Hidden Treasure

The little town of Wichita Falls, Tx. was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Dusty and I arrived early to the YMCA who hosted us for the night, so we set out on an exploration of the town. Riding down the road a few miles we found the man made Wichita Falls. We later came across the "Hotter Than Hell" race building (a popular bike race) where we found a rad bicyclist mural on the wall, which had me missing all the unique artwork surrounding my hometown. As we continued wandering the side streets to see what other artwork was hiding, we discovered a huge shopping cart and a dreamy old school yellow mustang. Having some good fun, we took model pictures of all the beautiful little treasures that made the bare feeling of this tiny town original.

For dinner, one of the kind guys from the "Hotter Than Hell" ride club took us all out to dinner at one of their favorite burger joints. Without even reading the menu thoroughly, I immediately ordered a hamburger, onion rings, and a milkshake. Five minutes later it was all in my tummy. If there's anything I've learned about myself on long ride days, it's that I forget to chew. 

The next morning, we woke up to an unpleasant surprise...four of the tires on our van and trailer had been slashed during our slumber. This tragedy did not prohibit us from riding on, but put us back a couple steps with our morning routine. Fortunately, our awesome leaders handled the situation smoothly and promptly took care of the tires. One minor setback didn't stop us from getting to our next point. With positive attitudes, we all rode on!

Famous Sally

Finally, in Dallas, Tx. The moment we all were waiting for. The rumor floating around the bike and build world was that "THE best host" lives here. This rumor was NO lie. Walking through the doors into the beautiful home of our host, Sally had me almost faint in disbelief. There was so much food in the kitchen- all of us HANGRY bike riders couldn't even make a substantial dent. As I continued to tour the house, I glanced outside to see a pool, coolers full of cold drinks, and a blow up slip-n-slide. This was a sure invitation to scream out of excitement like a kid who sees the ice cream truck ride down the street.

The first night was full of crazy bikers splashing in the pool, music blaring so loud we couldn't stop singing, and the best home cooked meals. 

Day two we built with Habitat For Humanity. This project was a bit more hands on and in the early stages of building. As a team, we were able to finish nailing in the roofing wood boards. By the end of the day, the house changed so much we could barely remember what it looked like from the start. 

After a long days work, Sally surprised us with a sail boat ride on a glistening lake in Texas. My girls and I cruised down to the lake in her Mustang belting Beyonce's "single ladies". Let me tell ya, we sounded like the voice of angels (joking). The 3 days spent there we unreal, and was definitely one of the hardest place to leave to date. 

THANK YOU SALLY FOR EVERYTHING! You put a smile on our faces, brought out many laughs, and made this trip even more special. 

Adopted

90 degrees, and a long day of hills- sweeping my way into Athens, Texas was such an accomplishment. Many riders started dropping like flies throughout the day. We called this wipe-out the "aPUKEalypse", which hit and hit hard. By the time we had reached the host, at least ten riders had their white faces hanging over the toilets. Scared to touch anything and everything, I washed my hands an overly healthy amount. Better germ safe than sick, right?

After dinner, we were split up into groups of 2-3, where we became adopted by lovely hosts. Ashley and I were sent off with the most amazing bike and build parent for the night, Linnea. Driving just 10 minutes away from the church we ate at, we arrived at her GORGEOUS 100 acre lot of land with a to die for white house and pool in the backyard. To top it all off, she had two friendly horses, and two playful dogs that won my heart. Adopt me forever, please? (Sorry mom & dad...hehe). 

                 Love at first sight

              Friends from the get-go

                  

    

Crazy Fun

Looking for a day full of fun, I chose to ride with my silly leader Claire to Carthage, TX. First stop at a gas station, we bought lottery tickets. Unfortunately, luck did not fall in our favor...AKA: we were double losers. To mourn for our loss, we stuffed Siracha chocolate whammies into our mouth. The first bite was interesting, the second not as good, and the final bite was the worst. My mind told me every next bite might get better, but my taste buds told the truth that Siracha and chocolate are not a winning combination.

