I love the midwest!

Hi all!

Quick little update post as I am waiting for the van to pick me up and take me to a build site in South Bend, IN today. We had a wonderful day yesterday. Our mileage was supposed to be 92 for the day from Camden, Michigan to South Bend. However, due to a deep and lengthy conversation with my friend Abby and little attention to our cue sheets, we missed a turn and made it our first century day! 100.5 miles to be exact - and it felt great! Century days are a big deal amongst our group - a real sense of accomplishment. This ride went so well because we were fed so well along the way. One of our teammate's family - Beth Morris - provided both lunches for us! The first lunch was an absolute smörgåsbord of delicious food at mile 40. At mile 75 we were delighted to have another lunch along with some AMAZING root beer floats! We all enjoyed them immensely and have been so thankful for the families that have been providing us such great food along the way.

We are staying in a wonderful Mennonite church right outside of the Notre Dame campus. It's huge and beautiful! It was a great ride into South Bend yesterday, and most of us detoured through the campus and got to take a picture with Touchdown Jesus. Like I've been promising, pictures will be going up, but I have decided to wait until I get some time in Janesville to upload photos, as it is a very time-consuming and space-consuming process and it's difficult when you don't have your own computer.

Last night, we got to "take the night off" and had a wonderful, wonderful dinner at a local South Bend pool. Nolan's cousin Kim from South Bend and uncle Jim from Chesterton (we really liked saying that over and over again) organized the whole thing with the help of Kim's church and it was honestly one of the best dinners I've had so far! Very vegetarian friendly :)

After swimming and eating, dinner crew (of which I am a part this week) put on a presentation about Bike & Build and many of the swimmers in the pool came over to watch. I love speaking to big groups, especially about such a worthwhile cause!

Around 9, we returned to the church and I was beat. Some of the team took taxis to a nearby pub, but I decided to stay back and journal. I've been neglecting that activity quite a bit lately. Anyway, we all slept in until 6:30 this morning - can you believe that that is sleeping in for us!? We've just eaten breakfast and are all excited for a full day of work at a build site in South Bend.

Tonight will be an early to bed night, as we have our first "official" century day into Chicago - 102 miles to be specific. I can't wait to be back in central standard time zone and that much closer to seeing everyone in Wisconsin. Kate and I are both so, so, so excited!

Alright, van is here - must head out!