Aliens

Just had the best day off EVER in Roswell. First we went to the International UFO Museum and Research Center, which mainly consisted of a bunch of newspaper clippings from 1947. My favorite exhibit by far was the "Aliens and Ancient Cultures" exhibit: they had a drawing of some ancient Mayan mural which supposedly depicted an astronaut. They helpfully labeled things like "heiroglyph meaning 'braking system'" and "Symbol for oxygen system." Pretty entertaining stuff. JoJo bought a book on the Roswell cover-up, which she seems to be greatly enjoying.

After the museum, we went to see the new X-Files movie ON OPENING DAY. I saw the X-Files movie on opening day in ROSWELL NEW MEXICO. Too funny to pass up.

New Mexico!

After several days in Texas (which was really flat and boring), we've now crossed into New Mexico. The terrain changed almost immediately after the state line. It's now sandy, with more hills and crazy looking plants. We're in Portales, which had a welcome sign that said "Portales: home of 12,000 friendly people [and three or four old grouches]." I rode most of the morning by myself, which was relaxing. When we got to lunch, Lenny had gotten a Subway to donate subs for all of us. I spent the rest of the ride with Jose and Jane, which was a ton of fun. We're staying in an Eastern New Mexico University and everyone gets their own room!

Tomorrow we're going to be in Roswell! Alien Museum here I come.

Amarillo, Tejas

So, Oklahoma was awesome. The day we biked out of Joplin we cut a corner of Kansas. Once we crossed into Oklahoma, we were greeted with a GIANT field of sunflowers. My breathing problems vanished once we got out of Missouri, and the roads instantly got nicer. We biked to Tulsa, where the pastor of the church we stayed at was a linguistics B.A. We geeked out a little. We did a build in Tulsa, where I did a lot of power sawing and power drilling. We made the front page of the "Tulsa World." We crossed the border into Texas yesterday (into Wheeler, which was tiny). Tonight, we're going to the "Big Texan," where Jorge is going to attempt the "72 oz. Steak Challenge."

Oh, yeah, and it's hot as HELL.

Joplin, MO

I'm in Joplin, MO at the moment. I had a great time in Illinois (so flat!). We got a day off in St. Louis, where I got to go see Kung Fu Panda and sit in the air conditioning for two hours. The minute we crossed into Missouri, however, I started feeling off. Two days ago, I had an asthma attack. There is clearly some pollen or tree or something in this state that my body doesn't like. We're crossing over into Oklahoma tomorrow, so hopefully things will get dryer and less plant-y. (We're also clipping a corner of Kansas tomorrow.)

We're staying in this HUGE Methodist mega-church. I have to say that Methodists have been REALLY good to us. Aside from the asthma, riding has definitely been getting easier and faster. I had a few fast days before we got to Missouri.

Bloomington

I was going to post some photos, but this computer in the Bloomington Public Library won't let me. :-( We had a build day today, during which we got to demolish part of a Habitat office they're renovating. Definitely the most fun I've had at a build site yet!

The riding has gotten a little rough. I think I'm overtrained/exhausted. We had an 85 mile day yesterday and I crashed about mile 75. The remaining miles were painful. Hopefully tomorrow will be better since I've had today to recover.

Computer is about to kick me off, more later.

Day Off

So, to date we've biked through the Berkshires, up Mount Pocono, through the Appalacians, and through the Allegheneys. We're all tired. For the last few day's, my left shifter has been broken and I've been stuck in second gear, unable to shift down to first. Not fun over mountains.

I'll be putting up pictures soon. Right now I have to take 30 people to breakfast at Pamela's.

First Century!

100 miles from Berwick, PA to State College.  I'm at home in Pittsburgh right now, eating dinner with my family.  We have the day off tomorrow, which is good because everyone is exhausted.