Biloxi to New Orleans 93.2 miles
Today was full of excitement and very bumpy roads. We started off our first planned 90 mile+ day knowing that it would be long and difficult. We had a delicious breakfast and left the church. Summer and I joined a bunch of other riders and set out for New Orleans and a week of building. First lunch was at a gas station in Bay St Louis. Afterwards, we set out with Galen, Josh E, Sonja, and Alyssa. We hit the border, took lots of pictures with the Louisiana state sign (still no Mississippi sign!) Apparently, Corey stashed some water guns and other swag at the border, but my group never saw them :( after the border we ran into a ginormous bridge that seemed to be almost vertical. We struggled and worked and made our way to the top. We stopped for some pictures, which didn't really do justice to the height and craziness of these bridges. We sped down just in tome to see Corey stopped in front of a firehouse. Fake out! It was really just a water stop and we still had six miles till second lunch. Which was the side of the road...Mosquitos...ouch! They don't bother you until you slow down but, boy, when you stop they go crazy! I have so many bug bites! We continued on to a gas station where we got ice cream bars and then entered the city. It was a crazy ride into the city. We rode through the lower ninth ward, where much of the flood damage from Katrina occurred. I was tool busy trying to avoid all of the bumps, wholes, and grates to study my surroundings, but the differences in each house made me really sad. There were shiny new houses next to fallen-in condemned shacks. Some houses still have the "x"'s painted on them by the Army corps of engineers six years ago. In many ways it is a ghost town, full of empty houses but there are so many people there. Rebuilding is happening, but at a snails pace. We got through that part of town with a small reroute (20 B&B'ers huddled on a strip of sidewalk under I-10) but we all made it safe. We arrived in Arabi, just across the canal from NOLA proper and the site of Camp Hope, our hosts for the next week. We have 14 showers...for girls! No lines all week! They are set up to handle large numbers of volunteers working in NOLA and St.Bernard Parish, mostly volunteers working in the housing field. We just so happen to be the only large group here this week. There is a single volunteer who came here on her own or three weeks and a church that has had at least one volunteer down here for the last three years. But we are the large group of the week. Two alumni, Colin and Nate stopped by with a trash bag full of crawfish. I promised I would try some of every thing this summer, so I tried the crawfish...although my first attempt ended with me throwing my crawfish back in the pile and screaming a little as I quickly backed away. I swear that it looked like it moved! Josh A helped me with the first, but I managed the second and third on my own. They were ok, but I'm happy that I gave it a try. We finished up the night with a tour of downtown NOLA at night courtesy of Colin and Nate. We watched an amazing jazz band for a couple of hours, then went to Cafe du Monde for beignets. It was a long hard day, but we are really excited for our day off tomorrow!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Swimming in the Gulf
Mobile to Biloxi 65.7 miles
Today was a much better day than the ride into Mobile. I started off with Jillian and Summer. The road out of Alabama was much smoother than the road in and had a lot less roadkill! There was no real sign so Will, who was driving the van for the day, chalked a sign on the pavement. We all gathered together and celebrated our second state line. A ways further down the road we had lunch in a cute little roadside stop. We decided to continue on to a place with real bathrooms and set out quickly. Coleman joined us and we rode to second lunch which was a gas station. I was a little scared that I had missed it because it was a little further than I expected, bit we found it in the end. And it was worth the wait...Snowballs!!! One of my favorite southern things, they are shaved ice and flavoring. I went with the Hurricane flavor and it was amazing even though it turned my mouth red. We made it to the church by 2 pm where we ran straight to the ocean. First Presbyterian Church was right on the ocean! We crossed the street and enjoyed the warm salty Gulf waters. Ahhh! It was so nice to finally get to go for a good swim. After unpacking the trailer Summer and I set out to find the showers. We were told they were a block or so that-a-way. So we went a mile or so before realizing we were lost...after walking all the way back to the church we realized that it was really just a block away! Oh well, it's an adventure, right? We had a great chicken and BBQ dinner, then settled in to watch Alyssa and Richard's presentation on ReBuilding Together. We also got mail today! Thanks to everyone for the wonderful letters and packages, but a special thanks to Kristen and her creative package! At least 50% of my team is sporting fluffy animal fake tattoos, thanks to her! I had a great nights sleep!
