Matthew and Eric's Coast to Coast Bike Trip

Eric's closing remarks... finally...

2008-09-08T19:21:00.002-06:00

Well, the time has flown by since we finished our trip, but I have certainly been reflecting on what an amazing experience it was. There are so many good memories attached to our trip, and little lessons I learned. I learned more about myself, what my body is capable of; what can be achieved both physically and mentally. I learned more about communication. I learned more about friendship. I learned more about goal setting. I learned more about kindness and charity. I grew spiritually. I learned more about what is important in life. I grew in physical shape, and felt the rewards of consistent work and exercise. I am so grateful for everyone that made our trip as perfect as it was. I am grateful to have a friend as good as Matthew. I'm grateful that we decided to keep this blog, and that it provided a way for us to communicate our thoughts and feelings with a larger audience than we would have otherwise. Some people ask if I would do this trip again, and the answer is a resounding yes- providing I had the time and money. However, this single trip has left an impact on me that will last for the rest of my life. I'm going to keep living the dream, no matter where life takes me.

final photos

2008-08-06T13:36:00.004-06:00

Matthew's closing remarks

2008-08-02T14:20:00.001-06:00

On July 10th 2008 Eric Brewer and Matthew Case made history by being the first people to ever ride bicycles across the United States of America. I really can't believe we were the first! EVER! (well maybe the first to do it on the type of bike we rode on, being both from N.C., that are latter day saints).
The last few days of the trip where days to be remembered, it felt great to cross the border into North Carolina, it finally felt like we where home, and we felt the end near, but it didn't sadden us, nor where we excited to be done, it was the perfect amount of time. The ride through the Appalachian Mountains in NC was beautiful, despite a little rain we were happy and it was great to have another member of the team with us. Scott (Erics dad) joined us for the NC leg of the trip and kept up well, i was very impressed with his performance and attitude, though he had only been riding a few 30 mile rides a week to train he didn't break on our 70 miles or more days that went until the end of the bike trip. The humidity became thick and we sweat and stank like we had not sweat or stank the entire journey! We hit a pretty bad rain storm the two nights before finishing, it was very violent and because of a series of unfortunate events we were all separated, I spent a little more than an hour under a overpass like some sort of nocturnal animal waiting for night to come. It was a good time to think and reflect on the journey we had embarked upon that would soon be coming to a close.
We were met by a friend that night Gunther Topp who was to join us for the last few days of the trip, he had a truck and was a blessing, because he picked us all up and we sought dry shelter at a motel.

We camped the night before the last day in Lake Waccamaw it was a humid night, but we awoke and after a great breakfast we rode the last 60 miles to Carolina beach. It was a great ride and the biking gods were with us once again preventing the normal strong head wind. We rode hard and then finished with joy and sorrow surrounded by our loved ones. Then a strange thing happened, Eric and I for the first time in over two months were separated, I needed to get back to Greensboro while Eric and his family stayed to enjoy the beach for a while.
After all was said and done I wasn’t tired after our long journey, actually quite the contrary I felt great, I was in super great shape and I was constantly well hydrated, I had plenty of sleep, I had nothing to complain about.

Overall our bike trip was one of the most rewarding experiences of my entire life. I was honored and delighted to have shared to experience with my lifelong best friend Eric, I friendship withstood a potentially grueling test and we came out victorious. I have a deeper love and appreciation for this Great vast and beautiful country we live in, not only for the landscape, but the history and especially the people. We mentioned it countless times but the wonderful people are the highlight of the journey. I Learned of God’s love for me individually as we were cared for and protected from start to finish. I learned so much, and not just things about biking and exercise, it was a very enriching experience and I could go on and on about that fact, but I will leave that to future conversations with the individuals who are reading this.
I encourage all to follow their dreams, to achieve things in their lives that they feel are slightly out of their reach, do things that will enrich you and make you smarter, find ways of living your dreams and do it! Don’t let anyone, including yourself, stop you! I hope my existence will continue to be filled with the achievement of inspiring goals.

Some more photos...

2008-07-30T10:14:00.004-06:00

2008-07-19T14:44:00.003-06:00

We Made It!

