Did we miss a turn?

So the really fun part about being this far into our trip is that we pretty much follow one road for days at a time. Right now that road is Route 2. It's neat. You make like 2 turns, then you follow the same road for hours at a time. Mostly it's doable, but today for our Devil's Lake ride it was 116 miles total, and 115 of those miles are on Route 2. We entered North Dakota a few miles in still on Route 2. I rode with Steven in the morning, and we had great conversations. After lunch I teamed up with Jamey and Denis, though Denis lost us after a bit.

Today was a serious mental challenge. One road all day. Nothing to look at. No towns, no trees, nothing. Terrible roads. We were bumping down the road, until we reached Nelson County. Let's just say we love Nelson County. The roads were champagne gold as Jamey would rate it. It's a good respite for your sore behind. It was really nice. The rest of the day was a mind f(*&. I am so thankful for Jamey being my ride partner, because he took my mind off what was really happening. Though we had moments that he couldn't laugh because he was "too angry". We felt halucinatory and thought we were seeing things, so we kept saying everything was a mirage. When we got to second lunch we couldn't believe the people and food were real. The devil did not go down to Georgia.

Once we finally reached DL after playing the 10-mile game (which is where one person just talks about whatever they want for 10 miles) we stopped at McDonalds so Jame could get some fries. Worst DM ever. We got 50% off his fries and chicken selects, then one free smoothie. The smoothie was delicious, but as Jamey pointed out, is made of scoops of high fructose. NBD.

Our showers were at the bible camp down the road, and it didn't take us long to realize that we were showering and staying where they filmed the documentary Jesus Camp. Horrifying. If you haven't seen the movie, watch it, and you will understand why it was so disturbing/epic to be there.

Jamey and his grandma at the state line

energy drinks at the gas station

you can't see it, but Jamey has a lone hair growing on his cheek

Nelson County roads are nice to our behinds

the 100-mile dance

Serious Shoulder Dancing

Today was my van day. AK rode with me as her back is still bothering her. We stopped in the am for some delicious coffee and got on the road. We had a great day of bonding chats. It was a rather rainy morning so we decided to pump up the awesome at first lunch with some minor dance parties. Everyone was riding super fast, and snuck up on us. Second lunch was the best. After some more deep chats, we pulled into second lunch about 2 minutes before the first riders (who had actually stopped to wait for us since it was taking so long). And the ultimate dance party began. We danced everyone in and out of lunch, running down the road after them when they took off to tackle the last 15 miles.

We literally danced for 2.5 hours straight. The greatest moments were after sending each rider on their way and then dancing back down the shoulder to the trailer to greet the next crew.

The dancing continued when Kira and I went in the third shower shuttle to the University of Minnesota. We hooked up the stereo system to listen to some oldies while sudsing up. It got awkward when Kira noticed that one of the doors opened and closed in a place where no one was supposed to be. When we opened it to see what was on the other side, it was dark, so that made the community dance showers seem a lot less fun. So we took showers in the enclosed stalls, and I kept my eye on that door the whole time. CREEPYTOWN. But there’s no one better to be in creepytown with than Kira.

Tonight after dinner and our presentation, we voted for prom court. Liz and Michael spent all afternoon interviewing all 10 candidates, and we got to watch the hilarious results and vote. It was nice of them to be inclusive and allow us to be a part of the process. I can’t wait for the announcement in Rugby, ND!

Tomorrow is our longest day to Devils Lake…115 miles. Bed time.

trav and kristen - space jam

soergelsaurus

jilly and heather dance it back on the road

Jesus is coming soon. And so is prom.

