Across the Mississippi

The last two days have been great!

We left Pontiac with fresh legs after a day off and headed to Peru, IL. A short 55 mile day without wind made for an awesome ride. Chad, Jake Stangel and I rode quickly for the first part of the day, and then met up Adam Bohr, a Central US alum from 2007. He pulled us in the last 15 miles or so, and then had an awesome set up for us that afternoon. We spent the afternoon hanging out at the pool while Adam and his girlfriend's family hosted us and cooked burgers. Days like yesterday are what Bike and Build are really about.

Today was a good day, just over 80 miles into Clinton, IA. At about mile 65 Lisa and I stopped at a Dairy Queen where we ran into a local ABC news affiliate. We started talking and then ended upon camera! They interviewed me, and I'll be sure to post the link when I find it. The highlight of the day however, came right at mile 80 when we crossed the Mississippi River. It feels like a big mile stone knowing we've made it this far. I guess it's kind of that "go west" mentality.

I'm at 1460 miles, and will roll over 1500 tomorrow! We've got good internet access, so hopefully I'll put up my pictures from the last two days later.


And then some random thoughts about the travel so far...

A big part of why I chose the Providence to Seattle route was seeing parts of the country that I've never seen before. The only two states we're going through that I had been to previously are Wyoming and Montana (and they're still to come). Everyone always talks about how the Midwest is so open, and it really is. There are have been times I've been able to see for miles and miles, and its all been corn, soybeans and wheat. What has really surprised me though is how cultivated everything is. When you drive through East Texas or North Louisiana there are stretches of land that are still pretty much untouched. Here, every acre is used for something; farming, homes, cows take up all of the landscape. It's really interesting to see, but at the same time it can seem kind of monotonous at times. I'm really excited to get out west where so much of the land is still wild. I guess I finally understand why its called the "wild west," and I'm not even there yet.