2008-07-13T18:30:00.002-06:00

And now, the news everyone's been waiting for... drum roll please... we finished our trip! We made it to Carolina Beach on July 10th to be greeted by a nice welcoming crew of our families. We just wanted to let everyone know that we made it- we'll put up some photos of our spectacular finish, and some closing thoughts in the next few days.

The final days...

2008-07-07T12:43:00.003-06:00

Wow! The past week or so has really flown by- we've been in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and now the wonderful state of North Carolina! We just had time to put some photos up the other day so here's a summary of the past little while. Matthew got an awful flat tire as you can see in the photo... we patched it three times and the patch didn't hold, so we decided to just camp out for the night since it was starting to get late. Luckily, we were right next to a cattle farmer's house named Richard who let us camp in his yard and brought us out some tasty bologna sandwiches and chips. In the morning he brought us to the next town in his truck so we could go to a bike store to get a new tube (we had used up our last one after Matthew's tire popped during his wreck). So we got a new tube and I got a new front tire because there was a marble sized bulge coming out of my old one from the nail I ran over back in Idaho, and I didn't want my tire to explode as I was flying down a hill. However, the duct tape and dora the explorer band-aid had held my tire together for quite a while. Anyways, we put in a lot of miles and rode through some really beautiful parts of Kentucky and didn't run into any crazy bike hating rednecks, for which we are grateful. Then we rode into Johnson City Tennessee just in time for Independence Day which also happens to be my Mom's birthday, and met up with my Mom, Dad, Sister, Aunt, Uncle, and Grandma (the last three all live in Johnson City). We got some good food, saw some nice fireworks, and listened to a little live bluegrass music. Coming back into the south has kind of been like entering a foreign country, but it's been pleasant. So my dad is riding with us for the last leg of our journey, and started with us Saturday. We had a very pleasant ride over the mountains, it wasn't hot and we got rained on quite a bit which was refreshing because it wasn't too cool either. Riding down the mountains was amazing, possibly the most enjoyable ride that we've experienced on our trip- it was eleven miles of winding road going down through the lush green landscape. Only one car passed me going down the whole time, so it was very peaceful. We made it into Morganton that night and camped out in a park near the church and then went to church on Sunday. The Wheeler family let us come over to the their home after church and enjoy a large delicious meal, and then brought us by some breakfast this morning because we camped out next to the church last night. My dad is keeping up with us pretty well, and Matthew and I haven't had to do CPR on him yet, so it's great! My legs have felt better than they have the whole trip, they finally feel like they can do whatever I want them to, and I no longer groan when I see hills up ahead. Matthew and I both are planning on making cycling a part of the rest of our lives. It beats walking and paying lots of money for gas too! Well, it looks like we're going to finish on the afternoon of the 10th, but we'll see. Our seminary teacher, Steve Topp, is going to ride the last day with us as well, and we are looking forward to that. We'll try to get one more post on here before we finish. Thank you to everyone who has been following our dream- it wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable without you!

Happy 4th and Happy Almost to NC!

2008-07-05T10:08:00.004-06:00

Almost....done?

2008-07-01T09:47:00.002-06:00

We need to get on the road, so i will make this overview of the past week shorter than this past week really deserves. Eric and I are becoming shocked that the bike trip is nearing an end, but much like our missions for the Church it doesn't really feel like the end, because we will still do the same thing all day every day until we set foot in the cool water of the Atlantic Ocean. Its not over till its over, and then even when this adventure ends we have begun the pattern to live life in a legendary way and i hope the passion to live life continues.
Ill try to just explain the photos, they are in a terrible order, I don't believe the emotional impact will be maximized by their order, but oh well. We met an amazing Amish family in eastern Illinois, Ronny the father invited us to eat at his house and stay the night and despite our lack of progress for that day we agreed knowing that it would be a great experience, we learned so much and had wonderful discussions with Ronnie and his family, and will never forget their generosity and hospitality. We entered the God blessed state of Indiana last week and they even customized their state sign for me (as seen in the photo)!! I guess we are getting pretty famous! We had a DELIGHTSOME time in Columbus with old family friends, holding babies at the family reunion we happened to stumble upon and eating till we were full (only about the 3rd time that has happened this whole trip, full is hardly a word used in our vocabulary). It was a great time, i got to see my boyhood home and Eric was a great sport through everything, which i greatly appreciate because it meant a lot to me to be back in my home town, take it the atmosphere there and catch up with people i barely remembered but treated me like family. I got in a wreck the other day, despite the road burn on my arm, a flat tire, and a close call with a semi, it wasn't half bad, we actually got to play 'rock band' with a nice young man that picked us up and took us home after seeing me wreck, I'm not a huge fan of video games, but Eric and i had fun and did ok, we love the nice people we meet! We have been blessed, I think i should have gotten enough injury to end the bike trip in that wreck, we were going down hill at about 25mph, I really didn't get hurt, nor did my bike, thank you everyone for your prayers. This country is so diverse and beautiful! Though the further east we have gotten has provided us with more traffic and small shoulders we enjoy the scenery and still meet tons of great people.
We are now in Kentucky and will be in Tennessee by the time we post again, Keep us in your prayers now more than ever because as i mentioned we are experiencing more traffic than any other part of our trip. Thank you again for your prayers, they have most likely saved our lives a number of times.