Today was a much better day than the ride into Mobile. I started off with Jillian and Summer. The road out of Alabama was much smoother than the road in and had a lot less roadkill! There was no real sign so Will, who was driving the van for the day, chalked a sign on the pavement. We all gathered together and celebrated our second state line. A ways further down the road we had lunch in a cute little roadside stop. We decided to continue on to a place with real bathrooms and set out quickly. Coleman joined us and we rode to second lunch which was a gas station. I was a little scared that I had missed it because it was a little further than I expected, bit we found it in the end. And it was worth the wait...Snowballs!!! One of my favorite southern things, they are shaved ice and flavoring. I went with the Hurricane flavor and it was amazing even though it turned my mouth red. We made it to the church by 2 pm where we ran straight to the ocean. First Presbyterian Church was right on the ocean! We crossed the street and enjoyed the warm salty Gulf waters. Ahhh! It was so nice to finally get to go for a good swim. After unpacking the trailer Summer and I set out to find the showers. We were told they were a block or so that-a-way. So we went a mile or so before realizing we were lost...after walking all the way back to the church we realized that it was really just a block away! Oh well, it's an adventure, right? We had a great chicken and BBQ dinner, then settled in to watch Alyssa and Richard's presentation on ReBuilding Together. We also got mail today! Thanks to everyone for the wonderful letters and packages, but a special thanks to Kristen and her creative package! At least 50% of my team is sporting fluffy animal fake tattoos, thanks to her! I had a great nights sleep!
Monday, June 6, 2011
A sad day
I'm not really sure how to begin this post. I'm taking a break from posting my days to inform you of some very sad news for the Bike and Build family. This afternoon a leader on the SC2SC route was hit and killed by a car while biking through Alabama. We were told a few hours ago in a team meeting. Everyone is taking their time to process in their own way. Our leaders offered to let us skip the build tomorrow, but I think everyone wants to go. We are bike & build and we are in a city that desperately needs our help. I don't think that I would feel right not building tomorrow. My thoughts are with SC2SC as they face the challenges ahead.
House in 2 days
Mobile build day #2
The day began a little more normal than the one before. We got up, had breakfast and headed to the build. Today we worked on finishing touches. Melanie and I cleaned, painted, and calked the main bathroom from top to bottom. It was so pretty after we were done! We found other odd jobs until the house was declared done at 2:30! We went back to the church and relaxed, then dinner crew made burritos and lots of other yummy food. We ate it in the sanitary hallway because there was a meeting in the fellowship hall. We followed that with team meeting #2 and a movie about NOLA and the rebuilding process. After resetting our sleeping areas it was time for bed!
The day began a little more normal than the one before. We got up, had breakfast and headed to the build. Today we worked on finishing touches. Melanie and I cleaned, painted, and calked the main bathroom from top to bottom. It was so pretty after we were done! We found other odd jobs until the house was declared done at 2:30! We went back to the church and relaxed, then dinner crew made burritos and lots of other yummy food. We ate it in the sanitary hallway because there was a meeting in the fellowship hall. We followed that with team meeting #2 and a movie about NOLA and the rebuilding process. After resetting our sleeping areas it was time for bed!
