Sweeps!

Nachitoches to Grand Cane

Today was my first sweep day. Jillian and I rode at the back of the pack to make sure that everyone made it to the host safely. We carry a spare tire, some extra tubes and a "medical kit" also known as a very squished box of band aids. We have to make sure that everyone stays in front of us and makes it to the host with minimal problems. Everyone on the team sweeps at least three times. I am also sweeping into Kaibib,AZ with Tiffany, Zion National Park, UT with Dre, and Delano, CA with Alex.

The day started with breakfast at the university cafeteria. We had pancakes and fresh fruit! They also had a cheer/dance camp happening on campus, which made our breakfast all the more interesting. 33 B&Bers, 100 Cheerleaders, 50 dancers and 10 campus police make for an interesting looking crew at the breakfast table. But Southern US is an exceptional group and we even managed to magic a police escort off campus. We gathered the group, then rode off after he police car...even if he did make a wrong turn that caused a half mile detour. Nothing like starting the day off on an exciting foot. We made it a few miles down the road before the first flat tire. Jillian and I stopped and waited for them to change it, then waited a little longer to give ourselves more time. We traveled on down the road until we saw a group stopped at an alligator bus. We went a mile down the road only to learn that alligator alley is not open at 8am on a tuesday. What a shock...it so strange when I run into businesses that aren't open because I have been up and functioning for the last 3 hours. We decided not to wait for it to open at 10 and went on our way. We rode a bit further before coming upon Brettly and Richard napping in the grass. We joined in on the napping for 30 minutes before setting off again. The next city was a few miles before lunch so we stopped to fill water bottles at a feed store. I got to play with the store cats which was nice. We finally got to lunch where we helped clean up then continued on. We stopped for a few more things before arriving in the tiny town of Grand Cane. This was the smallest city hat we have been to yet with only a few hundred people in the area. We stayed at the First Baptist Church where we had a great potluck with the church members. Dinner crew also put on an amazing presentation for the church members during their Wednesday night service. After church was the weekly family meeting, then off to bed.