2008-07-01T09:06:00.003-06:00

2008-06-25T15:22:00.004-06:00

Life is good....Do I say that a lot?? Well I mean it, last night we pitched our tent in a large field behind wal-mart on top of a mound, in a grove of pine trees, and in the middle of the night i felt a drop of water on my head and we put the rain fly on just in time for a thunderstorm, it was relaxing to go back to sleep listening to the heavy thunder and pitter patter of the rain on our tent.
Leaving Nauvoo was almost as emotional as it was when we entered, it was hard to go, we really loved the people there, our friends, the heritage, the activities, even the feeling of the small city holds you like your mother would and makes you not want to leave!
There are several things that have given us comfort, satisfaction and joy during the bike trip, a few of those things are: gas stations, pillows, grocery stores, and small town parks. We have been blessed enough to have experienced all of these delights this week. I will not go into further explanation now as to why those simple things bring us so much indescribable joy, but if you have to know, and cannot use your imagination, then contact us and we would be happy to give the details.
We have crossed the mississippi river and in so doing it seems as though the towns are getting closer together, which unfortunately makes it less practical to stop in every single one. Also being more east has given us more larger cities which have their blessings and curses. Blessings: bigger food choices, more buffets, bigger grocery stores (with more day old baked goods), bike shops, Wal-marts (wait... Is that a curse?) and plenty of other options to make your head spin. Curses: Busy roads with no shoulders, beggars that think two college students on bikes have money, a lack of the feeling of security that small towns offer, less camping spots, and too many choices. We always experience a large relief to get out of the big cities that we enter.
The biggest city of the week was Springfield IL. We really enjoyed this one (i say after bad mouthing big cites). We actually rode most of the way into Springfield with Dr. White, a kind man whose family we stayed with Sunday night, we had gone to church with them in Macomb IL and then were kindly hosted by them for the night after being fed by the Green Family from the same Church. Well Dr. White is a biker and a very active outdoors man himself, and wanted to taste part of what we are living, so after work on Monday he drove ahead of us and rode with us for a little while. It was great to have a third person riding with us and specifically to enjoy his company and lively personality, he took us out to dinner once we got to Springfield, what a nice friend we made. People just keep giving and giving and Eric and I have had several conversations questioning ourselves why? We are normal people, why do we deserve so much kindness and charity from others? We figured it's pointless to ask....or we are the coolest people in the world, but I vote choice A. We just accept people's kindness and thank the Lord for all that he has blessed us with to make this experience happen and to sustain us richly along the way.
Springfield is of course where Abraham Lincoln lived for a good while, and we had the opportunity to go to the Lincoln presidential museum, it was VERY impressive...One of the better put together museums we have been to. We also went to the state capitol building which was one of the most beautiful we have been to. We didn't leave until the after 5pm! WHOA!! But we still managed 50 miles for the day.
Whelp...we are 50 miles east of the Indiana border and doing well, we love food, our families, kind people, and the late President Abraham Lincoln. I would love to write more but we need to hit the road if we want to meet our goal for the day.