Sweet Home Alabama
Mobile build day #1
Today was our first build day working with Mobile area Habitat for Humanity. The day started off on a wonderful note with a donated breakfast from Starbucks. They put out a delicious spread of breakfast scones, apple fritters and other breakfast goodies...AND the offered us any drink on the menu for free! That's huge when you are with a group of 34! I had a carmel frappachino and it was great. We were able to sit at the coffee shop for about 30 minutes, reading the newspaper and chatting. We even found an article about RAAM in the New York Times. Race Across America is a cycling race that goes from the west coast to the east coast every year. The winner must average 350 miles a day and no more than an hour of sleep per night to be in contention for the prize. A woman had followed the 2009 tour and written a book about it but I can't remember the name :( going to the build sites we split up into two different groups. One group went across town and my group of 15 works on the other house. Our house was a foreclosure that had been sitting for 2 years. Habitat had bought the house and intended to fix it up for a new family to live in. Our supervisors were Gary and Marci and they were wonderful! I started off the day scraping paint off of the ceiling so that it could eventually be repainted. It was kind of fun to watch all of the paint flying down around us! Next I tackled my big project of the day...the closet floor. The original carper had been removed and the plan was to change it back to a painted surface. So, I had to pull all of the staples and paint it! It was the perfect job and I really enjoyed it. That took me through to the afternoon. Dave from Habitat hooked us up with sandwiches and sides from Sonny's BBQ. Yum! So delicious! I finished the day trying to match the stain on a piece of wood to two already installed pieces. Not easy! I didn't have the right color to match it to so I made my own. That little bit of trim was 20 coats of aged walnut and 4 coats of mahogany. And in the end it kinda looked like the other pieces of trims long lost cousin or something. Not quite the same, but you wouldn't notice until you really looked. And who stares at the pieces of trim in the corner? Not me! Well actually, I would probably notice, but not a normal person! We cleaned up and headed back to the church. Dinner was supposed to be burritos made by my chore group, but we were asked not to start cooking until after our meeting at 6:30. We assembled at the appointed time and discovered that the local Habitat chapter and some donation magic had come together to give us a free dinner at an oyster bar in downtown Mobile. We piled into the vehicles and followed Dave's car. He took us on a quick drive-by of a block that Habitat has rebuilt and showed us all of the houses. Before Katrina the Mobile chapter built 4 or 5 houses a year, but since then, they have averaged 60 houses/yr. Wow! They are also partnering with other organizations to find housing for refugees. we went to the oyster bar and had a delicious buffet. No oysters, but they did have scallops, tilapia and shrimp. I kept my promise and tried a little of everything. If I liked seafood, I think I would have liked it, but I'm not a fan of it which made me kind of prejudiced. The visitors bureau gave us phone cleaners and pedometers. Next we visited the OK bicycle shop, a bar and restaurant. I think we stopped mostly because of the name! They had a lovely little patio for us to enjoy the rest of the evening on. In comparison to the days it was really cold, but still much warmer than it would ever have been in Michigan at this time of the year. I had a great evening with friends. I'm really excited to go back to the house tomorrow. They say we may be able to go from walking in for the first time this morning, to being able to hand over the keys tomorrow...wow!
Today was our first build day working with Mobile area Habitat for Humanity. The day started off on a wonderful note with a donated breakfast from Starbucks. They put out a delicious spread of breakfast scones, apple fritters and other breakfast goodies...AND the offered us any drink on the menu for free! That's huge when you are with a group of 34! I had a carmel frappachino and it was great. We were able to sit at the coffee shop for about 30 minutes, reading the newspaper and chatting. We even found an article about RAAM in the New York Times. Race Across America is a cycling race that goes from the west coast to the east coast every year. The winner must average 350 miles a day and no more than an hour of sleep per night to be in contention for the prize. A woman had followed the 2009 tour and written a book about it but I can't remember the name :( going to the build sites we split up into two different groups. One group went across town and my group of 15 works on the other house. Our house was a foreclosure that had been sitting for 2 years. Habitat had bought the house and intended to fix it up for a new family to live in. Our supervisors were Gary and Marci and they were wonderful! I started off the day scraping paint off of the ceiling so that it could eventually be repainted. It was kind of fun to watch all of the paint flying down around us! Next I tackled my big project of the day...the closet floor. The original carper had been removed and the plan was to change it back to a painted surface. So, I had to pull all of the staples and paint it! It was the perfect job and I really enjoyed it. That took me through to the afternoon. Dave from Habitat hooked us up with sandwiches and sides from Sonny's BBQ. Yum! So delicious! I finished the day trying to match the stain on a piece of wood to two already installed pieces. Not easy! I didn't have the right color to match it to so I made my own. That little bit of trim was 20 coats of aged walnut and 4 coats of mahogany. And in the end it kinda looked like the other pieces of trims long lost cousin or something. Not quite the same, but you wouldn't notice until you really looked. And who stares at the pieces of trim in the corner? Not me! Well actually, I would probably notice, but not a normal person! We cleaned up and headed back to the church. Dinner was supposed