Oh, sun, how you are getting on my nerves

I'm in Texas! We crossed the border into good ole TX today. First things first: it's hot. Like, really hot. Like, I'm sort of worried about how we're going to survive Death Valley in August hot.

But let me bring you up to speed...

After our nice night in Joplin we awoke and headed for Vinita, OK. It was such an easy ride and we all could really appreciate it. Before arriving some of us stopped at McDonalds and we got some DM (donation magic). They even gave me my iced coffee free.

When we got in we all headed to the local pool and played around a while. Marco Polo, Sharks and Minos, and other such games kept us occupied. When it came time for dinner that night (what seemed like the whole church) arrived to eat with us. Before dinner he gave us a blessing and really told us how much he admired what we were doing. I sat at a table with a few local youths who were also interesting and fun to talk to. We did a presentation on B&B after dinner and everyone was SO interested in what we had to say. It was really touching to see people so intrigued.

After dinner we had affordable housing presentations. Alex and I did ours on the Department of Housing and Urban Development and talked about its history, what it offers for tenants, and where it is today.

The presentation was going great until.... Caroline walked right up to me at the podium and assassinated me with her spoon! Mine was in my pocket! I was so bitter I could barely finish. Turns out I was in the top six out of 32 so I guess that's saying something.

I had been planning something for the end of my presentation all day. We ended with asking trivia questions and handing out candy if people got it right. I said, "One final question.." and then proceeded to turn on my ipod into the overhead speakers. Sophie B. Hawkins' "As I Lay Me Down" began to play and I said, "Andrea, will you go to prom with me?" She said yes!

Now, I may have not blogged about this yet, but we're having a prom in a few days. Tatiana has been organizing it and it is gonna be pretty fun. Andrea is a good friend on this trip and she's also SIGNIFICANTLY shorter than me, so it will be a funny sight.

After the presentation I went out with Robby, Larry, Nathan, Amary, and Jodi to some Caboose bar. Damnnn was it smokey in there. Stunk up my clothes pretty bad.

The next morning we had this amazing breakfast provided by a local restaurant that was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. Biscuits and gravy YUMMMMMM. Delicious.

And then off we were to Tulsa! And it was pretty humid when we left. Gross.

The ride to Tulsa had some pretty cool things. First, there was this cool Route 66 "mall" (store), but it had some awesome murals and statues on the outside (pics coming soon, I swear). We goofed around awhile and even got to sign our names on some white brick on the exterior. Later, we got to see the infamous blue whale everyone had kept talking about. It's basically this wooden whale in a lake that people driving on Route 66 would pull off at and swim in. No one has swam in years, though, because the water is disgusting. Cool pictures from there, too.

With seeing cool things comes seeing something pretty disturbing, too. At one point there were two dogs walking on the shoulder on the other side of the street. As we cycled closer the one started crossing slowly toward us, but didn't see a car coming from the other direction. We all freaked out and I turned to see the car basically run over the dogs back legs. I flipped out a bit and couldn't look back. I had to pull off and when I turned to look I saw the big dog helping the smaller (hit) dog hobble off. I saw a tractor store (or something) nearby, so I biked over there and told a few men what happened. They said they knew whose dog it was and would tell the owner. None of them seemed that concerned, though, and I was nervous they were maybe just going to shoot it. It felt good to tell someone and hope they take action.

Now something funny: our cue sheet that morning literally started out by saying turn right onto Route 66 and stay on it for 60 miles. We get to lunch around mile 35 at Braum's only to find out the leader driving the van that day (Ali) had to go food shopping before lunch and somehow ended up driving 35 miles....east. 35 miles on 66 in the wrong direction. She will probably win the jackass award this week.

Tulsa welcomed us with heat. The lsat 15 miles got a little uncomfortable really quickly. Nathan's wire had come off his brakes and my bike had still not been fixed, so we dropped our bikes at a nearby bike shop and walked to the church from there (about a mile). We took showers at the local Y that had TVs and couches in its locker room.

That night in Tulsa was AWESOME. So I have this friend, Max, from LA* (*relocated to NYC :( ) and his family lives in Tulsa. Back when I told him about the trip he said his parents offered their house for me to stay at, but I didn't think I'd be allowed, so politely declined. However, when I realized it wouldn't be an issue I asked him if the offer was still there and, even though his sister and mom were in CA, his dad was home and was more than happy for us to join him. So Mr. Greene picked up me, Aaron, and Andrea and we went back to Casa de Greene (which is beautiful). We got to swim in their gorgeous pool and we each got our own bedroom. He took us out to Mexican that night where we had some great food and margaritats. Also, the sunsets in OK were beautiful. We saw it from downtown that night.

We got back and hung out for a bit, watched a little of 13 Going on 30, and then all went to sleep. I awoke at 3:30 to what was one of the craziest storms I've seen/heard since living in Cleveland. Lightning was lighting up the room every few seconds. I thought for sure our build day was going to be affected because it was intense.