2008-06-25T14:50:00.003-06:00

2008-06-21T09:49:00.003-06:00

Well, it's been a while since we've updated our blog and we apologize. It's been another great week though. We rode highway 2 all the way through Iowa and passed through several pleasant towns on the way. Most of the towns had neat historic courthouse buildings (see the photos below). There were also quite a few Amish and Mennonite communities on the way so that was pretty neat. There were lots of rolling hills all through Iowa that made it a little difficult to go as fast as we wanted, but we still made it into Illinois Thursday afternoon. We were able to cross the Mississippi without any problems; there was still quite a bit of flooding in Ft. Madison and we took some photos of that. There was a part of the road going up to the bridge that was flooded about thirty feet across and a foot deep so a nice guy gave us a ride over it in his truck. Then we rode into Nauvoo and we stayed with Matthew's friend Robert and his wife Thursday and Friday night. We met some really nice people in Nauvoo and had a delightful time. We got some delicious frozen custard, did some laundry, took showers, saw some of the historical sites and went to the temple. It was really nice to have some time to relax. We keep reminding ourselves that it's not a race, but an adventure!

photos

2008-06-21T08:49:00.004-06:00

2008-06-15T14:49:00.000-06:00

Oh, and apparently we're famous now... here's a link to an article about us.
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10356573

photos

2008-06-15T14:33:00.001-06:00

Into Iowa

2008-06-15T14:15:00.000-06:00

We've had some good days the past little while. We had our first 100 mile day and spent the night on a nice farm where the lady that lived there brought out some pancakes and apple juice for breakfast. Yesterday we left the wonderful state of Nebraska and crossed the Missouri River over to Iowa. We had spent a day and a half in Omaha; it's been the largest city we've been in on our trip and was a bit overwhelming. There were so many strip malls and restaurants. We took our bikes over to Olympia Cycle to get them tuned up and spent the day on public transportation and got to see some of downtown and went up to the Mormon Trail visitor's center. Our bikes felt so good after getting our tune up, and now we're ready to ride another 1300 or so miles! The humidity has been getting stronger the past couple of days. We rode into Glenwood Iowa last night, which is a pleasant town, and went to church there this morning. We met some more nice folks there that invited us over for dinner and a place to stay, which sure beats where we were camped out this morning. We woke up around 7 and then shortly after that a thunderstorm rolled through and was shaking our tent violently and then the ground around us became saturated and there was an inch or two of water underneath us. Luckily it didn't really seep through and it stopped and the sun came out so everything is dry and we didn't get blown away. Anyways, we're going to try to get through Iowa in four days. Hopefully we won't be slowed down by any flooding or inclement weather.

2008-06-11T12:23:00.000-06:00

Whelp, there's not a whole lot of time to write at the moment, we had a great tail wind and rode it for 80 miles, then the next day a horrific head wind (the worst of the trip), we only got 30 miles, then today we have some good tail winds again. We love these little Nebraska towns, people are all SO kind and every town has a public park, we like to rest in them. We hit our half way mark yesterday!! Only less than 1600 more miles to go, wow thats a lot of miles! We are keeping full and happy.... thanks for everyone's support!

