kellita the señorita the ibby dibby dow: Idaho...No, You Da Ho

Today is our day off in Sandpoint, Idaho. I accidentally went to bed at 7pm last night, and therefore woke up at 5:45 ready to go. Sitting at Starbucks on the lake catching up on Ibby posts. Not too shabby. I have the caffeine shakes though. I can't believe we're in Idaho! Only 8 days until we arrive in Vancouver and end our cross-country bike trip. Wow. In so many ways I'm ready to be done, and in so many ways, I never want to leave this little bubble of a world that is Bike & Build. I can't imagine waking up without my 31 roommates every day. But my body is ready to get back to a normal diet, and I'm ready to only be responsible to myself. This trip has been amazing in so many ways, and I will always treasure the memories from it. I can't believe it's almost time to begin my international tour in a few short months. Crazy how time flies when you're having fun.

Today is Thursday. I haven't known what day it is all week until today. That's such a werid/great concept to me.

Tuesday was my van-driving day. It's the first time in weeks that I've had the van to myself, and I was so happy. I woke up in a funk, and needed some Kelly time. I popped in the mixes that Schrags sent me, and drove through some of the best scenery from Eureka to Libby I've ever seen. Thanks Schrags for the cds, they really made the drive complete. Lunch was on an amazing cliff/bluff overlooking the lake. We celebrated Leisl's birthday. She's never had an actual birthday party, so it was great to be able to make it special for her.

One of the biggest and most direct impacts we make on this trip is awarding competitive grants to affordable housing organizations. The orgs fill out applications, and each B&B trip gets assigned grants to decide where the money goes. We get grants from organizations we've worked with this summer, as well as any that are geographically close to our route. We're just beginning the process. Each rider is assigned one grant. They become the spokesperson for the grant. On Sunday we'll meet and educate each other about the projects these applications want to support. We will then vote on which grants to fund, and in a second meeting, will decide how much money to award each grant. It's a pretty huge responsibility, and I can't wait to see what happens. We have the ability to fund some really great things, and it's cool to get to see exactly where the money actually goes.

Yesterday we crossed another state line. I rode the day with my brother. It was our last ride over 90 miles, and it was my best long ride. It was rolling hills, and again the most spectacular scenery. I'm so glad Michael and I are experiencing this trip together. I feel like we've strengthened our relationship in ways we never could otherwise. I got 2 flats yesterday, but it was such a great day I didn't even care. Because I don't always plan ahead, I forgot my gloves and arm warmers in the morning and my hands were so numb when I got my flat that Michael had to change it for me. Thanks little brother. When I was pumping up the other tire, I couldn't figure out why it wouldn't pump. Then he pointed out to me that I forgot to open the valve. Sometimes I amaze myself with how flighty and what a dum dum I can be. Later, after freaking out about how I couldn't find my sunglasses, he pointed out that they were on my head. What would I do without him!?

Funniest moment of the day was when I was pumping my tire up on flat #2. Kristen has shown Michael a better way to pump up the tires by holding the pump differently. The thing about this method is that it looks inappropriate when you do it. So I asked Michael to help me with this, and he says something like "Just jack it off". This is something I never needed to hear from my brother, and put me into hysterical laughter on the ground. Here is a video of what it looks like. Makes me giggle out loud.