Oh, if only I could stay in Wilmington...

So, Wilmington was such a cool place to hang, but I'm not supposed to tell anyone that because someone I know doesn't want a surge of people trying to move there. Actually, I probably liked Wilmington more for the company I kept while there than for the actual lure of the beaches.

To back it up a little, Paul and I got to Kitty Hawk, got a hotel, and immediately went for a swim in the Atlantic. Oh, how refreshing it was to dive into those waters! I felt like I truly accomplished what I set out to do. From Kitty Hawk, we rode on through the Outer Banks, making amazing time because it was all flat and touristy, so there wasn't much worth stopping and seeing. We did stop and check out the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, which was alright and teeming with tourists. We also stopped by Jen's friend Kim's art gallery, which was awesome. I bought one of Jen's cards and talked to Kim who was so high energy and really excited to see us. By the way, Jen is Bryan's girlfriend (Bryan who stayed behind in Colorado to go to Telluride).

We arrived in Wilmington on Friday afternoon and stayed with Jen. She actually came to pick us up at a Burger King in town because we apparently rode 10 miles past her house near Wrightsville Beach when we rode all the way into downtown Wilmington. By the way, the ride to Wilmington sort of sucked because I got two flats in one day. That's more than I've had ALL trip. That puts me up to 3 flats total. It was enough to convince me to buy two new tires in Wilmington.

Jen was so cool! She took us out to dinner Friday night to this fabulous restaurant called Nikki's, where tempeh and tofu abound, and we met her friends Elizabeth, Chiaki, and Matt, who were also very very cool people.

Saturday morning, I woke at 6 and ran to the beach, walked along the ocean, and ran back. That was a great way to start the day. Then Jen introduced us to Migun, which is this heated jade massage bed system. I was immediately drawn to it, but Paul still hates it and remains skeptical. If I had the money, I would buy a Migun bed for my home...oh wait, if I had a home and if I had the money, then I would buy a Migun bed for my home. Needless to say, I made two more visits to Migun during my stay in Wilmington. We also got to hang out a lot at the local food co-op called Tidal Creek. I became a recognizable regular there in no time. Over our three and a half days in Wilmington, lots of Kombucha drinking was had, for certain. I think at some point during the day, we watched the extended version of Dances with Wolves, during which I took a 3 or 4 hour nap. On Saturday night, Elizabeth, Matt, and John came over and we ordered pizza and played "Scene It?" Women vs. Men and the women kicked ass!

On Sunday, I just hung out and did a whole lot of nothing. We rode over to the co-op and Jen bought me brunch, which was again, awesome of her! I also got to cook dinner: tempeh reubens with braised greens. Jen's friend Jim came over and he brought some delicious Pinot Grigio and seemed like a really nice guy.

On Monday, Paul and I rode with Jen to the beach and then up and down the ten mile loop to make a 20 odd mile ride. Jen was kicking our ass on her 650's! Man, I thought I was in better shape by now. Oh, but she did have aerobars and skinnier tires and she's training for the Florida Ironman...On our ride, we also happened upon Jen's sister and boyfriend who were also out for a ride. They seemed nice as well, but it's hard to really get to know someone when you're sweating out a 20mph pace on a humid morning.

Today is Tuesday and we hung out in Wilmington all day. I went for another run this morning, and then we went to Migun and checked out the other health food store in town, where Jen FINALLY let me buy her lunch. Then Jen drove us over to Paul's cousin Jill's house in Southport, from where I am composing this. We were going to ride the 20 miles to the ferry with Jen, but it started pouring down rain, and so we caught a ride with Jen.

It felt surreal to be leaving. I almost felt like I could've settled down in Wilmington for a week and then just caught a ride to Savannah, which Jen and I talked about, but the weekend she would drive me to Savannah conflicted with her volunteering at the children's triathlon, and I said, "Do it for the kids, Jen. They're more important. I can just keep pedaling." Anyway, I really had a blast with Jen and all her friends, and I hope to return for a visit sometime. And, I cannot thank Jen enough for all her generous hospitality!!!

Jill and her boyfriend Billy are very cool. We've been chatting out on the front porch, and just relaxing.