2008-06-11T12:08:00.000-06:00

the lovely land of Nebraska

2008-06-08T17:20:00.000-06:00

Thunder storms, kindness and turtles

2008-06-08T15:51:00.000-06:00

We are now in the great state of Nebraska, truly the good life, as the sign displayed as we entered the state. Though there have been few towns, and the towns we have seen are small, we love Nebraska and its people, we think it would be swell to live in a place like this, its so simple, peaceful and calm. One thing I can say for sure about Nebraska is that it is green...and most likely will stay that way if the rain keeps up the way it has been since we got here. The first night it rained and as we rode the second day, it rained like i have never seen rain in my life! Imagine racing down a road completely at 30mph, soaked, with water dripping off your face and barely being able to see in front of you because the rain is falling so thick, and the only thing keeping you from getting hypothermia is the fact that you continue riding your bike! Well that was Eric's and my reality on the 4th of June. We rode that way for about 3 hours. There was only one town in front of us with a population of about 1000. We knew we had to pick between 2 choices: make it to Hemingford, or die a very cold, wet death on the side of the road. We chose life. Upon arriving in Hemingford, there was a great feeling of relief as we searched for the town's motel. We were quite disappointed once we stopped the kind and helpful police officer who told us there was no motel in their town...With despair welling inside of me i asked if there was a bed and breakfast or ANYTHING (the cold was setting in now that we were stopped and i was starting to shiver). She said she would make some calls and fortunately found a vacant bed and breakfast. The owners kindly agreed to give us a ride to their place in their truck since it was down a muddy dirt road. We arrived at the cozy little cottage to a happy welcome party, apparently we were the first people to have stayed at the Minich family's new, nearly finished cottages. We both had nice hot showers and a great nights sleep in the beautifully decorated cottage. Being warm and dry was a great feeling. We awoke the next day to cloudy skies and just as we were about to leave the rain started again. The kind owners told us we could stay as long as we liked. We ended up staying another night. The Minich family was so kind to us, they gave us a ride into the little town to get some groceries and showed us the towns Christmas Bible story boards that they had a large part in restoring. They actually let us stay with them free of charge as well- we feel so richly blessed by their kindness and charity, and we only wished we could have done something in return to show them how thankful we are. But i suppose that's how mercy works, its overwhelming but can't be paid back, just humbly accepted. Thank you Minich family. The next day was absolutely beautiful weather and we were so excited to get back out on the road, with our dry clothes and a good tail wind.
We hadn't gone more than 16miles when i looked down at my front wheel and felt that something was wrong, I reached for my brake to check it out when all of the sudden my entire front wheel fell off of my bike, shattering my front fender and sending me flying over the front handle bars, it all happened so terribly fast but i remember Eric (who was riding close behind me) crashing into my suddenly stationary bike then sliding belly first on the asphalt. Then all was still, I felt peaceful laying there on the asphalt watching my front wheel roll to the other side of the street. I wanted to stay for a while and just rest but i knew that passing cars would think I was dead if I didn't get up. Eric magically escaped with no injuries. I, on the other hand got some scrapes....on both my hands and knees, and messed up my jersey a good deal. But again I am thankful that Eric and I didn't get any bad injuries that would have put a stop to our living the dream. And though my fork got bent a little, my bike still rides well...not great, but well- it will do until we get to Omaha where we can get some serious work done on our bikes (tune up time!). A really nice young man pulled over and asked us if we were ok, (he said he knew we weren't just taking a rest when he saw that my bike didn't have a front wheel ) he gave us and our bikes a ride to the nearest town where we got my bike back into running order at the local auto shop. The wreck made Eric and I very hungry and magically a Chinese buffet appeared out of nowhere and we gorged ourselves on the $6.45 all you can eat lunch special, what a treat! Right before we left the town a lady approached us and asked us if we wanted to stay at her house that night! We only had traveled 20 miles that day and kindly declined, I only mention that because people's kindness is blowing our minds! The generosity of everyone makes us want to cry, it is so very overwhelming, but we are thankful for the opportunity we have had to see the greatness of the human race on our little adventure!
There have been a lot of turtles on the side of the road the past few days, a lot of them smashed, but a few live ones, which we always help to the other side of the road (including the one in the photo that tried to snap off my fingers!).
The highway we have been riding on sits right next to some very busy train tracks so for the past few days we have been awakened by loud train whistles and engines. But thats all part of the beauty of our adventure.
We ate lunch and napped on some grass yesterday before coming to Whitman, a small town that has a small branch of the church whose lawn we camped in last night. We went to a delightful meeting today, the people here are truly like a family, and now we are at one of the ranchers houses who kindly invited us over for dinner after church and we will stay here tonight too. Again peoples trust and generosity never ceases to amaze us! The Lord is truly watching over us and blessing us every step of the way.

2008-06-03T12:57:00.000-06:00

sunshine to the soul...

