be fixed easily. I think everyone is guilty of having these thoughts and it's very easy to get sidetracked now and again. Reminding yourself of why you do the things you do, makes the world of difference!
While we were at Bernie's house, I read a quote in his bathroom which I'm sure you are all familiar with, "Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it." I love that saying because its so true! So everyone should remember that today and try not to stress out when something happens, take it like a grain of salt and get through it!
Sidenote: One other thing that Bernie said, "Two things happen to you when you get old; 1. You become forgetful 2. I forgot..." I got such a kick out of that!
A thunder storm woke us up mid morning, but we were safe and sound under the pavillion. It lasted til about 10, so we just kept going back to sleep....so nice!
After the storm passed, we were talking to the lady who owned the cafe, and her house was struck by lightning!
We began riding in the cool air, although it was definitely still humid. We loaded up on snacks at Wal-Mart, the biggest store we have seen in a while and ate some cereal for an afternoon snack. We rode through an Amish community, where we saw warning signs for a horse and buggy and dodged all the dead armadillos on the road..so sad. Up and down, up and down, up and down. This is the longest rollercoaster I have ever been on!
We rode about 43 miles to Hartville, a tiny town, with a four way stop, a Subway, of course and a laundry mat! We saw some people on horses headed to the corner store and knew we were in a small town. It had been two days now that I hadn't done laundry so I grabbed our dirty clothes and headed there. Once I got there, I put the clothes in the washer and realized there was not a laundry detergent or coin machine. I walked to the store and when I got back to the laundry mat, the door was locked with my clothes inside. I started cracking up and waved down the sherriff. He told me where the owner lived and I knocked on his door but got no answer. It wasn't even 8 o'clock yet, the time they said they closed, small towns do what they want I guess! I was there promptly at 8:30 in the morning, after a yummy breakfast and then we headed out to the next destination!
We set out to find the infamous Cooky's Cafe, located in Golden City that we had heard so much about! I think everyone we ran into headed West mentioned this restaurant and the delish homemade pies! We said our goodbyes to Bernie and rode 22 miles to Girard where we enjoyed a nice Subway sandwich in the air conditioning! We ran into three westbounders who warned us of the dogs in Kentucky once again and the pie we have been eagerly awaiting!
We stopped at the bike store and Mark bought a new helmet, it's white and shiny! We crossed into the border of Missouri, which for now doesn't look too much different than Kansas. We caught a tailwind when our route was headed straight East which was the first day we had experienced that kind of riding in a very long time! I think Kansas didn't like us too much and was trying to get us out of there!
I stopped to tinkle because it's hard to hold it when you are on a bike! I was crouched down in a ditch by the side of the road and as I went to hike up my spandex, something wasn't right! Not exactly sure how it happened but my shorts were filled with tiny little fuzzy like thorns, along with my gloves, socks, shirt and HAIR! Mark found it funny while it took me a while to get them all out!
We had to take a detour which added 8 miles onto the ride because of road construction and finally reached Cooky's Cafe right before closing time! Yummy food and superb pie! Mark had strawberry rhubarb and a piece of blackberry pie while I tried chocolate banana! All the pies are made daily and they gave us a whole apple pie for free that they were planning on tossing!
We took showers at the city park where we slept under a pavillion but got attacked by Mosquitos in the middle of the night! I woke up and found Mark in the tent, so I happily crawled inside for shelter from the little critters!
Day 58 Golden City to Fair Grove
Today we experienced our first taste of the Ozark Mountains! Small climbs yet steep grades, up and down, up and down, and up and down! When you get to the top of one you can see about another six in the distance! It's almost like a self-propelled roller coaster ride!
We grabbed some lunch at Willy B's diner and enjoyed the AC! It was a scorcher outside and the humidity was in full effect! We got back on the road and rode the roller coaster again for the last half of the day! Mark began to get angry at the hills and I could hear him yelling from afar!
We planned to stop in Fair Grove where we pitched our tent under a pavillon built by the historical society, with bathrooms and hot showers! Yay! We went to a cute cafe called the Oddfellows and it had some similar features to my future cafe (mine and Lisas 8-10 year plan)!
It was bedtime finally!
Day 59 Fair Grove to Hartville
Today I spent the majority of the day thinking about why people do the things they do. I believe that sometimes people in general, get in such a routine that often times it's easy to loose sight of the reasons they do the things they do. When you find a reason to perform a certain task, it makes it a bit easier to complete it. It's easy to get wrapped up in our own lives, having selfish thoughts, and focusing on simply what affects only ourselves. Instead, it's important to realize the big picture, the forces behind the actions we take, and the reason we wake up every morning and live our lives.
The reason we are riding across America on two wheels is to give children a classroom of their own and learn, laugh, and live through their childhood. Yes, we all have hardships and issues, and sometimes it feels like the hardest thing we've ever experienced but when you grasp the big picture, sometimes our problems are just small ones that can be fixed easily. I think everyone is guilty of having these thoughts and it's very easy to get sidetracked now and again. Reminding yourself of why you do the things you do, makes the world of difference!
While we were at Bernie's house, I read a quote in his bathroom which I'm sure you are all familiar with, "Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it." I love that saying because its so true! So everyone should remember that today and try not to stress out when something happens, take it like a grain of salt and get through it!
Sidenote: One other thing that Bernie said, "Two things happen to you when you get old; 1. You become forgetful 2. I forgot..." I got such a kick out of that!
A thunder storm woke us up mid morning, but we were safe and sound under the pavillion. It lasted til about 10, so we just kept going back to sleep....so nice!
After the storm passed, we were talking to the lady who owned the cafe, and her house was struck by lightning!
We began riding in the cool air, although it was definitely still humid. We loaded up on snacks at Wal-Mart, the biggest store we have seen in a while and ate some cereal for an afternoon snack. We rode through an Amish community, where we saw warning signs for a horse and buggy and dodged all the dead armadillos on the road..so sad. Up and down, up and down, up and down. This is the longest rollercoaster I have ever been on!
We rode about 43 miles to Hartville, a tiny town, with a four way stop, a Subway, of course and a laundry mat! We saw some people on horses headed to the corner store and knew we were in a small town. It had been two days now that I hadn't done laundry so I grabbed our dirty clothes and headed there. Once I got there, I put the clothes in the washer and realized there was not a laundry detergent or coin machine. I walked to the store and when I got back to the laundry mat, the door was locked with my clothes inside. I started cracking up and waved down the sherriff. He told me where the owner lived and I knocked on his door but got no answer. It wasn't even 8 o'clock yet, the time they said they closed, small towns do what they want I guess! I was there promptly at 8:30 in the morning, after a yummy breakfast and then we headed out to the next destination!
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