Tomorrow, I say goodbye to Paul. It will be sad; I'll really miss him. Really. Then, I will ride down to Myrtle Beach, where I will stay a night with Pat and Tom, a couple that Paul and I met on the ferry that took us off the Outer Banks to Cedar Island. They got to chatting with us, and invited me to stay at their place in their guest room right on the beach. From there, I will ride four solo days to Savannah, where I will finally hang up the bike for a while and kick it with my dear dear friends, Abbey and Joey.

Wish me well, as I brave highway 17 alone...

Jammin' and Rollin'

Wow, after enjoying a jam session of guitar, bass, banjo, and drums at Acorn, we had another jam session in Lauren's room as she and Andrea rocked out some Mirah tunes. Then Lauren and I stayed up until after midnight talking. Not super smart when you have an early morning of riding ahead of you. I still managed to get up just after 7 am, hang around Acorn for a while watching Sabrina try to stir the oil back into a 5 gallon bucket of natural peanut butter and going through last minute photo opps. Wow, it was hard to say goodbye, or maybe "see you later." I gave big hugs to Danielle and Sabrina (who are staying at Acorn for the summer and totally rock) (Thanks for the chocolate Sabrina!) and then Lauren drove me and Paul to Mineral where I gave Lauren a big hug and Paul and I hit the road.

The terrain was amazingly FLAT!!! We rode about 55 miles in no time and pulled up to the Mackey's house around 1:30pm. We are staying with the Mackey family: Carol, Clyde and their sons Isaac and Noah just north of Richmond,VA. Clyde was so so so kind and generous when he drove us into Richmond and gave us a tour of the city then took us to a rockin' health food store and paid for our purchases!!! One exciting thing is that although I was bummed to miss out on the late brunch at Acorn and Sabrina's vegan cinnamon rolls and Lauren's vegan pancakes and soysage, I was thrilled to find a vegan cinnamon roll at the health food store in Richmond. The Mackey family is so great and I am so thankful for their hospitality!

Paul and I plan to hit Kitty Hawk in the Outer Banks in just two more riding days, so it doesn't look like I'll be able to post again until I get to Wilmington, NC. In the meantime, I'll be enjoying the flat terrain and the Atlantic Ocean!

More skinny dipping, hippies, organic veggies, and more!

I'm having such a blast at Acorn that I really don't want to leave, but tomorrow, we must move on.

In the meantime, I enjoyed waking early yesterday morning and going for a nice run down the dirt road through the woods. When I got back, I worked in the garden all morning, picking cucumbers and okra, weeding and making tomato cages. While we were harvesting okra, we found some nice looking eggplants that were ready, so we picked those and later I got to exercise some of my culinary skills as I was asked to prepare the eggplant dish for dinner. I tried to be creative and went with herb crusted eggplant medallions in a maple balsamic reduction. Very fun and delicious!

Also, after lunch yesterday, we took two cars full of people over to Twin Oaks (the sister community here, which is much larger. they make hammocks, tofu and soysage, and they have their farm for their businesses) At Twin Oaks, we went skinny dipping in the pond. It was so refreshing after a hot day in the garden! Paul was the only one who refused to get into his skinsuit, so he swam with his boxers, but the rest of us happily swam and sunbathed au natural.

This morning, Lauren, Danielle, Paul, and I woke up at 4am to go to Charlottesville for the Farmer's Market. When I got up, the sky was amazing! I could see every star in the sky! We loaded up the van and drove to C-ville (as they call it around here)and listened to Mirah through the crappy speaker on my mp3 player the whole way. Good times. The market in C-ville was great, and fairly large. I met lots of cool vendors, got some organic bagels and vegan muffins, and ate my fair share of cucumbers. Paul and I wandered around town for a while and visited Integral Yoga Natural Foods where I enjoyed a kombucha. I also saw some flyers for Yogaville programs, which reminded me of my friend Tali who is there now. I called her husband Yoram, and it was so good to talk to him. It always feels amazing to hear someone say they love you and they miss you!

Now I'm just chilling at Acorn. I just finished making a wallet out of an old tube. (BOB got a flat somehow in Lauren's van, so I used that tube) It's a rough, but functional prototype, and I plan to make more in the future.

Lauren and I have been reminiscing about old times and giving each other mad hugs. She just makes me so happy; she's such an amazing person. I've also been so blessed being in the presence of some incredible people in this community. I finished reading Sandor Ellix Katz's latest book, The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved, and that, combined with being at Acorn, has really re-inspired me to get back to community, local food, and a more self-sustaining lifestyle. I already have plans brewing for container gardening and the fermentation station!