2008-06-01T22:08:00.000-06:00

Life is good. After our last post we went to a doctor in Dubois and found out what was wrong with my stomach... apparently I have become lactose intolerant due to riding a bicycle so much! So I haven't eaten dairy products for a while and now feel quite nice. The riding has been great, we've had slight tailwinds, the roads have been straight with a wide shoulder, and we've had nice partly cloudy days in the 60s. On Thursday night we stopped just outside of Riverton and asked a cowboy if we could camp out in his yard. He agreed, but later said that we could sleep in his storage trailer that had a bed in it, which we gladly accepted. The trailer smelled rather foul, but Matthew and I agree that we both got a really satisfying sleep on that bed. However, we ran into a stroke of bad luck yesterday in Hiland because Matthew got a flat tire and between trying to fix it and the flat I had gotten the previous day, we successfully managed to destroy all of our spare tubes. So we were stranded and still about fifty miles outside of Casper, and then a man offered to give us a ride. We accepted and soon realized that this would be a car ride to remember, seeing as how the three other men in the car, including the driver, were all drinking beer. Anyways, we made it to Casper alive and got dropped off at a bike store so we could replenish our supplies. We ate a large meal at taco bell, got some groceries at Smith's and met another person that was walking across the U.S. He was walking from San Francisco to Boston and expected to be done in November. Then decided to go find the church to camp at for the night. When we got there we saw that there were people there and it was open, so we went inside and found out that there was a wedding reception and a baptism going on. We decided to go to the baptism, where we met the Brummin, Rich and Bertagnole familes, all of which have been extremely hospitable and friendly towards us. Between these three families we got some nice grilled hamburgers, a place to stay and do laundry, and a great Sunday afternoon full of food and a fun dice game called "Bologna". It has been great, and we are so grateful for all of the good souls that have opened their homes and lives to us. Everyone has been so supportive of our dream and we are grateful for everyones comments on our blog and for everyone that prays for us and wishes us well. We love you all! Our trip so far has truly met and exceeded our expectations of how wonderful and enlightening it would be.

2008-05-29T12:05:00.000-06:00

2008-05-29T11:28:00.000-06:00

Worst day so far

2008-05-29T10:42:00.000-06:00

Well with a title like that i know i have your attention! The weather has not been our best friend the past week or so. We left Jackson on Tuesday Morning with dark heavy gray skies and rode in a light drizzle through parts of the day. We went through Grand Teton National park, which was fantastic, the weather cleared up a little and we enjoyed the natural beauty including some moose and prong horn deer! We planned on going only 30 miles on Tuesday so that we could be right at the foot of the mountains we would have to climb the next day. That was also good because the weather was supposed to get better every day this week. Well we picked a nice camping place right next to the road and there were tons of elk in that area, which was a real fantastic treat. We awoke the following morning to a beautiful warm sunny morning, perfect for climbing a 9,500+ foot summit with 35 pounds strapped to the back of a bike! We started our ascent with good weather, but as we progressed the conditions became progressively worse and worse. First clouds, then cold, followed by a post lunch drizzle (random comment: top ramen has NEVER tasted SO good!)....into a light snow. It became progressively colder as we climbed, the little patches of snow on the sides of the road became blankets and the little lakes became frozen. The snow began to dump on us, and the temperature dropped as the large snow flakes and hail pelted us....I began to lose hope and become a little discouraged not knowing how far the summit was, then a miracle appeared! A lodge and gas station! So we stopped and waited out the worst of the storm in the warm gas station. We were also fortunate enough to be given some damaged red bulls (they really help when your muscles are tired) and i think that was just what we needed to get up the last 8 miles/1000feet. Though we started riding with only a light drizzle, as we climbed the snow returned this time as thick and cold as ever. Eric and I both lost the feeling in our hands and feet pretty quickly as the snow melted on them, soaking them to the core. The only thought in my mind was "if you stop, you will freeze to death because you're soaked!" Our bodies, though wet, stayed warm because we were riding, it was just our faces and hands and feet that were really suffering. I kind of wanted to die a few times though. We got to an area where we were stopped for road work, the workers must have thought we looked pitiful because they offered us a ride to the top, which we gladly accepted. We were SO grateful for this blessing because it was SO muddy and steep going up, and the snow turned into a blizzard at the top, so the kind worker (Sue) gave us a ride about 5 miles further so we would be out of the worst of the storm. It was raining and we were freezing as we road at about 35mph down the mountain, the wind chill hurt against my wet body. What gave me the most hope was when as we were riding the sun peaked out from the clouds and warmed my body..and soul. We road a little further until we arrived in Dubois where Eric's dad had rented us a motel room to celebrate our 1000mile mark (which we hit climbing the mountain). I think Eric would agree, that shower was one of the best of my life- not only had i not showered for 5 days, but because of the cold i couldn't feel my hands, arms or feet! I agree with Eric who said that it took every ounce of his will power to actually leave the shower. We enjoyed a delicious pizza in this cute little town then slept in nice comfy beds, what a delight! It was really REALLY nice to have our own little place to stay and get organized after that day! Oddly enough with the weather, they had a little tornado in this little town yesterday! And they said normally on the top of the mountain at this time of the year there is green grass starting to grow! We want global warming here please! Eric's a little grumpy because he has a stomach ache and we are going to do something about that today! We will post some photos to finally enjoy!

