6.24 Biloxi, MS

Greetings from Mississippi! We have some more exciting pictures from the state line but they are on other people's cameras. You can check out others people's blogs (see links to the right) for more entertaining stories/photos. Anyway, today we biked to Biloxi, MS. It was about 60 miles, a pretty uneventful ride. Team Tardy actually arrived fairly early and just a little proud. Although that just means that other people had some rough days with flats, etc.

So we're working with Hands On Gulf Coast and staying at their home base which is awesome. It's basically a huge room and the upper loft has tons of bunks and rooms sectioned off with sheets. There are a few AmeriCorps people working here, as with all the sites we've been in. It's been interesting talking to them and hearing their stories to find out a little bit what's in store for me next year. (I'm an AmeriCorps VISTA next year in San Francisco with Jumpstart).

For dinner tonight some of us went to this dedication ceremony in a park. The park has been redone since Katrina and is really nice and safe now. We were definitely out of place there but we helped out best we could. The meal was great...very southern with chicken, baked beans, cole slaw, and tea. Nice.

I'm psyched about this wireless internet so I updated pics etc. Check it out.

So I am really sore. I've just come to accept the fact that my quads will be sore for the next 2 months. And my butt is doing better on the seat. Well at least now the bones don't hurt so much, but now it's the chafing/sores that are a problem. Nice image, right? But no worries, our "butt butt'r" a.k.a. butt lube comes in very handy. Didn't think it existed, did you? Thank god it does.

Tomorrow I'm signed up to teach English to little kids. It could be awesome or awful; I'll let you know. :)

06.23 Build day in Mobile, AB

Today we helped out at a Habitat site in Mobile, AB. Needless to say, we were all exhausted from our 8 days of cycling (with that century thrown in there) so today was a bit rough. We got to the site around 8am and Meredith, the volunteer coordinator, told us that the area wasn’t hit too badly by Katrina, but a lot of people moved to Mobile who were displaced from Louisiana and Mississippi. Because of the influx of people, rent and land prices have sky rocketed and many people cannot afford their housing anymore. So the Habitat neighborhood we worked in was occupied by some Katrina victims and some people from Mobile who are experiencing the ripple effects of the storm.

Thankfully we didn’t have to be on the roof or anything today since we were all so tired. But we had to landscape and lay sod all day which was not exciting to say the least. But it was cool to see a house get finished and transformed with a sudden lawn. We raked and laid about 3 lawns and then ran through the sprinklers at the end. :-) We got to work some homeowners which was cool too.

After our affordable housing group meeting (where we give presentations to each other on the topics we’ve researched), some of us went out to dinner at the Bluegill on the water in Mobile. It was really nice have real food and be at a restaurant, especially with live music. I have fried flounder and crab legs, yummmm!

6.22 Mobile, AB

105 miles. That’s how far I biked today. My first century. I am EXHAUSTED. We woke up at 4am and left Milton, FL by 6am. We took the ‘scenic route’ right along the Gulf Coast and it was absolutely beautiful, especially early in the morning. Unfortunately most of the morning view was un-enjoyable because of all the traffic and terrible roads. But once we got close to lunch around mile 45, it was flat and beautiful beaches. Lunch was at the beach and we refreshed ourselves with a little wading in the warm ocean. After lunch we crossed into ALABAMA! The schedule was that we had to make the ferry by 2:30 because there would still be 30 miles after that. Most of the group made it early enough to make the 1:15 ferry…and Team Tardy arrived at 1:17…in time to see their ferry leaving the dock. Despite our sadness that they didn’t wait for us, we enjoyed our 1.5 hour break, complete with ice cream and tree climbing. After the ferry we had to mount this HUGE bridge and it was not so bike friendly and I ended up getting my first flat. I had to bike about ½ mile on the flat in order to get off the bridge and find a place to change it. By this time it’s about 4pm and we still have 20+ miles to go. Unfortunately, Matthew got really dehydrated and we had to wait about 45 minutes for the van to come pick him up. The last 20 miles actually weren’t too bad and we rolled into ‘Camp Christian’ around 6:30pm. Thankfully we get to stay here for 2 days…build day tomorrow! My body needs a much deserved break. Some people are going to downtown Mobile but I think they’re crazy. I’m off to bed (it’s 8:30pm) for our 6am wake up call.

6.21 Milton, FL

Greetings from Milton, FL! Today was one of those days that had really low lows and high highs. We left our campsite a little after 8 and rode 45 miles until lunch. It was the longest stretch we’ve ridden before lunch and I almost died. I had run out of powerbars and so had only eaten half of someone else’s. The last few miles before lunch were pretty rough and I was in a really bad mood especially because of the biting ants that shared our lunch site. Thankfully we only had 15 more miles after lunch and then we arrived at the Community Center in Milton. Right outside the building is a hoppin’ skateboard park. I feel like I’ve entered middle school again. Bikers aren’t a common sight in these areas so to say the least, we’ve been slightly ridiculed by the 13 year olds, haha. A couple of us went to the bike shop and I bought new handle bar tape (my black handlebars are now transformed into an awesome ‘seafoam green’). I also bought tons of Cliff bars to stock up. Then my day was made wonderful when we got ice cream – Meghan and I split an oreo blizzard. But the BEST part of the day was that it was mail drop day – and THANK YOU MOM FOR THE AMAZING COOKIES!!!!! My mom sent her famous oatmeal raisin cookies and within about 2 hours there are 5 left J Tonight we have dinner provided by a Bike and Build alum and then we’re doing team meeting stuff. Tomorrow will be our first century…100 miles in one day. eeeek.