In love with life!!!

Lisa is awesome!!!

Wow, Lisa driving SAG for us was incredible. Paul and I blasted away almost 300 miles in 3 days on our bikes that were light as feathers while all our gear rode happily along in Lisa's trunk. She stopped every 20 or so miles so we could refill water and make pb & j sandwiches, and on top of all that, she was just a really really cool person, and I'm glad to have met her.

Today, we rode with our gear again and it really wasn't that bad. We did 60 odd miles in about 5 hours, but we definitely felt the difference, especially on the hills. We veered off route today and rode 6 miles into Louisa where my friend Lauren came and picked us up. Now, we are staying for two days at the commune/farm where she lives called Acorn. What's funny is that when she picked us up, she drove us back the extra six miles we had ridden through the hills and on to the farm. Damn!


Let me also just add that I love love love love love Lauren, and I've really missed her and it's so awesome to be spending some time with her and to have gotten to her the way I did.

So I've already met lots and lots and lots of great people here, and there will definitely be more to follow.

Until then...

Thursday the 12th Proves Worse than Friday the 13th

It's been a long while, and here I sit on a Saturday night at the Baja Cafe in Damascus, Virginia. Yes, I'm already in Virginia!!!

Here's the news:

From Chester, IL, we rode to Carbondale, IL, a nice university town, lots of hippies, you know how I love hippies! We stopped in at the co-op there and it was awesome and rocking the local food scene. I had some kombucha!!! Then at just the right moment we rode over to the best bike shop in town and there was Len, didn't think I'd see him again. He was thrilled to see us, and he invited me to his big shindig in San Francisco in September when he finishes his trip. Len has since headed north on the Underground Railroad trail to the Northern Tier to end in Bar Harbor, Maine. After we talked to Len, he rode on to the next town, and I checked my email to see if one of the warmshowers contacts had gotten back to me. Indeed he did and said he was out of town, but if we didn't take anything from his place, it was unlocked and we were free to stay. So, we stayed at this guy Ben's place in Carbondale. Wow! He was out of town alright, the electricity had been shut off, it was stuffy and humid in his upstairs apartment, a sink full of crusty dishes, rotting avocado shells stacked up in the kitchen. Very interesting accomodations... That night, there happened to be a concert in the park, so Paul and I went to check that out. It was some half decent band from Chicago that played a few Lucinda Williams covers, so that redeemed them.

From Carbondale, we hauled 100 miles in the heat to Sebree, KY where we stayed in an incredible church hostel (The First Baptist Church). It was soooo nice, mattresses and all. Len also caught back up with us for the night.

The next day, we rode to Rough River Dam and along the way, Paul and Dave took a shortcut, but I decided to stay on the route, and thank goodness I did. The shortcut turned out to have several steep hills, whereas the route was moderately hilly. I also got to go through the town of Whitesville, where the people were very kind and generous. One man bought me a juice, and two guys offered me a ride, but I took their wishes for a good journey instead. When I caught up to Paul and Dave again later, they were sitting down having some beers with some hillbillies. I sat down for a cold glass of water. The rednecks offered for us to stay for dinner and feast on a variety of meats on the grill like raccoon and turkey and goat and they were also going to deep fry some vegetables and fish. Paul and I passed and went on to camp, but Dave stuck around and met us at camp later.

The next day, we rode to Hodgenville, KY and on the way, we met three guys who were doing a supported ride from San Diego to Virginia Beach to raise money for children of Gulf War soldiers who died in combat. Two of them used to be Navy Seals. We also stopped at a roadside stand and I got some local fruits and veggies. That night, we were going to camp in the park, but we all went to a Mexican Restaurant, and on the way back to the park, Paul and Dave stopped for ice cream. I kept going back to the park, and while I was talking on the phone to my friend Alex (hey Alex!), the guy locked the gate to the park, so I was locked in and Paul and Dave were locked out. In the end, we decided to pass my stuff (gear and bike and me) over the fence and we just camped behind the high school. Go figure after I got out, two women who lived right there and must have witnessed the whole thing asked if we wanted to the gate opened because they could get it opened and they said the guy who locked it was a crazy case. The whole situation made about as much sense as the mullet one of the women was sporting, so we declined their offer and just stayed behind the high school.