Idaho Falls to Jackson Hole

2008-05-26T22:23:00.000-06:00

It's been an interesting past few days. We hit a storm coming out of Idaho Falls and had a nasty headwind and so we sat in a subway for about three hours. We rode to Swan Valley and were informed that the pass we were going to take to Jackson Hole was covered in ice and snow, so we decided to go around the long way. That night we stopped in Alpine Wyoming and got some groceries- we ate an entire package of 89 cent hotdogs, and then looked for a place to camp for the night. We were about to camp in some kind of community center lawn, but a nice man across the street said that we could spend the night in his house. His neighbor was making pork chops and baked potatoes, which he offered us, and we ate them and felt incredibly full. We got to take a shower there as well. There are a couple other funny stories about that night that we will have to share later. Anyways, we wanted to make it to Jackson for church Sunday afternoon, so we rode that morning and made it in time. It was a really nice single's branch with lots of people there for summer jobs, and we met our good friends Emily and Ashley, who will be blessed greatly for their hospitality towards us. They fed us and gave us lots of beverages, and let us watch a movie with them. So that was very refreshing. After that we spent the night with T-Bone and Jason, and planned to head out in the morning. But now it is nighttime and we are still here due to inclement weather. It was raining and cold all day and we really just didn't feel like riding. But we plan on heading out tomorrow morning.

Raining Blessings

2008-05-23T10:14:00.000-06:00

HOLY COW!! What a week we have had, we have not had the opportunity to post until now, and now we have a lot of things to say! We made it to Boise where we stayed with a friend. They were really kind and it was nice to have a soft couch to stay on for Saturday and Sunday night! We went to a small singles ward in Boise where they even announced our presence in the main meeting! We rode Monday and it was very hot, Eric got a nasty flat nail stuck in his tire which slowed us down a bit but we made great time thanks to a good tail wind. We were about to camp in the Glens ferry ward's lawn when a kind man whose house was next to the church said we could sleep in his house because he was alone there. It was strange because he said the bishop told him if he saw some bikers camping there that it was no problem....we didn't even know we would be stopping there till the day we got there!! So whoever told the Bishop in Glens Ferry to be expecting us, thank you... We had a fairly terrible time changing Eric's again flat tire the next day...but we got on the road and had a delightful ride....and then we rode into a huge dust storm!! It was amazing, we decided to ride the storm as far as it would take us...in this case Burly, which would have put us at 100 miles for the day.... but while we were riding the 30+mph winds and hitting top speeds of 45mph I hit an industrial staple that really rained on our parade! Eric who had disconnected his breaks earlier because of them rubbing, flew past me, thus taking the tools to take the tire off with him.... i took my gear off and tried my best to take the tire off the rim, with no success. About 15 minutes passed when an angel in a ford truck stopped and asked me if i needed help. I gladly accepted. I threw my stuff in the truck and hopped in. We found Eric about 10 miles down the road, where we picked him up as well. Brant took us to his house where where we met his beautiful family. They are the kind of people that make you want to get married. His wife fed us a great meal, let us shower, wash clothes, shave and sleep! It was the most amazing treatment i have ever gotten from a stranger. I hope to get flats at the end of the day more often! As if their kindness and generosity to that point wasn't enough, they gave us breakfast and a ride to the towns bike shop where we received equally kind and charitable service. I love Idaho! Do they print that on shirts?? If they do I want one! Because we have been smothered with kindness here.
We then had a couple more days of riding that were both great and terrible, because of head winds, tail winds, rain, cold, good friends who brought us taco bell at a rest stop on the highway, magic bike clothes that keep us a perfect temperature in any weather and plastic gloves from subway. Now we are in Idaho falls where we stayed the night with another extraordinary family of one of my great friends from my mission. They have also been amazing hosts and have done way more for us than i could have asked for. Life is good! Now we have the Tetons to look forward to, and I am sure that will be a real treat!