A few tidbits:

*Last night at the campsite, we opened all the windows in our tent and it was like sleeping directly under the stars…so beautiful.

*I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned Team TARDY yet but the four of us who tend to be speed challenged call ourselves this. Matthew claims it stands for “Totally Able, Rather Drive, You?”

*Today I saw the following road signs: Farrell Rd (Katie Farrell!), Dads Rd, Virginia Ridge (mom!).

*I got my first sunburn yesterday which is frustrating because I’ve been very good about sunscreen. Now I don’t know if it will ever go away because I have to be out in the sun every day…all day…

*We had TWO reporters come to take pictures and interview us today! Yay for more spreading of awareness.

*It’s been one month since I graduated from college…

P.S.

Happy Birthday Brian! :)

6.20 DeFuniak Springs, FL

I am currently writing to you while 'camping' a.k.a. at a very nice RV park with a pool, showers, lake, and clubhouse. I paid $2.50 for a day of wireless internet...what is this world coming to, huh? Wireless internet at a campsite? I'm not gonna lie...I love it!

Today was a bit longer. We woke up at 5:30am and ate a fabulous breakfast of biscuits, gravy and grits from the church. One of the church members even gave us a 'breakfast theater' and performed a few songs for us. It was amazing. We headed out around 8am and had 65 miles ahead of us...our longest day yet. The rain held off thankfully...actually it's gorgeous out now. We stopped at Ponce de Leon springs (check out the pics) and arrived at the campsite around 2:30. Then we all dove into the pool like a bunch of 5 year olds and proceeded to play pool games. It was great. Now we're lounging in the club house playing games and going online. Not too shabby for camping. Gonna go upload some pics...enjoy it!

6.19 Marianna, FL

Wow, what a day. Last night we had our first ‘town meeting’ where we reflect on how things are going and make suggestions for changes, etc. We’ve decided to try to ask for more food donations from grocery stores so that we can cook ourselves healthier meals. People have been very generous in donating but mostly we get pizza, which is great but not 3 nights in a row and not when you have to cycle 60 miles the next day. So we’re gonna get on that. Our discussion went past 11pm last night which is waaaay past our bedtime and the 6am wake up this morning was rough. It’s supposed to rain for the next few days so we were nervous this morning with the ominous clouds and ridiculous humidity. I was ‘sweep’ today which means that Whitney and I were the very last two riders and we stopped whenever people had flats, etc. Being the last rider was nothing new for me, haha, so today wasn’t much different. The hills were back in action and thankfully there wasn’t much sun. But with 2 miles left the heavens opened up and the lightening/thunder/downpour began. Most of the group had already reached the church in Marianna, FL but a few of us had to stop at a gas station for about 20 minutes to let the storm pass. The rain felt great but the whole thunderstorm thing isn’t so wonderful. But we made it to the church. Big news – we entered central time zone today! I’ve biked across a whole time zone…crazy. I wish that I could count the number of times each day that I think I’m crazy. It usually happens on a steep hill or when the sun is unbearable. But what’s life without a little craziness, huh?

One of the most notable things so far has been the different smells we have passed through. When biking you are surprised how sensitive your nose is and believe me, I’ve encountered some interesting aromas. I’ve smelled garbage, manure, wet hay, roadkill, and thanfully occasionally just the outdoors. haha it’s definitely something you don’t get fully when driving and especially not flying.

Tonight we are staying in Trinity Baptist Church in Marianna, FL and they are absolutely amazing. They had lunch for us when we arrived, cooked us a fabulous, nutritious dinner and are going to make us breakfast in the morning. We ate dinner with some of the church members and local Habitat volunteers and then we gave our Bike & Build presentation (yay for raising awareness!). It was a great evening filled with gratitude and hilarious comments about generational differences (made by the church members!). It’s about 8:30pm central time right now and I think people will start heading to bed soon. We are beginning our earlier wake ups tomorrow with 5:30am. Eventually we’ll wake up as early as 4am in order to beat the heat. Good idea in theory…not so wonderful in practice, haha. We’ll see how it goes.

Shout out to Connie and Charley Polizzano because they sponsored me for this day in Marianna, FL! Thank you so much and Mariano is in my thoughts J The town is tiny so there are no postcards here but I promise you will get one from Florida.

Sweet dreams and thanks for all the love!