to be burritos made by my chore group, but we were asked not to start cooking until after our meeting at 6:30. We assembled at the appointed time and discovered that the local Habitat chapter and some donation magic had come together to give us a free dinner at an oyster bar in downtown Mobile. We piled into the vehicles and followed Dave's car. He took us on a quick drive-by of a block that Habitat has rebuilt and showed us all of the houses. Before Katrina the Mobile chapter built 4 or 5 houses a year, but since then, they have averaged 60 houses/yr. Wow! They are also partnering with other organizations to find housing for refugees. we went to the oyster bar and had a delicious buffet. No oysters, but they did have scallops, tilapia and shrimp. I kept my promise and tried a little of everything. If I liked seafood, I think I would have liked it, but I'm not a fan of it which made me kind of prejudiced. The visitors bureau gave us phone cleaners and pedometers. Next we visited the OK bicycle shop, a bar and restaurant. I think we stopped mostly because of the name! They had a lovely little patio for us to enjoy the rest of the evening on. In comparison to the days it was really cold, but still much warmer than it would ever have been in Michigan at this time of the year. I had a great evening with friends. I'm really excited to go back to the house tomorrow. They say we may be able to go from walking in for the first time this morning, to being able to hand over the keys tomorrow...wow!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Bike, Hike, Hobo & Build
Pensacola to Mobile, AL 89.9 miles but really 96.6
miles
Waking up is a lot harder when you are leaving a big futon instead of a thermarest. A lot more difficult! I dragged myself out of bed and prepped for the day ahead. Rumors flew about the route: it was now 60 miles, it was really 101 miles, we were taking 2 ferrys, ect. We finally had our route meeting where the milage of 89.9 was announced. That kind of made me relieved because 89.9 seems so much easier than 90. There really isn't much of a difference, but in my head it is huge. I set out with Summer. We made it to the end of the street before we had problems. Summers cleat was lose on her shoe and so she couldn't get it off of her pedal. She had to take her shoe off so the guys could struggle with it. 15 minutes of every shoe removal technique you could possibly think of finally prevailed and we were on our way. We traversed a long bridge out of Pensacola, then headed to Alabama. I was very sad because I had accidentally packed my camera in my bin that morning and had to rely on others to take pics for me. We took pics on the bridge and at the sign. We made it to first lunch pretty quickly, had some food and were on our way. Kristina and Alyssa were nice enough to ride with us between lunches. I had a. Lot of fun biking with Summer again. We struggled up some hills as the air got hotter and the wind picked up. The last 5 miles before second lunch were a real struggle. We finally made it to lunch where Summer made the hard decision to finish the day in the van. She had worked hard and pushed a lot, but starting again on a 90 mile, 95*F day is not easy. Lunch was also where we first heard about the reroute. The original route included a tunnel, which was mot safe for cyclists. A local helped the first group plan a reroute, but it was going to add miles to our day. Kristina,Alyssa and I set out for the last 30 miles into Mobile. Biking into cities is tricky because you can see the city from far away, but you never know exactly where in the city you will be, so you anticipate arrival a lot faster than actually happens. It didn't help that the wind was gusting quite a bit, especially on bridges. It is a strange feeling being on a road that is at sea level. The road seems to float on the surrounding waters. We were heading for the city when we saw the detour. It took us about 3 miles away from the city, across a scary bridge, and 3 miles back to town. And it smelled like poop. The three miles out were pretty normal until we saw what was ahead. The most massive, sloping suspension bridge ever. If I didn't have to bike across it I would have thought it was pretty, but I did have to bike, so it was just scary. We slowly cranked our way to the top, where we stopped to take a picture, just to prove we did it. And then it happened! The gusting winds grabbed my pinwheel, yanked it out of my pack and flew it away from me. It took a very long time to fall. A very long time. We decided to go slow down the bridge, which really wasn't that hard because the headwind kept me at a steady 19 mph on a decline that would normally have me going at least 30 mph. The miles back to town were a death spiral around the city, or at least thats what it felt like. We rode straight for the city for2.5 miles surrounded by trains on both sides. I think that I could probably just hobo my way to Cali if the biking doesn't work out :) not really but it's nice to dream! Then we turned and headed away, then back towards the city and then away again. So frustrating! We got closer to town and met up with with Corey and Kenan. We traveled back to the host together. I was doing ok until the last 4 miles. I just it a wall with all of the hill climbing. I really just wanted to stop and cry, but I knew if I got off my bike or started crying it would just be that much longer and that much harder to be at the hosts and off my bike for the night. It all worked out ok. I was so happy when we made it to the church and saw "you made it" chalked on the ground. I settled all of my stuff in the corner and went to enjoy a cold glass of chocolate milk and fruit provided by our wonderful hosts. The Episcopal church of the Redeemer really rolled out the red carpet for us. Not only did they provide snacks, dinner and a place to sleep and shower, they had air mattresses, towels and linens. Two parishioners gave us their vehicles... Thats right, they gave us their cars for the next 3 days. They were absolutely fabulous to us. After seeing Alabama as a place with no shoulders, rough roads, and mucho road kill(dead armadillos) this church really made me see all of the good in Alabama. Thank you so much!
