kellita the señorita the ibby dibby dow

Yesterday started off a bit slow. Kate and I were all ready to go in our sweep sashes for the super-short 20-miler to Niagara Falls, when I got a flat. No big deal, so I changed it. And got another flat. So Denis helped me change it again, and though frustrated, I was ready to go. I hit reset on my attitude and we were off. It was an easy sweep day, and we girl-talked our way to the host.

When we got there, we had community hose showers. I don't know if anyone has ever told you this, but outdoor hose showers may be the greatest thing ever. I love them. Nothing like being out in the yard (front or back), half naked, showering. It's simply the best. Unfortunately laundry crew had to do laundry, so we headed to the sauna-like laundromat. After an hour and a half of sweating balls, we headed to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, to find the rest of the team had waited for us to go on the Maid of the Mist. Lots of screaming and getting wet. It was pretty cool.

After the boat ride, a few of us headed to find the ferris wheel, because since walking across Rainbow Bridge, I had declared that I must ride that ferris wheel. So we went to buy tickets. Now. I don't know if you've been to the Canadian side of the Falls. While the American side seems boring and uncomercialized, the Canadian side is one of the most ridiculous streets I've ever seen. It's like you're at a cheesy theme park, but it's not a cheesy theme park. It's hard to explain, and I guess you had to be there. Anyway. We took a spin (or 7) on the ferris wheel, and it was awkward. First of all, it fits up to 8 people in a car. It's air-conditioned. Yes, the ferris wheel car has AC. It went around 6 times more than was necessary, and we felt trapped. Also, there was elevator music and no dancing allowed. One of the weirdest experiences of my life, but also the funniest because we coined the phrase "dropping a Tuney". To those 7 people, this will forever remind us of that ride.

After that, and a LONG walk back to the church, we ate dinner, I did some wedding cake dancing with Liz, took a 2 hour nap, woke up, and then went back to bed. Glorious.

Today we rode to Westfield. It was SO HOT! We woke up at 5am, and had a great ride. The Dream Team 2 was reunited, but we took it easy. It was a long one, so we had 2 lunch stops. It was easy to push to 2nd lunch because it was on the lake. Talk about luxury! Burgers and dogs and watermelon on Lake Erie. Some of us bruised our feet up a bit due to running over unexpected rocks into the water. But it was sooooo nice and totally worth it. After a quick dip, we took naps, and carried on. Once at the host, we spent some time taking over the community pool. There is nothing like swimming after a long hot day on the bike, and today we got to do it twice.