Cuddling

At lunch on our way to rocky ford

Morning yoga!

Warrior bro 1

I finally discovered the beauty of gold bond after a long ride.

Brady and Grace came riding in and Brady found the last creature!

Amazing Lunch stop #2. The van riders made mythical creatures for Brady to slay along the ride. One pictured here with Pat in the foreground enjoying the grass.

The ladies with the welcome sign. Jenn m you were there in spirit!!

Probably not.

New time zone!!

We love you CO!!

Best day in a while. Had a great ride into CO, punctuated by two amazing lunch stops. Sashly made us salsa!!!

Eat beef, keep slim

I'm not sure they quite understand how it works around here. This is your standard feed yard :(

Lets just say we were looking forward to colorado

Leaving Kansas

Half of our ride to garden city Kansas was a giant rumble strip. Made a few of us go a little nuts, as you can see. Got my bike computer fixed there so I now I can know my milage finally, and we got free ihop!! Ethan's favorite!

Met this cute guy in Colorado

Let's go west!

Historical sites

We pass by many historical points of interest along the way, such as the Santa fe trail. Here Ethan is telling us about his interpretation of the historical significance.

Riding out of coldwater

We did some sun salutations as the sun came up! The ride to dodge city ended up being extremely challenging but the morning was beautiful!

More cold water Kansas

We rode in totally exhausted and completely out of water. Luckily we rode right by a great little diner and stopped in for some water. Many double bacon cheeseburgers and chocolate milkshakes later, we left for the lake to help set up camp. I love the little stops we find along the way, especially when we are run down on a tough ride.

Winnnnnnnd!!

Camping in coldwater park! We had to change locations because the wind was getting a bit dangerous. Great spot right on the water though and had a delicious dinner cooked by dinner crew! Had the best nights sleep I've had in a while in my hammock!

Finally found some shade along the road

Collapsing for a few minutes

The road ahead

Pat up on a hill

Red rock and prarie in eastern Kansas, on our way to coldwater to camp. We ran up to check out the view!

Tyler and Pat and the road we came through on

Kan-sass

Riding into coldwater...and the wind

Horses bracing themselves against the wind, which reached 45 mph gusts. We had alternating tail winds and head winds for our first 30 miles but then the last 50 were all head wind! It was beautiful but extremely difficult. I rode with Tyler and Pat for much of the day and we saw some beautiful views of the new landscape. We passed the state line into Kansas and it was a lot different than I expected. Some of the south eastern corner looked strikingly like New Mexico. Later on in the ride it changed gradually to corn and wheat fields. All beautiful and all windy. The group has very mixed feelings about kansas so far...

Cait smith on the Tiny toilet

Pizza hut

It was the only establishment open in Cherokee and we pretty much ate all of their food. Ben and ethan racing to eat their last piece. Ethan won but it was close

Ponca city, Cherokee and cold water OK and making it to kansas!

Yep. Made it past the 2,000 mi mark and on to our next state. Ride into Cherokee was very difficult but I had a great time riding into town with Ben and Ethan. It was very reminiscent of the opening scene of a zombie film. But our luck quickly changed when our group got invited to use the pool of someone in town! (not a zombie). So in the 106 degree heat of the afternoon we got to cool off in the pool before a delicious brisket dinner at the host.

HALF WAY!

No words for this. Incredible feeling.

And another adventure

After a refreshing jump in the lake, we opted for a shortcut back to the route. Sort of.

Feelin girly

When you look/feel like a boy for a month it helps to paint your nails red.

Tarantula

I now double check before peeing in the grass...

On another adventure.

Because biking on a road that's already built has just gotten too easy.

Em on a roof. So cute.

Ollie, in the window.

Cathy showing the boys how it's done.

Need a fence? I can get you a fence.

I built this. With some help.

Food coma

After what was, inarguably the best host meal we've had. Traditional mexican tacos from a habitat homeowner, who luckily encouraged us to take seconds (and thirds). I just noticed some sweet tan line samples in this photo too. Nice work.

"it's Johnny!" ...super creepy Ethan.

This one needs to go on the b&b men calendar for 2012

Teamwork makes the dream work

Megan and Joey are really good helpers.

We built a house, and survived a tornado.

Ok, that's an exaggeration. We built for two days in Bartlesville and in that time built a privacy fence, painted the entire exterior of one home, renovated a shed and framed another house. It was amazing how much work we could get done between us all. It was really encouraging and we had a great time working with the folks of bartlesville habitat! Nick and Scott shingling the shed below.

Best costume

It was a close call but id say Ethan and Jenn m took the crown coming as a pirate ship. Great work guys.

Pirate Sadie Hawkins dance

33 pirates walked around downtown bartlesville two nights ago. We had an awesome Sadie Hawkins dance and it was pirate-themed. We even got to spray paint a wall at the venue... Very random but amazingly fun night all around.

Maiill!

Thank you for the letters and mail!! Especially the towey fam you know I need those calories thanks for looking out for me :)

The sky was gorgeous that night! We relaxed at a bar downtown called two sisters and I had a delicious margarita :). Starting to really like the mid-west!!

Brattlesville - building, buildings and pirates

The price tower! Built in Brattlesville by frank Lloyd wright! His only "sky scraper" I believe.

Buffalo!

Or bison, I'll have to ask Jenn. Either way they were a great sight to see on the side of the road approaching Grove.

OK!!

Me in Oklahoma! We were actually standing at the famous (not) "three corners", where Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri meet. Pretty exciting. On our way in to Grove, OK here, and then we landed in Bartlesville, OK to stay for two days of building. Having a great time in the state so far, it's slightly more scenic than Arkansas so I'll try to put up more shots from the road! I haven't found any oklahoma plates...yet.