miles
Waking up is a lot harder when you are leaving a big futon instead of a thermarest. A lot more difficult! I dragged myself out of bed and prepped for the day ahead. Rumors flew about the route: it was now 60 miles, it was really 101 miles, we were taking 2 ferrys, ect. We finally had our route meeting where the milage of 89.9 was announced. That kind of made me relieved because 89.9 seems so much easier than 90. There really isn't much of a difference, but in my head it is huge. I set out with Summer. We made it to the end of the street before we had problems. Summers cleat was lose on her shoe and so she couldn't get it off of her pedal. She had to take her shoe off so the guys could struggle with it. 15 minutes of every shoe removal technique you could possibly think of finally prevailed and we were on our way. We traversed a long bridge out of Pensacola, then headed to Alabama. I was very sad because I had accidentally packed my camera in my bin that morning and had to rely on others to take pics for me. We took pics on the bridge and at the sign. We made it to first lunch pretty quickly, had some food and were on our way. Kristina and Alyssa were nice enough to ride with us between lunches. I had a. Lot of fun biking with Summer again. We struggled up some hills as the air got hotter and the wind picked up. The last 5 miles before second lunch were a real struggle. We finally made it to lunch where Summer made the hard decision to finish the day in the van. She had worked hard and pushed a lot, but starting again on a 90 mile, 95*F day is not easy. Lunch was also where we first heard about the reroute. The original route included a tunnel, which was mot safe for cyclists. A local helped the first group plan a reroute, but it was going to add miles to our day. Kristina,Alyssa and I set out for the last 30 miles into Mobile. Biking into cities is tricky because you can see the city from far away, but you never know exactly where in the city you will be, so you anticipate arrival a lot faster than actually happens. It didn't help that the wind was gusting quite a bit, especially on bridges. It is a strange feeling being on a road that is at sea level. The road seems to float on the surrounding waters. We were heading for the city when we saw the detour. It took us about 3 miles away from the city, across a scary bridge, and 3 miles back to town. And it smelled like poop. The three miles out were pretty normal until we saw what was ahead. The most massive, sloping suspension bridge ever. If I didn't have to bike across it I would have thought it was pretty, but I did have to bike, so it was just scary. We slowly cranked our way to the top, where we stopped to take a picture, just to prove we did it. And then it happened! The gusting winds grabbed my pinwheel, yanked it out of my pack and flew it away from me. It took a very long time to fall. A very long time. We decided to go slow down the bridge, which really wasn't that hard because the headwind kept me at a steady 19 mph on a decline that would normally have me going at least 30 mph. The miles back to town were a death spiral around the city, or at least thats what it felt like. We rode straight for the city for2.5 miles surrounded by trains on both sides. I think that I could probably just hobo my way to Cali if the biking doesn't work out :) not really but it's nice to dream! Then we turned and headed away, then back towards the city and then away again. So frustrating! We got closer to town and met up with with Corey and Kenan. We traveled back to the host together. I was doing ok until the last 4 miles. I just it a wall with all of the hill climbing. I really just wanted to stop and cry, but I knew if I got off my bike or started crying it would just be that much longer and that much harder to be at the hosts and off my bike for the night. It all worked out ok. I was so happy when we made it to the church and saw "you made it" chalked on the ground. I settled all of my stuff in the corner and went to enjoy a cold glass of chocolate milk and fruit provided by our wonderful hosts. The Episcopal church of the Redeemer really rolled out the red carpet for us. Not only did they provide snacks, dinner and a place to sleep and shower, they had air mattresses, towels and linens. Two parishioners gave us their vehicles... Thats right, they gave us their cars for the next 3 days. They were absolutely fabulous to us. After seeing Alabama as a place with no shoulders, rough roads, and mucho road kill(dead armadillos) this church really made me see all of the good in Alabama. Thank you so much!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Summer returns!