A major thing happening on our trip now is PROM (which I briefly mentioned earlier this week). I literally feel like I’m in high school right now with all the pre-dance excitement! The dance theme is Llama Proma: Day at the Farm. Liz and Michael are the co-chairs, and have done a phenomenal job. They are somewhat dictating the night, such as picking prom court themselves, and also already having chosen the prom king and queen without other input. This is why we love them and their prom committee. So the boys have a deadline of tomorrow at midnight to creatively ask their dates to prom. Here’s what’s gone down so far:

1. Kyle Lee started it off with a love letter and a rose for Heather.

2. Denis added creepy slides to Beth’s AH presentation depicting himself watching her

3. After chalking about a new mustachio in town, Josh and his new-found stache invited AK

4. Jamie took the cake when he ran into a man with a horse at Applebees, and rode it back to the church (with the man smoking a cig leading him), thre his arms out and asked Kate.

5. While Mark and Kyle pampered Sarah at breakfast, Steven snuck in with a private dance.

6. Diane awoke to roses and a decorated bike and requests to meet her date at lunch where Kyle G extended his invite

7. Tony 2-cups asked me to prom with 2 cakes that said simply “Gramelly Prom? <3>

8. Michael interrupted town facts to tell Abby she’s lost that lovin feelin.

9. AP followed a red string all around the camp ground today that led to Nolan’s self-endowed pants, slicked back hair, and Axe body spray.

10. Mark asked Kira to give him a kiss, at which point he revealed where Sam had shaved his prom ask into Mark’s chest

11. Trav mail dropped a creepy post card to Jess asking her to turn around to him geared in farm garb holding a home fried bacon card (yes real bacon)

12. Leisl opened a huge mail drop box to find her date, Kelsey waiting inside.

13. Chris called Liz via code name “Llama Proma”

14. Andrew found a stash of Jesus costumes in the church and flitted to Steph, he was of course shirtless with spear in hand.

15. A guest spot by Tony helped Denis’ meat stick video win Kristen over.

16. Mark followed up our sweep awards running around in Jillian’s sunglasses and a cape to “I wear my sunglasses at night”

Now the heat is on for everyone to find their outfits in time. 3 days until prom.

In other news, today’s ride was grrrrreat! Paul snuck up on Nolan and I, barking like a huge dog, and it was so scary I nearly fell off my bike, and didn’t realze for a good 48 seconds that it was him. I thought for sure one of us was going down to some big dog bite. Lunch was filled with sand volleyball, and the super competitive Kraft siblings on the same team.

The sweep contests of the day were plentiful, and I wasn’t sure I would participate until I ended up with a pack after lunch, and we did the Big Fish commercial which is below. We separated from the group when we saw the dance school sign and filmed video #2 (also below).

We then stopped at a roadside antique/junk shop that sold everything from bleacher seats to boats to bath tubs, and everything in between. After wandering around, Nolan held up the most beautiful dress I’ve ever seen. And it is now my prom dress, and it’s amazing. But, it’s top secret so I have to show it to you later. Huge shout out to Nolan for finding it, lending me the money to borrow it, and then carrying it and the cowboy boot(s) I bought all the rest of the way to Bemidji.

When Jamey and sweep came to sweep us out of the lake (which Jamey wouldn’t sleep in because he referred to as Fart Lake), we stopped by the Paul Bunyan and Babe statue and began to contemplate why this whole town has build it’s reputation on a fake man who never really existed. He’s everywhere. Paul Bunyan Tanning Bed, Paul Bunyan Laundry, on and on. We decided that if we had a business in Bemidji we would not name it after the big PB. Later we came across a man holding a sign announcing that Jesus is coming soon. Kyle Lee (our seminarian) said that’s not necessarily true. But if it is, Jamey wanted to let him know where we would be staying so we could meet Jesus.

After dinner and sweep awards (one of which we won for the Big Fish video), we had a major dance party in the sanctuary before heading to bed. Sold day. And mad props if you’re still reading this.

Dairy Queen is becoming a daily occurance

Today was hilly and windy and kind of hard on the way to Grand Rapids.

Lunch was at a golf course. People hit balls.

