Week 3 Happenings

We've had a lot of stuff going on since my last blog post. The past week has been pretty tough on the bike...we've been climbing steadily for three weeks now. I'm currently looking at the Tetons in the distance as we relax at an elevation of 6200 ft. in Driggs, ID (very close to Jackson Hole, WY).

Our first stop out of Missoula was Philipsburg, MT.  They have a world famous candy shop there where I ashamedly spent $12 on candy (they had some of the best fudge I've ever tasted).  We climbed up yet another pass to several amazing sights:

This is the waterfall at the top of the climb.

This is Georgetown Lake.  The water was absolutely motionless, giving a perfect reflection.

We then rode to Butte, MT (the day before our 2nd century) and had the best friendship visit so far. We had a dance party, where I definitely confirmed that I do not know how to dance. Since then we've been to Bozeman and West Yellowstone:

We are currently staying at the Cushman Ranch where they have fed us amazing food and given us the opportunity to horseback ride, shoot skeet, drive golf balls, hike, fly fish, play poker, and lounge in the pool/hot tub.  They have also been taking guys off-roading in their H1 Hummer.

On a side note, I have lost ~7 lbs. already (my shorts are getting loose!).  For you dieticians out there, here is a typical day in terms of meals:

Breakfast: half a bagel w/ peanut butter, cup of cereal w/ milk, juice, and half a banana

Lunch: Sandwich (two slices of ham or turkey and cheese), chips, two carrots, two cookies

Dinner: 2 large helpings of spaghetti w/ meatballs, salad, 2 pieces of garlic bread

4th Meal: Big Mac meal from McDonald's

This is in addition to eating Clif bars on the road and other snacks in lodging.  Dinner will vary significantly from place to place (for example, last night we had ribs, chicken, pork medallions, coleslaw, potatoes, bread, and as many chips, dip, shrimp, and other assorted appetizers we could eat).  We're practically starving out here...

Unfortunately, tomorrow we have to leave, starting a tough stretch (5 centuries in 6 days through the mountains).  We have all really enjoyed our time here, but we have to get moving.  I'll post more after a few days.  In the meantime, enjoy the week!

Edit: I forgot to post this picture of a billboard we saw on the road:

Apparently Rocky Mountain Oysters are a big hit here...

Finally Out of Pacific Time

Whew...

We finally managed to make it out of Pacific time and into Mountain time.  After leaving Spokane, we've not really been doing a whole lot in terms of team programming.  We haven't had a friendship visit in about 4 days, but hopefully we've got one coming up soon.  Also, let me address something really quickly: with most of our friendship visits, we are not allowed to take pictures, so I probably won't be posting too much in the way of the people I get to interact with.  I will say, however, that the visits have been amazing - in Spokane I got to hang out with a little girl named Sarah who was absolutely awesome.  We got to see the variety show the Arc of Spokane County made, a hilarious and dramatic reinterpretation of some popular movies (Ghostbusters, Alice in Wonderland, the Lord of the Rings, etc.).  I literally laughed out loud about 20 times - these people are amazing.  Also, at one of the sponsored dinners, the owner was a classic car collector:

Since Spokane, we've had several fairly easy bike rides (on mostly flat ground).  We got into Idaho, the state of beautiful mountains and terrible weather.  It was cold (around ~45 degrees) and rainy every day we were in Idaho:

Today we had our first real challenge in about a week: scaling Thompson's pass:

We ended up climbing about 4500 feet total today over the course of 73 miles.  It was extremely tough, but we at least made it through Idaho.  Now we're in Thompson Falls, MT, and we are nearing our next day off in Missoula.  I've gotten word that in a couple of weeks we'll be getting massages in Jackson Hole; words cannot describe how excited I am for that.  In the meantime, we'll be doing more friendship visits and hopefully seeing some more amazing views.  That's all I've got for now - I'll update when I've got more to share.  Hope everybody has a good weekend and a great Father's day!

P.S. - the moment you've all been waiting for...my unbelievable tan lines:

This is after 2 weeks.  I can only imagine what it will look like after 2 months.

P.P.S. - if you want to see more pictures from the trip, visit the official Flickr of Push America

Some Updates

Whew...what a week.  We're all getting MUCH better on the bikes, but we still have a ways to go.  Yesterday we did our first century - 115 miles in one day - and I promptly passed out (not before I got to swing around some of the cutest little girls in the whole world at a friendship visit).  At our lunch crew stop, a little dog came running out to visit us:

We also got to see some cool Wind Turbine farms out in the middle of the country (Matt Henry, if you're reading, this is for you):

Today we went a measly 75 miles from Pullman, WA (home of the Washington State Cougars) to Spokane, WA (home of Gonzaga, whatever their mascot is).  We had our first police escort into Spokane which was pretty cool.  We've got a much needed off day tomorrow to recover and work all the soreness out of our legs and rear ends.  It's still hitting me exactly what we're doing, but I'm so thankful I decided to do Journey of Hope.  I've only been here for two weeks, but I already feel like I've known these guys forever.  That's all I've got for now, I'll post more when we get going again.  Have a good week everybody.

P.S. - get ready for some pictures of ridiculous tan lines.  I already look like a raccoon.

First Days

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Mt. Ranier:

What a gorgeous view...but I'm getting ahead of myself.  The first day getting out of Seattle was a little hectic, but once we were out of the city, we got moving quickly to our destination for the night, Enumclaw.  There we had a friendship visit with the Ashley House, an amazing organization that helps children with disabilities.  It was 45 miles from Seattle to Enumclaw.  Our next destination was all the way in Yakima, a steep 125 miles away.

 To get to Yakima, we would have to pass over two mountains, climbing more than 7000 feet.  Wow.  I think we're all feeling it a little bit right now (I'm currently watching a groggy team struggle to get out of bed), but we'll be ready to go in a little bit.  The views we experienced in Mt. Rainier National Park were unbelievable - here's a sampling:

Today we have another 75 miles to go to Richland.  I'll post more pictures and updates when I have time.  until then, take it easy.

Arrival

I've been extremely busy since arriving in Seattle.  After assembling my bike and trying on my uniform (looking super sexy), I've been in meetings forever.  It seems like we've got a really solid team - we've got a great group of guys.  A lot of guys I've met are uncannily similar to people I know from home and school...anyway, we got a chance visit to the flagship REI store - a behemoth of a store - and are about to go to our first friendship visit.  I'll post more when there is more to post.

Headed to Seattle

I'm super excited about heading out to Seattle tomorrow morning to start the adventure of a lifetime.  Goodbye east coast - I'll see you in about 2 months!