"Flake"

Tonight's title entry was not on my iPod, but is in honor of the jam session we just had in which Theo and Wade played "Flake" and the rest of us tried to sing along. For any of you that know me well, you can imagine how much I enjoyed that. Theo had only played the first chord and I jumped with joy.

The generosity from the hosts never seems to end and is overwhelmingly inspiring. The people in Camden, MI were so happy to have us there and went above and beyond what anyone would ever expect of a host. First, they opened up 5 homes for all of us to shower in and provided dinner. Then, the greatest thing of all, they did our laundry! They did 30 people's laundry; not just 30 regular people either, 30 people who rode their bikes for 80 miles that day. Talk about generosity. We also had an improptu talent show where Theo played the piano, Nate balanced things on his chin, and Sidny amused us all. The best line of the trip so far occurred when the minister of the church asked people to sing along and Sidny said, "I'm Jewish", the minister said, "Ellijah was a Jew," and Sidny said, "So was Jesus." It was pure awkwardness for about 5 seconds and then everyone started laughing. You probably had to be there... but it was funny, I promise.

From Camden we went to Edwardsburg, MI, by way of Indiana. The ride to Edwardsburg was pretty uneventful until I got my second flat of the trip. This flat was particularly fun because I had a slime tire in and sprayed green slime all over myself and the road; that stuff cannot be environmentally friendly. I once again changed it quickly, but had a hard time getting it through the brakes, but we eventually got it and all was good for about 2 minutes. Two minutes later we were riding and a fly flew into my ear and for some reason it put me over the edge. I made the people I was riding with pull over and had a mini nervous break down. It is so funny to see what the tipping point is on any given day. We have all had our moments and the most random things can throw us into a downward spiral; I guess that is what lack of sleep and 6+ hours of exercise every day will do to a person.

Following the lack of emotional control for a split second, we made it to our destination; another set of wonderful hosts. The most amazing thing about this one is that they had 2 bike mechanics from a local bike shop come in and give us all free tune-ups. They were here for 5 hours and helped us all with our bikes. You cannot imagine how much help these people were and how much we appreciated it. People keep telling us how motivating and inspiring we are, but I am thinking that the people helping us along the way are just as impressive and inspiring. You cannot be a part of this trip and not gain an appreciation for the kindness in America.

"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America." This quote, by Bill Clinton, seems so appropriate for this trip. Affordable housing is something that is wrong with America, but organizations like Habitat, with the help of all the people we have met, are helping to treat and cure the problem.

Speaking of Habitat, we had our first 30 person build site today and it was awesome to see what 60 hands could get done in 7 hours. We put up dry wall, caulked a basement, moved enough dirt to level the land on an entire side of the house, took a garage from plywood to almost completion, and finished siding the front of the house. The family was there working with us all day and it felt wonderful to help them build their home.

Tomorrow, we ride to Chicago. Yep, we are going to be in Chicago in a day. We also just found out it is going to be 108 miles... shoud be interesting, that's for sure.