Location: Lake Stevens, WA
Okay guys, I apologize for the lack of posts. The last week or so has been awash with emotion, anticipation, and activity and devoid of internet access.
I can't begin to fully describe the tail end of the trip, but here's a quick recap: The Virginias were absolutely gorgeous. Green, rural, and the weather was surprisingly mild (an anomaly, say the locals).
It was all really a blur until the Saturday arrival. Before that we had lots of team events and trying to get the last bit of bro-bonding in before we had to part ways. The guys from my team are seriously some of my best friends now; it's amazing what two months at such a trying expedition will do to a group of young men. We exchanged stories and memories, compliments, and advice. Many choked up and/or cried near the end when we knew we were heading off to our last ride into the capitol.
We rode into DC with the two other teams at precisely 11:00 and arrived on the front lawn of the capitol building, greeted by hundreds of friends and family. After some speeches and lots of picture-taking, we headed to the hotel to disassemble the bicycles that had (for the most part) carried us so loyally across the nation. After that, my pop and I walked around toward the Lincoln Memorial, but it was way far away and we made it as far as the reflecting pond in front before taking a cab back to get ready for the banquet.
The banquet was more speaking and congratulating -- but mostly it was each team trying to show how much cooler they were than the others. Trans-America definitely took the cake with the frattiest matching outfits, a bluegrass song, gifts for PMs and Push Staff, and having the most and best pictures from the summer. Oh, and did I mention that we were the only team to not lose even a single member over the course of the summer? Yeah, we rock.
Last night in DC we got to hang out one last time with the team and with some family. We went to the Dubliner to celebrate and had a blast. We stayed out late, hoping to soak up some last-minute camaraderie -- and hugs. In the morning, it was more or less everybody heading home. I got on my flight(s) to Seattle which would take the better part of the day, and while it's certainly nice to be home in beautiful western Washington, I'm sad I had to leave those guys and probably won't see many of them for quite a while.
I can say that for me, the summer served mostly as review of my own character. I had the pleasure of spending just over two months with incredible gentlemen -- each of whom had at least one trait or gift which I really want to adapt into my personality. I'm always striving to figure out exactly who I am and how to make myself a better man, and I think these guys have helped me see the changes I want (need) to make in my life, and did it in an incredibly short period of time. I love those guys, and I'm going to miss them. Everyone needs to experience something like this in their lifetime; I'm so glad I did. Now in ten years we have to do the route again -- but this time on motorcycles.
TA = BA
Jay Holley
Alex Rosell
Jesse Kornblum
Matt Wulff
Nathan Whelan
Matt Sloan
Ryan Dixon
Sean Richardson
Joel Abbott
Josh Schoenfelder
Jason Child
Jamie O'Brien
Cody Compau
Dan Cariello
Stephen Sanger
Cameron Sparks
Ryan Shippy
Dan Wallis
Paul Vulcan
Matt Sartin
Kegan Fielding
Andrew Lewis
Dom Valenti
Karl Heideman
Grant Tanabe
Max Maier
Ben Kaufman
Erik Farrar
Monday, August 18, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
A little taste of Bourbon (County)
Location: Lexington, KY
Another state down! We crossed into KFC-Land yesterday on our ride from Cincinnati to Lexington. And in doing so, we found some more hills once again. But no matter! It was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL ride -- especially when entering Fayette County, where we are now. Huge plantations with mansions and perfectly groomed pastures, big ol' tobacco plants, horses... Pretty fantastic. And we definitely went through the home of bourbon whiskey, although I hear that it's actually a dry county? Go figure...
The weather was actually probably some of the most comfortable we've had, at least for me, since the Rockies. It wasn't too hot, and not too humid either...especially when riding, the breeze actually felt cool. (Different story when we stopped though, and when it got later into the day.)
