Yesterday we road from Grove Oklahoma to Bartlesville which was about 75miles. However, it turned out to be a rather different day. When we woke up it was raining out and well, the rain just continued throughout the day. There was no lightening and it was safe but I'm not a fan of the rain. Wet shoes, shorts, and wet brakes arent the best feeling. I was mainly with Meegan, Emerson, Emily, and Marge about 28miles out when the rain picked up and visibility became rough so we pulled into a Braum's. Braums is pretty popular around here and has icecream and burgers mostly. Theres also many Herds and Freds grocery stores. We ended up staying at Braums for about 2 hours! They were kind enough to give us a bag of burgers to share and a few other riders ended up joining us after being caught in rain. We continued to bike when it slowed and slit into two groups. Sarah and I both got flats and Meegan, Lo, and Amelia stayed with us. I ended up getting 2 more flats and learning that a rock that looked like a shark tooth was lodged in my front tire causing the flats. Since we were so far behind the van ended up having to come pick us up at around mile 33. My bike is working well I just need to get my back tire true and prbly get a new front tire. The Church of Christ is treating us so well. Three local churches have come together to feed us dinner for the three nights we are staying here to build. When we got in yesterday they gave us snacks and lemonade! For dinner there was lentil salad, beans, lasagna, and yummy pies! I've learned that once we get to the host to seek out a place to sleep. I first look for couches and then move to a quiet room (carpet prefered). I spotted a couch all by its lonesome that wouldve been great but I decided against it since it was kinda creepy by itself and surrounded by all windows. The churches are really nice but honestly some are eerie with ghosts everywhere! In the living area there are a few couches and recliner chairs so I picked an open recliner and we watched Twister in the evening. Perfect movie for Oklahoma I suppose. I also learned more about tornadoes while here. To conclude my search for a sleep spot, I assumed this wonderful couch near me was claimed so I stayed on my recliner. However, after 15minutes of no movement towards the couch I made a move and well, slept very nicely last night on that couch! Great story about the hunt for a sleep spot right!
Today we built in Bartlesville! It was a hot day! We split the group up so half worked on a house while the other half (where i was) worked on building a warehouse for the habitat for humanity here. I learned how to put us trusses (roof). The habitat here doesnt have a restore exactly like most habitats. A restore is similar to a goodwill or a used/donated Home Depot. You can get pretty decent construction items (hammers, paints, furniture, books...) from these Restores for cheap. The Bartlesville habitat uses a warehouse to store donated items. Mostly toilets, sinks, mirrors, doors, and so forth. The store these items and every once in awhile have pretty much a large garage sale. They usually make about 25k a year from the warehouse sales which goes towards building the houses. I wasnt too knowledgable about various construction on houses but after every build I learn something new. I'm getting better at hammering too! Harry was one of the gentlemen we worked with. He's worked on every Habitat house in Bartlesville since they began in the 80's! After lunch Harry took myself, Meg, and Sarah to the local thrift shop where he volunteers every Tuesday. He introduced us to all his friends and shared with them what we were doing. He also gave us a little tour of the neighborhood that was basically served those in need. There was a thrift store, daycare for low income, mental disabilities clinic, and a girls club that helps tutor and teach young girls. While walking around the thrift shop a lady by the name of Gale was chatting with me about what we were doing. I found a weird sleep type dress for bike and build prom (i'll explain more once we have the event in July), cool silk bandana, and postcards while the other girls found some items too. We were in line when Gale approached me and handed me about $8 and asked that we used it to pay for our items at the thrift store and thanked us for our service in Bartlesville. I first refused to take the money and thanked her but she insisted. We used the cash to purchase our items and gave the rest to the thrift store. It's experiences like these that makes me think a bit differently about humanity. I've said it plenty of times, but watching the news really brings out the worst in the world and while on Bike&Build I've seen so much more good. We had another wonderful dinner provided by another church. We build again in Bartlesville tmrw!
No comments:
Post a Comment