I fell back asleep and we woke up, had some breakfast, and Mr. Greene dropped us off back at the church before we had to leave for the build site. He left us with some performance gel and even ended up giving me a tire we wasn't able to use. Very kind of him to do.

As you can see by the previous post (the video) we did a build day in Tulsa. It turned out to be the best build day we've done so far. Personally, I tiled a whole bedroom with Christina, caulked on the porch, and then helped lay sod, but between the whole group we gave the whole yard grass, tiled the whole floor, and built a whole shed. Oh, and Garth Brooks had helped out at this build site weeks before - just a random site note. We all felt so accomplished at the end of the day.

That night the church we were staying at provided dinner for us. It was probably the biggest potluck I've ever seen. Most people there were older and we sat with them and talked about everything we were doing. It was also Tati's birthday, so we sang and gave her the best gift ever (an arm grabby thingy - long story).

My chore group had to leave right after dinner to go do laundry. While we were doing laundry the woman running the place yelled at guys standing outside the door because she "didn't want anyone getting shot up inside." Awesome! Also, played some House of the Dead with Lesley while waiting and listened to some really awkwardly sexual movie playing on the TV. When we got back we found out the plumbing had stopped working in the church, so we couldn't use any water. I also found out my bike had returned, but it was not fixed. I paid them and it did not get fixed. I was not that happy. But I ended the night by getting a mohawk, so that was cool.

By the next morning the toilets worked fine which is very crucial to everyone's comfort before riding. It was a relatively fast ride from Tulsa to Chandler. About 70 miles and a few fun stops along the way, including two competeing Route 66 souvenir shops across the street from each other. One was older while the other was newer and flashier. At lunch I bought a fake tattoo and put it on my chest (it read God is My Judge). Combine that with my new mohawk and I looked pretty badass if I do say so myself.

The church in Chandler had a pretty sweet youth center. Ping pong, air hockey, Xbox 360, projector, Wii, good speakers, and pool were just some of the features. The local youth group came and hung out there all night. The one kid was a pretty decent guitarist/singer, too. They gave us amazing brisket sandwiches for dinner.

Chandler to Yukon the next day was also a good ride. There was this weird, yet surprisingly awesome, outdoor museum of Route 66 stuff. Photos do it more justice, so I promise you'll see.

Our lunch stop was at a place called Pops. It offers over 400 sodas for your choosing! Pretty cool, actually. I chose a local Cream Soda made with pure cane sugar. Delicious.

There was also this special historic round barn... not sure what else to say about that. It had these really awkward homemade cards for a dollar that were like, "They call my brother a little devil, but my older sister is a NIGHT MARE!" It was spaced out like that, too, so it almost read as Night Horse.

Then the last 15 miles came.... and they got a little rough. It was a good 101 degrees outside, yet pretty windy.

When we got to Yukon a woman took us to the local pool. They had an amazing slide that was pretty slick. I raced Caroline in Larry in how far you could walk on your hands in the shallow end and won every time* (* I cheated and Caroline suspected it, but everyone backed me up, so I think she thinks I'm really talented).

I don't remember much about our night in Yukon because all that's on my mind was our 82 mile ride yesterday from Yukon to Cordell. Oh, man. Endless rolling hills. Heat. Wind. Hot wind. Bumpy roads. Not fun. People were taking breaks to cry. By the end of the day people were cursing the sun, the wind, and Lewis and Clark for discovering that part of the country.

After our second lunch I was riding with Andrea and Christina and we started going over this terribly paved road. Because my fork is a bit jiggly this road started destroying my hands. Without hesitation I burst out with, " WHAT THE F**K!? THIS IS SO F**KING STUPID! F**K THIS! AAGHHHH!!!" Now, I'm sorry if this offends anyone, but, seriously, you'd probably be just as frustrated. Because of the wind Andrea and Christina didn't hear me, so Andrea asked, "What?" and I had a realization. I could either be alone and pout or stick around them and risk yelling at them just because I was there. I chose the latter, so I screamed out, "NOTHING!" and pedalled off as fast as a I could and did the last 22 miles solo. I got there pretty fast and there were no hard feelings. It was rough on everyone. After a delicious dinner provided by the church and after our affordable housing meeting, BAM, I was out like a light.

We woke at 5 today and did a nice (once again HOT) ride from Cordell to Wheeler, TX. I was sweep with Megan and the day was pretty great. The wind wasn't as bad as yesterday and, even though it got hot, the whole group moved at a good pace and Megan and I were talking the whole time. It really makes the day fly by. We got in around 3:30, showered, bummed around, had BBQ dinner, did a family meeting, and now I'm ready to crash soon. We're waking at 4:30, woohoo!

I'm a bit nervous about the rest of the trip. This heat is no fun at all. I worry about it prohibiting me from having fun, but I think I can push through. I just have to keep drinking water, that's for sure. I think I'll get used to these early early wakeups because it will be great to ride in the morning breeze pre-baking.

Oh, I've been meaning to post these links. I know I've posted a few pics before, but here you can see two albums I've already posted on a different site:

First album
Second album


Until next time, just keep rolling!
And I hope I don't fry like an egg on the pavement.