We had a friendship visit that quickly turned into a dance party at the Community Alternatives of Kentucky (at least I think that's what it was called). I started with a game of cornhole -- which amounts to basically just standing in the sun -- but was perspiring a good amount by the end, so I headed inside for the rest of the time. I worked up a bit of a sweat bustin' some moves too, but at least there was AC in there.
On another note, Kentucky marks the third-to-last state we'll pass through on our way to DC; we're less than two weeks from our destination. Looking back, it seems like it's been both an eternity and no time at all -- and I know these past dozen days or so will fly by pretty quickly.
Another state down! We crossed into KFC-Land yesterday on our ride from Cincinnati to Lexington. And in doing so, we found some more hills once again. But no matter! It was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL ride -- especially when entering Fayette County, where we are now. Huge plantations with mansions and perfectly groomed pastures, big ol' tobacco plants, horses... Pretty fantastic. And we definitely went through the home of bourbon whiskey, although I hear that it's actually a dry county? Go figure...
The weather was actually probably some of the most comfortable we've had, at least for me, since the Rockies. It wasn't too hot, and not too humid either...especially when riding, the breeze actually felt cool. (Different story when we stopped though, and when it got later into the day.)
We had a friendship visit that quickly turned into a dance party at the Community Alternatives of Kentucky (at least I think that's what it was called). I started with a game of cornhole -- which amounts to basically just standing in the sun -- but was perspiring a good amount by the end, so I headed inside for the rest of the time. I worked up a bit of a sweat bustin' some moves too, but at least there was AC in there.
On another note, Kentucky marks the third-to-last state we'll pass through on our way to DC; we're less than two weeks from our destination. Looking back, it seems like it's been both an eternity and no time at all -- and I know these past dozen days or so will fly by pretty quickly.
Friday, August 1, 2008
In the true spirit of Indiana...
Location: Oxford, OH
So after spending only a day in Illinois, we've already blown through Indiana like bats out of hell. (Well, it's the midwest...so close enough.) Or at least NASCARs around the speedway.
In Terra Haute, we had a fun karaoke and dance party friendship visit at Happiness Bag, Inc. and we even got these obnoxious yellow shirts with their logo on it. They're pretty sweet, not gonna lie. It's funny how sometimes I will not be in the mood for a visit, but then once we're there you can't help but have a ton of fun.
In Bloomington, we got a chance to stay at the Alpha Psi chapter -- the thing was HUGE. I think they're rolling like 150 guys deep in that place (only 95 in the house, but still). Makes me a bit ashamed at how teeny and decrepit our house in Seattle is... They even have six full-time staff during the year. Namely, a maintenance guy which would be AMAZING to have at good ol' Alpha Delta chapter. We also met an initiate from 1933! That's an old Pi Kapp.
We've also had a great visit with the Stone Belt Arc, complete with lunch, crafts, waterballoons, and games (bingo!). But perhaps even more impressive was the incredibly organized and well-executed visit at Noble of Indiana. It was so structured and we weren't used to that, they had something for everyone to do and it gave us a chance to see almost everything they did at the facility. I was lucky enough to be on Team #2 with the seniors and we made some sort of berry pound cake with tons of sugar and Cool Whip which was de-lish. And did some bean-bag tossin', as well.
We also had two days in Indianapolis -- the second of which was a day off the bike and a 9:30am wake up. Talk about sleeping in! So a bunch of us went to the Howl at the Moon dueling piano bar. That was a lot of fun. We even had a couple of our guys get up on stage and play:
Ryan Shippy busted out a solo on the piano to the amazement of the crowd and the members of the band. (We were kind of amazed too; he's usually pretty shy but looked pretty at-home up there on stage!)
And Andrew Lewis played a few songs on the drums. He's actually our TV star: he's a member of a percussion act called The Cadence and is competing on America's Got Talent. (We got a chance to see him for the first time on Tuesday at the Alpha Psi house -- he hasn't been able to tell us anything because he's under contract, so it was really cool to see him on television!) You can see his act from this past week on YouTube by clicking here. I highly recommend it, even though the act itself was 90 seconds. He's the clean-shaven blond guy on this episode. They actually got a really long portion of the show, which was really neat. Spoiler: they made it past this round so keep watching and voting for him if/when the time comes!