DeFuniak Springs to Pensacola/Gulf Breeze 77.8 miles
Another wonderful wonderful day! It began with a strange wake up, since we were spread out in different smaller rooms in the church. It's weird how quickly I've come to rely on peppy, loud music to kick me into gear at 5 am. Since we had changed to central standard time the day before, we decided a 5 am wakeup wouldn't be too bad. It would feel like a 6am sleep-in to most of us east coast-ers. A quick route meeting and we were on our way. I started out biking with Mark and Galen. Our directions led us down a road that used to be smooth until someone had a pebble surplus and paved over it with little pebbles...or at least that's what I'm telling myself. Because really, who in their right mind would pave a road with that horrible quality of pavement? Not to mention that the road was also super hilly and the hills were the same curvy type where you can't ever see the top. The scenery was fairly unchanging since we were right next to Elgin air force base. I did see a "BEWARE hellfire missile test site" sign that was kind of amusing. We mad it to first lunch in good time, but Mark got a slow flat at first lunch, so I stayed behind while he fixed it and the rest of the group went on. There was a little confusion at lunch about some mislabeling of highways and a reroute. The first group took the reroute and ended up going 7 miles over big hills in the wrong direction before realizing that the original directions were correct! Oops! Mark and I set out and soon passed all of the groups that had left us behind at lunch. They all had flats :( Coleman had a massive nail that completely went through both sides of his tire! We powered our way to second lunch. I was amazed when I looked down and saw my speedometer at 19 and 20 consistently. When did that happen? I have always thought of myself as a really slow cyclist, but to see the progress that can be made with 9 days of nonstop cycling is amazing! Mark and I even made it to second lunch before the van! We ended up riding 5 miles further with the "A" team and I managed to (pretty much) keep up. I couldn't quite talk, signal, or drink water, but I managed a 21 to 22 average for 5 miles...wow...not something I want to do often. We had a lovely lunch, then decided to take a detour suggested by Josh E, who is from the area. Instead of staying on the same 28th St-like street (for everyone in Grand Rapids) for 10 miles, we crossed a bridge, rode through Fort Walton beach, a scenic highway, Pensacola, then another bridge before arriving at the church. It was such a gorgeous ride, totally worth two extra bridges at the end of a long ride. Because we were on an island there was water on both sides of us. When we were on the scenic highway we were surrounded by white sand beaches and crystal blue waters on both sides. Just wonderful! I had another one of those "I could ride forever" experiences on that island. Arriving at the church just after the first group,we waited for Lyndsey to arrive so we could unpack the van. We firelined everything up to the second floor (ughh) and claimed our places. I was super excited to see all of the futons (and I may have even claimed one :) ) after a shower I got a text from Summer telling me her flight had landed. Lyndsey and I jumped in the van and picked her up from the airport. We had lots of fun navigating around Pensacola. We gave the Best Buy guys high fives and I got laughed at by the man in the auto parts store because my tan lines are apparently very funny :) which they kind of are, but the real world is just strange after so much time in our insular world. We bike, we build, we eat, we sleep. Theres a bit more to it than that, but that's he basic gist of our lives right now.