2008-05-23T09:10:00.000-06:00

several thousand words in pictures

2008-05-18T11:14:00.001-06:00

Sun shine

2008-05-16T15:34:00.000-06:00

Well the sun finally came out....and though our efforts where mighty to deflect it with sunscreen we both managed to miss a few spots... and so we have burns, and it feels real nice when the sun beats down on those! We have been battling the wind and a few good mountains for the past few days... but we are making good distance.
Last night we stopped at a nice farmers house and asked if we could camp in his yard, he nodded his head and a few seconds later said "yep". I continue to be amazed by everyone's kindness and support for our dream. Although i feel a little selfconcious in spandex in front of cowboys....i don't know why.
This morning we found a grocery store in the small town of vale OR, and we were really hungry and bought a lot of food, then ate a lot of food, including a entire box of cereal and a half a gallon of whole milk in one sitting, we vegged out in a park under the soothing shade of some trees for a few hours then ate a second lunch and now here we are at the library...we expect to hit Boise idaho tomorrow morningish..... Life is good, on a more personal note this whole experience is making me like people and life in general a lot more, and has been very therapeutic...and i still have 7 more weeks of it! YAY life is good!

Onward, ever onward

2008-05-14T14:41:00.000-06:00

We've made some good progress the past couple of days- we're now officially 10% done with our journey. It's kind of weird to think about it like that... time in general is different when you're riding a bike for five or six hours a day. We left the comfort of the Lidell's house (they were amazing!) in Sisters Monday morning and went down through Bend and ended our day just before the town of Brothers. The next morning we stocked up on water and got some delicious muffins from the gas station in Brothers and commenced our journey on to another single gas station town of Riley (population 5), which was about sixty-five miles away. It was mostly flat, so we were able to cruise right along and get there around 4:30, leaving us with plenty of time to lounge around the gas station and talk to the locals as they came in and out. The guy who owned the gas station let us pitch our tent next to some campers (see the picture below). We also got our picture taken to put on the wall of the gas station along with some of the other folks that have biked across the country or had unique cars and such. Anyways, we left there this morning and we're now twenty-seven miles down the road at a library in Burns charging everything up for what looks like another deserted stretch of highway. We hit a nasty head wind coming into here, but hopefully that will be gone by the time we're finished at the library. We've been enjoying the five dollar subs at Subway more and more- we get everything piled on those. It's quite fun attempting to get as many calories as possible in our eating choices. We met a man in this town who was walking across the country- now that's an accomplishment!

the last couple of days in photographs

2008-05-14T14:26:00.000-06:00

Some More Photos for Y'all

2008-05-11T16:42:00.000-06:00

The sun shines again...

2008-05-11T16:25:00.000-06:00

It has been a delightful Sunday, which is a nice relief following our 4,000+ foot climb up the Cascade mountains yesterday afternoon. Those hills were killer and seemed as though they would never end. We camped out by the side of the road again last night- it was pretty stinking cold and snowed a little throughout the night and this morning. This morning we rode to Sisters Oregon, where we have been blessed by the hospitality of the Liddel family- they let us shower at their house, gave us some delicious food, and even let us use their computer (which is what we're doing right now). Tonight we are going to camp in the grass adjacent to the Sisters branch building here. Here are some more pictures too.

Other Photos

2008-05-10T13:39:00.000-06:00

Days 1-3

2008-05-10T13:16:00.000-06:00

Well, we are currently in Rainbow Oregon. The hardest part of our journey is over, which was the grueling twenty-five hour ride on a Greyhound bus, and setting everything up once we got to Florence. Every stereotype you hear about Greyhound buses are indeed true. The past few days have been amazing, starting with the miracle of how my bike got to the bike shop just two hours before our bus left from Salt Lake. Oregon is absolutely beautiful, there's a lot of diversity in the trees and plant life. We started in Florence, right off the coast (see the attached photo) and rode about forty-five miles our first day. We camped in a grassy patch off the highway that night. Yesterday was great, we were able to get a little over sixty miles done and passed through Eugene. We camped out in some nice folks yard last night, just east of a little patch of heaven called Vida Oregon. Everyone in Oregon has been incredibly friendly, it seems like a perfect place to live. There isn't any sales tax either. Well, we've been a little sore, especially our rear ends, but nothing a little ibuprofen can't fix. Fortunately, we haven't had to use the toilet paper on the side of the road yet. We've been drinking a lot of water and eating lots of things with peanut butter on them.