We left the IUPUI (pronounced "ooey-pooey" apparently) dorms this morning (thank goodness...they were kind of crappy) for the Ohio border, so now here we are! The ride today was so much better than the last one into Indy -- we only made it 30 of the scheduled 55 miles due to flats and bike troubles that day -- although I know it's only going to get more humid.
Anyway, Cincinnati tomorrow! I'm excited to go back to the place where I won national medals back in high school (most notably, the gold). I want to try and go back to William Harsha Lake where the races were just to see it again, but I doubt I'll be able to. It's a really short day tomorrow, but I'm beat nonetheless so I'm off to bed. Until next time!
So after spending only a day in Illinois, we've already blown through Indiana like bats out of hell. (Well, it's the midwest...so close enough.) Or at least NASCARs around the speedway.
In Terra Haute, we had a fun karaoke and dance party friendship visit at Happiness Bag, Inc. and we even got these obnoxious yellow shirts with their logo on it. They're pretty sweet, not gonna lie. It's funny how sometimes I will not be in the mood for a visit, but then once we're there you can't help but have a ton of fun.
In Bloomington, we got a chance to stay at the Alpha Psi chapter -- the thing was HUGE. I think they're rolling like 150 guys deep in that place (only 95 in the house, but still). Makes me a bit ashamed at how teeny and decrepit our house in Seattle is... They even have six full-time staff during the year. Namely, a maintenance guy which would be AMAZING to have at good ol' Alpha Delta chapter. We also met an initiate from 1933! That's an old Pi Kapp.
We've also had a great visit with the Stone Belt Arc, complete with lunch, crafts, waterballoons, and games (bingo!). But perhaps even more impressive was the incredibly organized and well-executed visit at Noble of Indiana. It was so structured and we weren't used to that, they had something for everyone to do and it gave us a chance to see almost everything they did at the facility. I was lucky enough to be on Team #2 with the seniors and we made some sort of berry pound cake with tons of sugar and Cool Whip which was de-lish. And did some bean-bag tossin', as well.
We also had two days in Indianapolis -- the second of which was a day off the bike and a 9:30am wake up. Talk about sleeping in! So a bunch of us went to the Howl at the Moon dueling piano bar. That was a lot of fun. We even had a couple of our guys get up on stage and play:
Ryan Shippy busted out a solo on the piano to the amazement of the crowd and the members of the band. (We were kind of amazed too; he's usually pretty shy but looked pretty at-home up there on stage!)
And Andrew Lewis played a few songs on the drums. He's actually our TV star: he's a member of a percussion act called The Cadence and is competing on America's Got Talent. (We got a chance to see him for the first time on Tuesday at the Alpha Psi house -- he hasn't been able to tell us anything because he's under contract, so it was really cool to see him on television!) You can see his act from this past week on YouTube by clicking here. I highly recommend it, even though the act itself was 90 seconds. He's the clean-shaven blond guy on this episode. They actually got a really long portion of the show, which was really neat. Spoiler: they made it past this round so keep watching and voting for him if/when the time comes!
We left the IUPUI (pronounced "ooey-pooey" apparently) dorms this morning (thank goodness...they were kind of crappy) for the Ohio border, so now here we are! The ride today was so much better than the last one into Indy -- we only made it 30 of the scheduled 55 miles due to flats and bike troubles that day -- although I know it's only going to get more humid.
Anyway, Cincinnati tomorrow! I'm excited to go back to the place where I won national medals back in high school (most notably, the gold). I want to try and go back to William Harsha Lake where the races were just to see it again, but I doubt I'll be able to. It's a really short day tomorrow, but I'm beat nonetheless so I'm off to bed. Until next time!
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