We arrived back at the church in time for a cookout dinner. This church was a little different, since it is the home church of both Noelle and Josh E. They had lots of family and friends at dinner and Noelle even bright her dog! We gave our presentation, balanced in a human siting chain and then were told to go outside. Two words: bounce castle! Since day one of our trip, our leaders have been talking about getting a bounce castle donated, kind of like a pipe dream that won't come true, but you aspire to it anyways. 12 days later we have a bouncy castle for keeps. It's chilling in the trailer right now. After tiring ourselves out from jumping and laughing at other people attempting to jump, we headed to bed.
Another wonderful wonderful day! It began with a strange wake up, since we were spread out in different smaller rooms in the church. It's weird how quickly I've come to rely on peppy, loud music to kick me into gear at 5 am. Since we had changed to central standard time the day before, we decided a 5 am wakeup wouldn't be too bad. It would feel like a 6am sleep-in to most of us east coast-ers. A quick route meeting and we were on our way. I started out biking with Mark and Galen. Our directions led us down a road that used to be smooth until someone had a pebble surplus and paved over it with little pebbles...or at least that's what I'm telling myself. Because really, who in their right mind would pave a road with that horrible quality of pavement? Not to mention that the road was also super hilly and the hills were the same curvy type where you can't ever see the top. The scenery was fairly unchanging since we were right next to Elgin air force base. I did see a "BEWARE hellfire missile test site" sign that was kind of amusing. We mad it to first lunch in good time, but Mark got a slow flat at first lunch, so I stayed behind while he fixed it and the rest of the group went on. There was a little confusion at lunch about some mislabeling of highways and a reroute. The first group took the reroute and ended up going 7 miles over big hills in the wrong direction before realizing that the original directions were correct! Oops! Mark and I set out and soon passed all of the groups that had left us behind at lunch. They all had flats :( Coleman had a massive nail that completely went through both sides of his tire! We powered our way to second lunch. I was amazed when I looked down and saw my speedometer at 19 and 20 consistently. When did that happen? I have always thought of myself as a really slow cyclist, but to see the progress that can be made with 9 days of nonstop cycling is amazing! Mark and I even made it to second lunch before the van! We ended up riding 5 miles further with the "A" team and I managed to (pretty much) keep up. I couldn't quite talk, signal, or drink water, but I managed a 21 to 22 average for 5 miles...wow...not something I want to do often. We had a lovely lunch, then decided to take a detour suggested by Josh E, who is from the area. Instead of staying on the same 28th St-like street (for everyone in Grand Rapids) for 10 miles, we crossed a bridge, rode through Fort Walton beach, a scenic highway, Pensacola, then another bridge before arriving at the church. It was such a gorgeous ride, totally worth two extra bridges at the end of a long ride. Because we were on an island there was water on both sides of us. When we were on the scenic highway we were surrounded by white sand beaches and crystal blue waters on both sides. Just wonderful! I had another one of those "I could ride forever" experiences on that island. Arriving at the church just after the first group,we waited for Lyndsey to arrive so we could unpack the van. We firelined everything up to the second floor (ughh) and claimed our places. I was super excited to see all of the futons (and I may have even claimed one :) ) after a shower I got a text from Summer telling me her flight had landed. Lyndsey and I jumped in the van and picked her up from the airport. We had lots of fun navigating around Pensacola. We gave the Best Buy guys high fives and I got laughed at by the man in the auto parts store because my tan lines are apparently very funny :) which they kind of are, but the real world is just strange after so much time in our insular world. We bike, we build, we eat, we sleep. Theres a bit more to it than that, but that's he basic gist of our lives right now.
We arrived back at the church in time for a cookout dinner. This church was a little different, since it is the home church of both Noelle and Josh E. They had lots of family and friends at dinner and Noelle even bright her dog! We gave our presentation, balanced in a human siting chain and then were told to go outside. Two words: bounce castle! Since day one of our trip, our leaders have been talking about getting a bounce castle donated, kind of like a pipe dream that won't come true, but you aspire to it anyways. 12 days later we have a bouncy castle for keeps. It's chilling in the trailer right now. After tiring ourselves out from jumping and laughing at other people attempting to jump, we headed to bed.
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