California girls!

After a great lasagna dinner with ice cream for dessert, we watched Zoolander! I went to bed pretty early since we had plenty of time to spare. I’m turned into an old fart these days. In bed around 9pm! I’m getting used to sleeping on the floors in random places. I’ve slept in some pretty interesting places…churches, sanctuaries, arcades, cafeterias, camping, armory, and gyms. Today we woke up at 6am, which was too late in my opinion since its getting really hot in the deserts of Arizona. But anywhos, some riders stopped at Dennys for the “pancake challenge” which consisted of 5 riders trying to eat the most pancakes. Max won with 11 pancakes! The ride was pretty flat for the most part and we didn’t shift much as far as elevation goes. I averaged around 15mph through the blazing heat that got to 104f! It was only a 55mile ride today to Salome, but it was for sure a hard ride. It was hard to eat lunch so most of us nibbled on some light foods and continued truckin. I saw more interesting cacti and some sand devils that spiral high in the air! We are staying at a high school this evening and having a family dinner followed by town hall meeting. We got mail today! What a great way to end a hard ride! I have really enjoyed all the letters this trip! Thank you Tom/ Sandi, Ginny/Ed, Tomi/Ron, Hoyle/ Janet and the entire CBA Deans Office! The cards are so uplifting and I always have the most mail! One card stated the following: “Imagine yourself doing what you love and loving what you do, being happy from the inside out, experiencing your dreams wide awake, being creative, being unique, being you-changing things to the way you know they can be, living the life you always imagined.” I thought this was awesome and so well put! Thank you for reading J I’m 5 days away from San Diego!

Hello California!!! We made it to our last state! It was a hot 60 mile ride today to Blyth California. The terrain was mostly flat with some uphill and downhill’s. Subway gave Meegan and I free subs for lunch! The roads weren’t the best and caused so many flats! I got one flat today and Meegan got 4! We ran out of tubes and patches though in the blazing heat. We had to walk a bit in order to get shade and fill up on water. We made it 3 miles out from the church where the van had to pick us up. Overall it was a good day but hard due to the heat. But we are in California and only a few days away!! We sang California girls by Katy Perry as we entered California! For dinner we has such a great salad, fresh fruit, scallop potatoes, pulled pork, and chips! Yummy! Tmrw will be another hard day! Thanks for reading!

We woke up at 4am this morning in order to beat some of the heat on our 90 mile day to Brawley California! The first half of the ride was nice since the sun was covered by the clouds but the sun snuck up on us as did the hills and desert. I was a hot ride! The desert was interesting and reminded me of Israel with the rolling sand dunes. The host here in Brawley is so nice! We were welcomed with air condition and lots of snacks! I’m hungry and looking forward to dinner! I’ve said it before, but the generosity of folks across the country is incredible. The hosts have treated us too well! Also, when we have flats and are fixing them, we’ve had cars pull over to make sure we’re okay; however, today an 18 wheeler pulled over to make sure we were okay! Haha! WE ARE SO CLOSE TO SAN DIEGO!!!!!! I’m so excited! We have been biking for two and a half months! I ment to post these “fun facts” when I get to San Diego but I will do so now in order to save me more time for exploring San Diego.

Fun Facts:

·      I’ve used the same 2 hair ties the entire trip

·      I’ve had 12 flats total

·      Number of bridges crossed: 531 (Olivia counted!)

·      Favorite state: Colorado

·      Least favorite state: Kansas

·      Least favorite ride: into Cherokee

·      Favorite ride: into Maryville (water day!)

·      Best food: Prescott, Pulaski, NC towns

·      Lost items the entire summer: 1 sock, handle to my bike pump, water bottle

·      Towns I’d visit again: Salida/Bueno Vista, Durango, Colorado Springs, Grand Canyon, Ashville, Chapel Hill, Waynesville,

·      Craziest things I did this summer: jump off a bridge, bike million dollar highway

·      I most likely have the longest fingernails on this trip after having a horrible habit of nail biting

·      Most disgusting: waking up about a foot away from a dead bat in Bluff Utah

·      There are currently 16 stickers on my bike from various states

·      We have touched 12 states

·      Most challenging aspects: staying mentally strong, being organized, rushing through towns too fast

·      My brother Nick and I have registered for our 2^nd triathlon at Siesta Key come August!

Would I do b&b again: Absolutely! This has been one of the best experiences in my life so far and has opened my eyes to different opportunities, various ways of living, and a different outloo