SUPER UPDATE

ok....

this may be the last time i get internet for a while, so i'm going to make this a good one..

so yesterday we rode from catawissa PA to center hill PA with a stop at lewisburg or whatever. what i didn't mention was that it was the hilliest, windiest 73 miles i've ever biked. we rode through 2 massive ranges (how i despise the appalachian mountains right now) and then rode through amish country where people rode carriages pulled by horses and had the long beards and straw hats. 50% of the time PA smells like cow/horse poo.. it's pretty awful. the other 50% of the time it's a gorgeous area. we were riding on the cycle route V but lost it somewhere on the way to center hall. we gave up, got a map and decided to make our own route.

it was getting late and we were just beat so we decided to find a house to stay at, after being shut down a few times this lovely couple let us stay in their front yard. they also offered us chocolate (MMMMMMMM, went well with dinner) and a SHOWER. not just any shower, they had an outdoor shower, it was so amazing to be clean, especially after washing in the nasty creek the night before.

they did have this cat, called spot, spot was an annoying cat, chad and cole liked it, i'm allergic and the cat was all over me. the night was gorgeous, the moon was so red, fireflies all over... the backdrop was so beautiful, makes riding the 73 atrocious miles totally worth it.

TODAY:

we woke up early and our route came out ot 72.8 miles (ish) from catawissa to granpian PA. today was even MORE difficult that yesterday, just as we thought we were done. we did visit Penn State University in State College (yeah, that's the name of the city). that stadium is HUGE!!!!! we ended riding 4 miles on 322 interstate section (part of 90), that was a brutal 4 mile uphill climb, not a super high grade, but just nonstop climbing with in your face FU wind. it was worth it though, we ended up at this gas station which we were able to re-up our air pressure and get this.. THREE DOLLARS for a footlong sub.... i got the works on mine for THREE DOLLARS. i was smart and had the girl wrap the two 6 inch halves separately to save one for dinner.. mwa ha ha.. then unfortunately some dudes walked in and took my SUB!!!!!! idiots, they remade mine though and i was happy. as we finished eating the station was receiving a shipment and he offered us samples of the local sausage, which we decided to call meat sticks for the day, just because the word meat stick is funny.

btw, chad still hasn't pooped.

after another brutal hill section we fell into granpian where cole and i pulled over to wait for chad. this guy pulls in with his 2 kids and chats us up a bit.... he offers us a drink but we declined and he then pulled out 2 ice cold sprites.. oh my word was it amazing, i haven't had soda in ages and after 70 miles it's heaven in an aluminum can. the kids were funny, they asked about my mom and dad, they asked where i was from (i couldn't believe they didn't know where MA and boston were and what the red sox and yankees were, good for them!) from there we rode up another pretty large hill and tried to get a few places to pitch a tent, we were shot down twice, one guy told us to go back DOWN the hill and camp at the park (we could have done that, but the thought of having to ride the same hill twice was not kosher with any of us).

we tried one last house and a church was spotted, i pulled in and waved, some guy came out and i pitched our story. he was stoked, went inside and came back with a big fat YES. a few others showed outside and brought us ICE COLD JUICE, A WHOLE PEPPERONI AND CANADIAN BACAON PIZZA, FIG NEWTONS AND COOKIES. these folks were the best. the pastor, gust and his wife mae, then invited us to their house where i am at now. we have showered, did laundry and gust is even making us breakfast tomorrow.

absolutely amazing how hospitable people can be. we are pretty relaxed right now. anyways, i'm going to throw the clothes in the dryer and call it a night.

but before you stop reading, check this out!

IF ANYONE WANTS TO BUY US DINNER OR PUT US UP IN A BED AND BREAKFAST?MOTEL YOU CAN SIGN UP HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!

DINNER:
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MOTEL:
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don't be shy ;-)

sorry, pictures will probably have to wait another week until i reach pats place in south bend IN which is another 450ish miles away... aka 5 days.