Charlottesville, Virginia continued...

today was wonderful. we are in Charlottesville still and had another build day. i got to do a bunch of nailing and learned how to put up windows. i love a hard days work.
best part of the day was after we finished the two girls on americorps told us about sprinklers they had seen down the road so a few of us decided to go. it was so refreshing. little kids were running around everywhere and then there were like 7 of us with them. it felt so good.
mail drop. thank you family!!! love you!

Charlottesville, Virginia

It has been so nice to stay in one place for more than one night. The ride here was phenomenal. It was like being in the mountains. We were biking along streams and lots of trees and flowers. It was my favorite day so far. It was a little difficult, just a sneak preview of the blue ridge parkway. We had dinner down town at the homeless kitchen and then went out on the town exploring. We had some amazing ice cream and did some karaoke. It was a lot of fun.
Today we worked at a habitat store sorting through paint and some of us worked on houses. We took showers and relaxed this afternoon and then enjoyed the most amazing feast of a dinner ever. We had spinach and artichoke dip, cous cous, puppy chow, chips and salsa, salad and then fruit salad, ice cream, and cake for dessert. It was the best. I am so full and happy.
We have been together for a week now, I can't believe how fast it is going.
First mail drop is tomorrow:)

Dillwyn, Virginia

highlights...
- a wonderful day! i am learning how much i need to be eating in order to have energy all day and not crash like i did last night.
- we got to do some hills in the afternoon, so pretty. the fields were just so beautiful.
- the church we stayed in was tiny, all 32 of us were crammed into a tiny basement.
- hose showers, again surprisingly refreshing.
- burritos for dinner! my favorite
- trailer painting/guitar/soccer/playing with the 12 kids that lived next door

Blackstone, Virginia

highlights..
- rained this morning, was pretty refreshing riding in the rain
- awesome new sunglasses at a dollar store
- we stayed at an army barracks and each got our own room and a bed! it was wonderful, i went to bed at like 8:30.
- we made a wonderful pasta dish with a peanuty sauce, mmm.

Waverly, Virginia

highlights..
- beautiful farm country, lots of wheat fields and old barns. so beautiful














- yoga in the backyard of the church when we got there
- nice COLD hose shower, it was surprisingly refreshing
- mcflurry from mcdonalds
- peanut/folk art/wood museum and the wonderful people who gave us tours
: the really simple names of all the art. ex: snake giving birth, angry dog.
- massage train on the front porch of the church














- it was Derrick's 23rd birthday so we tried to go out after dinner to one of the three restaurants, including mcdonalds, but they were all closed. the police pulled us over while we were walking back because we were making the people of the town nervous being out at 9
- we came back and played a game called curses instead, it was hilarious.
- i got to sleep with a body pillow, it was wonderful.

Suffolk, Virginia

The day started off with a wonderful breakfast prepared by the church we were hosted by. Then we headed off to the beach and had our wheel dip ceremony. We all lined up along the beach and on the count of three dipped our wheels in the water. We will have the same ceremony when we get to the West coast. It was a really special moment for all of us. We then got on our bikes and started riding. It was a really good day, no major problems with the directions (a small hiccup, no big deal). The weather was good and I got to ride with a couple different groups. They all rode at different speeds which spiced up my day. About half of the group, not me, stopped at a strawberry field and picked a bunch of berries. They were really good. We are in Suffolk now at a really nice church (with tons of sleeping room!), getting ready to watch Up and then get to bed early. I am exhausted. We have all been eating a crazy amount, I'm sure it will only get worse. We got to do some yoga this afternoon which was good for our muscles. Our group also decided that we were going to do pushups and sit ups to match the number of miles we did each day. We are all going to be ripped by July.

































[wheel dipping!!]

Virginia Beach, Virginia

This is going to be the summer of a life time, and its only been two days.
Everything went smoothly as far as getting all my stuff here and packing for two months in a 20 gallon tub. We have been really busy with ice breaking games, lots of meetings on bike safety, hygiene, chore groups, expectations, etc. We have started painting our trailer. Each route gets to design and paint the outside of the trailer that will be pulling everyones stuff. Ours is going to be awesome. We had a bike safety clinic with a bunch of local kids this afternoon. We also had dinner at the church we are staying at with all its members. They were super nice. We have been really spoiled as far as meals go so far. (no meat for me so far, yay!)
Our first ride is tomorrow. We will be up at 6ish. The church is making us breakfast and then we head out at 8. We are doing 60 instead of 40 because one of the roads we were going to take was pretty dangerous.
I am loving it and really excited for the actual riding.

Family - your post made me cry. I miss you all so much and am counting down the days until I get to see you in Denver. I keep telling everyone, they are very excited to meet you!!


[the house we have been staying in the last couple days]


[most of our group, first picture!]

ten days.

i did 37 miles yesterday, the altitude is kicking my butt.
as are the hills.
we don't really have hills in gainesville.

i found this.
new bike path!















i got to go play bingo and hang out with my great-grandma today. she is 98 and still kickin. way to go margaret. i met this woman, Ima, who was from Denmark and was almost 103. she was missing a leg, and was still the sweetest woman ever. older people fascinate me, they have so much knowledge and experience and are just dying to tell you about themselves.
aging is a beautiful thing.

twelve days.

I made it safely to Denver,
as did my bike.

I've been working on a lot of the technical stuff of the trip, thank you cards, presentations, getting all my gear together, etc. I am getting really anxious to just get to Virginia and start.

Today is the first day I've had my bike to be able to ride it so I got up early and was all ready to go, but its in the 30s...way too cold for me to ride. I'm going to wait for a couple hours for it to warm up a little bit before I go out exploring.

It is SO good to be with my family again. My siblings have school during the day so I'm getting to hang out with my mom a lot, which has been wonderful. I think tonight we are going to go out to dinner and see Iron Man 2. It's going to be the jam.