We went 8 extra miles because the cue sheet was off. I told Sarah it was her fault for not asking enough questions. That confused her enough to not complain anymore. (Sarah – if you’re reading this, I love you. I have nothing but love for you. I just had to add something to this otherwise boring post so far).

I rode with Kyle Lee to lunch. We had great conversations. I think I even convinced him that he converted me back to Catholocism on the ride. (Note: he knows this isn’t true. Mom and Dad: I’m sorry, this is not true.) BUT – we did have some great conversation, and he gave me some new things to think about and consider.

I rode with Jillian after lunch. We also had great conversations. We stretched a lot, and considered naps in tall grass. She asked me at one point if I thought the cue sheet was off since all the road signs to Grand Rapids were 8-10 miles further than what the cue sheet said. I half-giggled and sort of brushed off the idea. Some leader I am. Imagine our surprise when 2 miles outside of the destination, Kate/Beth/Liz/Sarah alerted us otherwise. Nothing a little Dairy Queen Blizzard can’t fix.

Leaving Duluth - lake background

business on the golf course - Paul and Jamey

this frightened liz and i - don't worry no cats in box

steph after she flipped out of her chair laughing

sarah was so tired she couldn't even put her pants on

home of Judy Garland - off to see the wizard

what the heck?

That’s what Delores kept telling us when we chatted with her on the bike path today. Today’s sweep challenge was to take the best picture with a local. I didn’t realize at the beginning of the morning how seriously I would take this challenge. We stopped Delores on the path as she was the first person we saw. Our photo was pretty standard and boring with her, but she had interesting things to tell us about divorce.

Shortly after, Kira and I broke off from the rest of the group and began to brainstorm the best possible photo situations with locals. Like what we would do if we found a local cop, mostly unrealistic things since we were on a bike path for 50 miles. As people approached us, we slowed and creeper stared at them, whispering if they were what we were looking for. Finally we realized that if we were going to be balers in this competition, we were going to have to let go of the shyness and just ask random people to do crazy weird things. And so it began. Below is the sequence of photos that we took today. We made it happen.

We only had 4 rejections, which were as follows:

1. young boy on a riding lawnmower – to his mother: be proud. He did not talk to strangers. In fact we made him so uncomfortable we felt that we were doing something wrong.
2. Truck driver who stopped near the bike path. He said he couldn’t stop since he was on the clock. We agreed that if we had been selling sex his answer would have been different.
3. I told a couple on the bike trail we were doing a ride for charity, and would they mind doing a pyramid with us. The woman told us she was not reliable in these kinds of situations. But he said he knew we could find someone. What?
4. Along the trail we also met what we think was a shirtless convict. He did not want “pictures of him all over the internet”. I wanted to tell him not to flatter himself, but we’re pretty sure he literally JUST escaped from the big house, so felt it was unnecessary.

But the major conclusion on the day is that a lot of people on bike paths in Minnesota will do pretty much anything you ask.

Kristen/Dolores/Kira before we started getting bold

Nick spraying me with a hose. He was very excited/weirded out by this request.

The man on the left actually said to Kira, "I'm just going to pretend you aren't here".

We found these 2 young men bikers on the path who actually got down on all 4's to be our "bikes" for this shot. This won us a prize in the competition. Giggles.

This is Jeff - he was rollerblading and stopped to smell the flowers. We got points because lots of peeps recognized him.

Kira just eating a cloud taco.

We call this jelly monster. The shop owner (forget his name) threw in the garlic for added effect. This was my favorite.

Outside above convenience store, this woman let me pretend to steal her car. She even put down her groceries so it would look "more real".

Getting run over by shirtless old biker man.

This man agreed to shut me in his trunk. This was when we realized we could get ourselves killed if we went too far.

Woman in the middle was not amused. But she had pretty flowers.

Mark and I boxing.

again and he is wearing Kira's gloves.

The guy on the right was art directing this one. not too sure, but he made me cross the street to take the pic.

ambulance men

I asked them to pretend to be my parents.