After lunch, we stopped at a mini go-kart track. There, a kind gentleman let us ride like crazies in circles. I've never driven so recklessly. Taken hands of the handle bars of my bike to finally touch a steering wheel again was magical. 

Being one of the last groups to arrive at our awesome hosts home, we were welcomed with a beer and pulled pork for dinner; one of my favorite meals. Everything was great until the moment we somehow managed to clog all three of their toilets while our hosts were celebrating a wedding...whoops! After taking a cold hose shower, we were able to resolve the plumbing problem and everyone was back in full force. I'd say I had a pretty crazy fun day. 

Living a Dream

Our lovely hosts Beth and Cliff started our morning off right with sweet potato biscuits for breakfast. I just couldn't get enough that before I knew it, I had 3 more on my plate before I finished my first one. 

At lunch we stopped in a Dairy Queen. The manager graciously donated 32 smoothies to my really good looking group. When I walked outside, a man named Artis Almond curiously asked about our mission. After telling him our crazy adventures, he donated $40 to the affordable housing cause. This was the first stranger money donation I had received and it was AWESOME! 

Riding 2 miles down a gravel road to see an inviting lake was totally worth the risk of getting a flat tire, or even falling off my bike. In my bike shorts, I jumped straight into the water. Shortly after swimming a couple strokes in the water, I became paranoid alligators were hanging out down below my feet. Later into the evening, Ashley, Conner, and I spotted an alligator moseying his/her way down the beautiful lake. That marked the end of my swimming days in Elm Grove, LA.

My favorite part of the day was playing "Indiana Jones" while crazily driving the gator cart around their 150 acre yard. I had my passengers screaming around a few turns and I learned real quickly that I may not be the best person to be behind the wheel...lies, we all loved a crazy bumpy ride. 

Also, couldn't be more stoked about the bug bite I discovered on my right butt cheek (joking). 

Lastly, THANK YOU SALLY (our soon to be Dallas host) FOR THE GOODIES PACKAGE!!!!! Can't wait to meet you. I can already tell you're GRRRRREAT! 

            Making waves to the sun

              

                  My dream home

                    Gator hunters

We Gon' Die Today

Pouring rain pounded on my helmet while bright flashes of lightening struck down from the dreary sky. Flash then boom and we kept jokingly saying, "we gon' die today." We eventually pulled ourselves together at mile 5. There we forgot what personal space was and cuddled into a corner under a blue tarp to keep warm. Once the puddles fully formed and we felt it was safe to hop back onto our bikes, we were escorted by 3 awesome police officers. Total count of flat tires for the day was 12. Luckily, my tires never gave up and got me 66 miles safely to Opelousas, LA. To end the night, we kicked the soccer ball around an open football field. Felt great to get a touch on the ball again. 

NOLA

Wind and rain didn't stop us from reaching New Orleans, LA. Seeing a bed and pillow the moment I walked through the doors of camp hope (our host), made me squeal in excitement. As much as I love blowing hot air into my thermarest every night, it was nice to catch a break. 

The first night we hit the French Quarters and Bourbon street. These streets reminded me of last Thursday on Alberta Street at home. Music, bars, dancing, and original people made the street so entertaining. 

On our first day off, I caught up on sleep and prepared for the 5 build days ahead. We worked with St. Bernard's project all week, which was incredible. As an ice breaker to get to know the SBP workers, we told our coolest scar stories. My leader, Dan told the my favorite scar story. Excited that he graduated, he jumped to hit a sign where he tore up his finger. The doctor who performed reconstructive surgery on his finger took skin from his leg...the skin on his finger now grows hair. We all were in hysterics to find this out. It's been 3 weeks with each other and no one even noticed. 

At the build site, we painted, sanded, and used putty on the walls. Days of work were long and hot, but we enjoyed each other by belting out country and pop music while getting the job done. We got a little weird and started painting our faces tribal style.