The next day we rode to Harrodsburg, KY where we met the Youth Minister of the Methodist church there and he told us we could camp in the churchyard there. Nothing too exciting there, except that we ended up at the police station the next morning filing a report...

From Harrodsburg, we rode to Berea, KY where Paige came and picked us up and we stayed with their family, who I had contacted through warmshowers. Paige and Andy, and their daughters, Clare and Lillian were great. Paige made vegan Boca burgers for dinner and oatmeal in the morning. She even went out of her way to buy me soy yogurt and soy milk. Andy told me all about his life and his work, which was quite interesting. I watched George of the Jungle with Clare and Lillian showed me her garden that Paige helped her start. Clare is in second grade and Lillian is going into middle school (she was so excited!) Before we left the next morning, Paige gave us all pages from a coloring book that Clare had colored for us. They were so great, and they left a good lasting impression of Kentucky.

From Berea, we officially entered Appalachia. We started with rain the whole day and the climbs just got worse and worse as the day went on. In case you're wondering why I haven't been tallying my flat tires, it's because I haven't had any until about 25 miles outside of Booneville, KY. That's right, my first flat of the whole trip, and of course on the rear tire. I changed it with lightning speed and we kept rolling. That night we stayed at a campground in Buckhorn, KY near the bottom of the dam.

Then it was Thursday the 12th....gasp!....As we were set to leave Buckhorn, I discovered a broken spoke on the cassetted side of the rear wheel, of course. We worked on it for almost two hours and the new spoke just would not thread. Turns out that the idiots at the bike shop in Eugene cut my spare spokes too short. Paul had the ingenious idea of creating a temporary spoke by cutting one of his longer ones and bending it to hold its place and it worked, I've been riding on it ever since. I was hoping to get it fixed here in Damascus, but the bike shops here are sorry little tourist rental shops, so I'll keep riding it until I encounter a decent shop. More on Thursday the 12th....gasp!....As we're riding along, Paul's front tire was making weird noises, so he stopped to check it just before a descent, and the sidewall of his tire was ripped and his tube was busting through, rubbing his brakes, and about to explode on him, so he had to change out to his spare tire. Then just near Hazard, KY, Dave was having shifting problems. At a stoplight, he looked down, and saw that his bottom bracket had come loose and a bearing had actually fallen out, but luckily was sitting right there on his crank where he could grab it and pull over and fix it. Thursday the 12th....gasp!....

Friday the 13th, we rode with no real problems. Paul and I had to walk up a hill for the first time. It was liberating and humbling and really fucking steep all at the same time.

And here I am in Damascus. Tomorrow is a rest day and Paul's friend Lisa is coming down from Cincinnati, OH tomorrow to drive SAG for us for three days to get us through the mountains. I cannot wait. These hills are going to be so much more fun on an empty bike. Thanks Lisa!!!

One thing I've learned: when things stop being fun, figure out how to make them fun!

The World is Shrinking!

This is a quick one...

On our way to Chester today, we ran into 3 people going west, and we chatted for a bit. One guy is from the Cleveland area and he and one of the other guys went to college together in Wooster, OH. I said, no way, my cousin went there, and he graduated in the same year as one of the guys. He said who's your cousin and I told him, and he said, yeah, I know that guy.

Wild. Paul said we should start playing 6 degrees to Karli with everyone we meet along the way...

Holy Hilly Humid Hmissouri!

Ha, I had to change the spelling of Missouri just so I could keep the alliteration rocking in the title. Before I get to the burn in my legs and the hellishly steep hills, let me back up to Newton, Kansas.

There are three good reasons to love Kansas and never want to leave. In no particular order, they are Liz, Heidi, and Kate. Heidi and Liz let us stay with them for three nights in Newton, and they really made this trip memorable! They indulged my vegan pizza fantasy that I'd been dreaming up for miles, since somewhere in Colorado probably. So, Liz's friend Kate (a vegan!) came over and we had a big delicious homemade vegan pizza extravaganza with me acting as the primary chef. It was fantastic fun! By the way, Liz and Heidi are vegetarians, so that only raises the level on their cool meter. Good friends, good food, and good times: what more can a tired cyclist want in the middle of Kansas.

And why did we stay three nights you're wondering? Well, Paul and Dave and I decided to wait for the others to catch up, only to lose them again, but more on that later. Anyway, we told Liz and Heidi that we were waiting for the others to catch up, but really, we just wanted to hang out some more with them! I joked about moving in with them and had I known about the severity of the climbs in the Ozarks, I might really be residing in Newton, KS for the time being. I almost thought of turning around and going back, but there was no way I was going to climb back up some of those hills I came down!

