Lexington, KY

Today we had a 95 mile ride into Lexington, KY.  It was an extremely pretty ride the entire way with rolling hills going through the horse ranches of Kentucky.  We arrived at our lodging in downtown Lexington and headed to a friendship visit.  We ate and danced the night away with all the clients.  We headed out on to explore the University of Kentucky that night and then headed to bed.  This morning we woke up and headed off to another friendship visit where we painted and worked on art projects with the clients.  That evening we had a sponsored dinner at a local restaurant.  Since we haven’t had internet in over a week, I’m currently sitting at Starbucks typing up all these blogs to try to get everyone up to date.  Bedtime after this one is finished!

Cincinnati, OH

Today we had a 115 mile day into Cincinnati. The team made it about 80 miles and had to rack because the Reds versus Braves game got moved from 7 PM to 4 PM. We made it to the game just in time for the first pitch. Katie met us at the game and we ended up sitting almost as high as you can in the ballpark but it did have a great view. The Reds were down 2 late in the game and made a strong comeback to win 6-2 in an exciting ending. After the game I took my van to Skyline Chili so they could enjoy some delicious Coney Dogs and then headed back to lodging to get some sleep.

Indianapolis, IN

We had another short 50 mile day into Indianapolis today. Most of the day I rode along with Kyle Pluchar, a crew member from Purdue, who participated in his crew ride along. Each crew member is a encouraged to ride along with the cyclist at least once throughout the summer and Kyle was our first of the summer. We had an arrival with Outside the Box at a local park. This friendship visit was one I have been looking forward to the entire summer. In the past, the team did not have a friendship visit on their first day in Indianapolis. I was lucky enough to come in contact with Outside the Box and set up the visit for this year. We had a delicious lunch and then played kickball and everyone had a blast. That evening the team headed over to my house for dinner and then headed off to the local watering holes to enjoy the night.

The next day we headed over to Noble of Indiana for a friendship visit. This was by far one of the most organized visits we’ve had all summer. I mainly staying the art and disc golf areas and just hung out with the clients. It was great to have my family and girlfriend there for the friendship visits so they could see everything that we do on a daily basis for the summer. That evening the Kelly family sponsored a huge taco dinner. We had an early wake up the next morning so everyone went back to the dorms and fell right asleep.

Bloomington, IN

Only 55 miles to Bloomington today, which used to considered a long day but now is a very short day. I was very excited because my parents, grandma, and girlfriend were coming down to visit. We arrived at Stone Belt for a friendship visit and all the clients were outside awaiting our arrival. The friendship visit was great and had everything from dancing to basketball to bingo. That evening we were treated to a dinner at Scotty’s by Phil Summers, Indiana University’s chapter advisor. That evening Donovan met up with us and we headed out on the town to enjoy each other’s company.

Terre Haute, IN

We had a 65 mile ride into Indiana today and it felt great to be back in the home state. We arrived at Indiana State University, where one of our team members, Jared, studies business. That evening we had a huge friendship visit with Happiness Bag. We danced our socks up the entire night. We headed back to lodging where the team enjoyed a movie and then headed to bed.

Effingham, IL

Today we had a 115 mile ride to Effingham, IL. Once we crossed the Mississippi the terrain flattened out which made the ride much easier. After we arrived we had a sponsored dinner with the Elks and headed out on the town before hitting the hay.

St. Louis, MO

Today we had a short 55 mile ride into St. Louis.  For the last 25 miles of the ride we had a full police escort into the city which was incredible.  It took us about an hour to ride into the city passing through all the stop lights with the cops.  We arrived at the a park near the Arch and had tons of family and friends cheering us on.  That night we had dinner at an older alums house.  We departed dinner and headed over to Sky Zone.  Sky Zone is a recreational center where the floor is made of trampolines.  The team enjoyed an hour of trampoline dodgeball before heading back to the hotel for the night.

We all woke up for an awesome breakfast at the hotel and headed off to a friendship visit.  The whole afternoon I fished with some people from the Arc of St Louis which was a great time.  For dinner we headed over to Whitey Holt’s house, a member of the 2009 Trans-America team.  After dinner we headed to bed early again to try to catch up on sleep.