These equestrian women were stoked to partake, and even donated $35!

mail scan

the finale: pies in the face...though we had to help them...it was as if these kids were in walking comas. the man we asked to do it couldn't get permission from his wife.

senior citizens, although slow, and dangerous behind the wheel...

Today I had a sweet van posse with me, including Sam, Andrew, Jamey, and Ton. I am happy for this because

a. I love them

b. I was having somewhat of a dumb day and

c. if they wouldn't have been with me, I may have been crushed by our trailer

Here's what happened:

1. Target shopping

2. Jamey making lots of jokes about my old age/senior citizenry/even almost got a child at the playground to call me Gramma

3. Jokingly chalked that lunch was 12 miles further, angering Michael significantly

4. Sporcle trivia - if you haven't tried it, get on it

5. Trailer is a piece sometimes, and when I unhitched it at 2nd lunch so I could go give Trav a new tire, it almost rolled over and smashed me. If the van crew wasn't with me, it would have been a disaster. So I guess you could say they saved my life. It would have been awkward if the riders came to lunch to find me stuck under the trailer wheel.

6. Jamming to good songs while driving in circles in the parking lot.

7. I had a dumb day, so I was thankful for these 4 all day.

8. Tonight was Christmas in July. $5 gift/Yankee gift swap. We have the best family.

Michael not amused by the lunch joke

me and my tan lines cuddling with Kira and Mark

lunch #2 under a tree

Hilarity ensues with food fights

me and the van crew by statue - jamey

notice Kyle Lee hose showering in the window watching over Josh...creepy

Prom Committee Llama Proma 2010

the boys lining up to pick their prom dates

Christmas tree/gifts

Steph and Josh - best Christmas sweater

NUS 2010 Family Christmas

Corky and his romance novels

my gift from AK

"I can't go work out, I have a Kankle"

Last night we as a leader team read our mid-trip evaluations. We decided to read them one-by-one out loud so we could discuss each one if necessary. They were so constructive and helpful, and have no doubt they will strengthen our team, and hopefully help us to improve the rest of the trip.

Today was Denis’ 24^th birthday! It began in true style at midnight. After evaluation-ing, I turned on some Scissor Sisters so we could feel like dancing all over the kitchen. That took us right to the midnight hour, where we jumped all over Denis and wished him a happy day of birth 24 years later. We then palanced all over the kitchen. After that we were tired, but decided sparklers were in order, so we sparklered up and down the street. Then we were really tired, and went to bed. Each in our own beds.

Today we had a build day, 2 sites, groups of 15. Our group worked with Habitat and a program they have called A Brush With Kindness. It was the best build I’ve been a part of. Our group was great, the homeowners, Mark and Steve were an eclectic and interesting couple who woked with us all day. And Matt, our HFH contact was great! We helped prime the house to be painted, and cleared away some shrubbery. It was a full work day complete with music and dancing as usual, and tons of laughing and carrying on. Only today we got to wear masks to avoid breathing in lead poisoning from the paint we were scraping off. I was very excited about this until I realized how much your face can sweat when wearing said mask.

The title of this post is an ode to Sam. He hasn't been able to ride for the past few days because his leg is super swollen, and he's in a lot of pain. When we suggested he go try to work out at a gym or something in order to keep his body moving, that was his response. There is something worse than kankles. It's having only one kankle.

kitchen palance

yay sparklers!

once upon a time these buckets were stuck together

and kels and i tried really hard to separate them

but it was hard

and then the boys tried and failed too, every method failed

so we kept trying

then paul came and made it happen, and all the buckets are separated now

jess is a badass with that power washer...now only if it worked

ladies on a ladder

plant specialists

masks to avoid lead poisoning. not as fun as i thought they looked

nolan serenading us

enter witty comment here

git er done

singin and swayin

the b-day boy himself

B&B team with Matt and Homeowners