Okay, I know you're dying for me to move past Newton already, but I have to briefly describe my first ever dumpster diving experience. The night before we left town, Heidi got us excited to go on a dumpster adventure behind the Hostess outlet for free bread. Somewhere around 11 pm, Dave, Paul, Kate, Heidi, Liz, and I all got on our bikes and pedaled over to the dumpster, only to find it empty, bummer! Then we pedaled around town having a good old time until we got to the Alco (a store very much like K-Mart), and we scavenged their dumpster. We found cartons upon cartons upon cartons of cigarettes. It was such a score I almost wished I smoke just so I could be that much more excited about it! We loaded up the rear baskets of Heidi's bike (which Dave was riding), and what a sight that was. I have some good photos. Before we left the next morning, I took a pack of Lucky Strikes and rolled them in my sleeve. I've been riding with them ever since, but since we've pretty much been rained on everyday, they've had to hang out in my handlebar bag until they can safely be rolled in my sleeve again. They definitely make me feel more hardcore, but don't Luckies always make one feel a little edgier?

Okay, now, moving on...from Newton, we met up with the others in the next town up the road, and planned to ride the 90 odd miles to Toronto Reservoir. Well, Kev and Nix fell back and Linus and Derek stopped in Eureka to eat, and Paul, Dave, an I rode ahead to Toronto. So, the others never showed up in Toronto (probably too many drinks in Eureka, as we've learned seems to be the new fad for that group. Needless to say, we haven't seen them since. Ah well, Paul, Dave, and I make a good team. Dave and I went swimming in Toronto Lake. It was pleasantly warm and we were already wet from riding in the rain all day, so why not jump in? I swam out to the buoy and back a few times until I thought I might drown from the fatigue in my arms. So then I did some water push ups off the swim bar (no pain, no gain!) Then Dave and I just splashed and dunked each other in shallow water like a couple of flirtatious pre-teens at the beach. What fun! Later that night, Paul and Dave left their food out on their bikes, so some raccoons had a good time raiding our camp. They ate some food, tore a hole in one of Paul's waterproof pannier covers, and put a hold in the side of Dave's tent after he stashed his food in there and gave up on chasing them away and went to sleep up by the bathrooms. Aside from the damage, they kept us up all night with all their rifling and fighting over the food treasures they had discovered. However, they did leave me alone. I'm convinced they could smell my vegan blood and wanted to do me no harm. Ha.

From Toronto, we rode 105 miles to Pittsburg, KS, which is right near the Missouri border. We had heard horro stories from other cyclists about how the drivers in Missouri hate cyclists and try to run them off the road for points. I was a little worried about what was ahead when we got yelled at at least 3 times and we were still a few miles from Missouri. However, it turns out that Missouri motorists have been incredibly patient and have waved kindly as they drive by.

Just before we got to Pittsburg, we met a buy named Brian who was riding in our direction, so he stuck with us. We also met a couple on a tandem going our direct. Their names are Marie and Adam and they were heading home to D.C. We got a hotel in Pittsburg due to a flood warning and rumors of more raccoons at the park, so we didn't see Marie and Adam that night, since they camped at the park. We did, however, run into Len at the hotel. He's an older guy that lives in San Francisco and he had ridden with us for about half a day back in Kansas. Apparently he caught up with us since we spent so much time in Newton! He said he'd been thinking about me and my endeavors (I had told him about Stanford) and he is so proud of me. What a nice guy! He rented a car and headed up to Kansas City to see some friends, so we may not see him again, but you never know...

From Pittsburg, we rode on to Ash Grove, MO and oh my did we hit some hills, pretty much as soon as we crossed the border. Some were quite steep, but still nothing like what was yet to come! When we got to Ash Grove, we rolled up to the city park to camp and who was there already set up, but Marie and Adam! We were talking and it turned out that they are originally from Ohio. This is CRAZY. Check out this conversation:

Karli: Where in Ohio?
Marie: Oh, just a small town in NE Ohio.
K: Try me.
M: Ok, Wadsworth, near Akron.
K: Oh, yes. I went to Stow.
M: Really? Wow, small world. When did you graduate?
K: 2000
M: Okay, you're two years younger than us.
K: Wait a minute...did you go to elementary and middle school in Wadsworth?
M: Yeah, we both did.
K: Did you know a family by the name of Smith (name changed to protect the innocent)
Adam: Yeah, I lived across the street from them growing up....
K: No way, that's my best friend from high school...

Woah, I never thought I'd meet people in some small town in Missouri on a bicycle that grew up across the street from one of my best friends. Wow! (So, Jeanine, Marie also knew who you are and Adam said to tell DJ that Adam from across the street when they were kids says hi)

Leaving Ash Grove the next day, Brian said he was going to go off route to a bike shop and he'd catch us at our destination later, but he never showed up, thank goodness!!! We'd been trying to figure out how to ditch that guy since we first met him. He was just extremely immature and made the most inappropriate jokes at all the wrong times, so then they were even more inappropriate than they would have been if he'd had better timing. He was also always talking loudly and obnoxiously on his cell phone, even while riding. Sadly, we couldn't keep up with Marie and Adam. They cruise on that tandem, and they have to be back to work in D.C. in something like 16 days.

From Ash Grove, we found ourselves to be a trio again as we rolled into Hartville. That was a hell of a day. That was the first day all trip I found myself thinking, what the hell am I doing here. Why am I not at home, in bed, sleeping, and earning money at a job? Then I started thinking about how much I love my mom, probably because I thought I might die on some of those hills and never see her again. Just kidding. I just really love you, mom! Then (not to belittle my love for my mom) I started thinking about how much I love cold watermelon, but I think that's just because it was so hot and humid. On the last climb into Hartville, it was so steep, I wanted to jump off the bike and cry, but I didn't. I just collapsed on the courthouse lawn when we got to Hartville. We also met the local Princess Betty. She said everyone in town calls her Little Betty, but she prefers Princess Betty. She sure was a character.

From Hartville, we got an early start to Eminence. The last 5 miles of that ride were the roughest with some steep climbs and a lovely thunderstorm. The pouring rain made some of the descents scary for sure. I just thought, please don't die, please don't die. And I didn't die! Because there was a severe weather warning, we sat at a cafe and then went to the grocer in Eminence. It was still raining so this guy offered us a ride back to camp. I said sure, but soon regretted it when I got in the car and he was smoking a cigarette, drinking a can of Bud Light in a coozie, and then let us know that he had no windshield wipers, but he didn't need to see since he'd lived and worked in that town for 20 years. I said, good, we're staying less than a quarter mile away, so in no time we were home safe.

From Eminence, we rode to Centerville which was only 40 miles, but our toughest stretch of the Ozarks. There were probably about 3 really horribly steep climbs. There was definitely one where I wanted to jump off the bike, puke, and then keep pedaling. Luckily, I was able to puke without getting off the bike. Just kidding, I didn't puke or get off the bike. I toughed it out and made it! Oh, but my legs were screaming alright. I know that's a common expression, but I really heard them. They were screaming, "Rent a car, you fool!" Dave said he couldn't believe I made it up some of those hills because he was struggling and he has a much wider range of gears than I do with my compact double.

Centerville to Farmington, where I'm writing from right now wasn't so bad. Some hills, but nothing crazy steep. Hopefully, the steep ones won't hit us again for a while. Those hills in the Ozarks were like riding from Decatur to Little Five Points on Mclendon only 1000 times worse. Or like riding up the Blue Ridge Parkway from Asheville to Devil's Courthouse, only 100 times worse, or like riding PCH near Malibu or between Santa Cruz and Davenport, only 100 times worse, or like the first two days riding from Atlanta to Savannah (hey Joey, Huan, Trystan, Abbey where are you with your SUV when I need you?), only 100 times worse, or like riding up Lombard St. in San Francisco, only that's probably 100 times worse!

Today was our first sunny rain-free day in a long time. We had pretty much been rained on since we left Newton and everything smells like wet funk. It kind of reminds me of Outward Bound and makes me feel a little homesick for Cedar Rock. (hey Lisa and any other OB friends who might be reading this!) I've been praying for the rain to move to Atlanta because I hear that all the lovely people there could sure use it!

Tomorrow, we cross into Illinois and we'll hang out in Chester where my good friend Dave is driving down to visit from St. Louis. I can't wait to see him!

Thanks for all your thoughts. I love you all!