"What are Hushpupies?"

So I underestimated the distance that we had actually traveled. According to other rider's odometers we are now actually about 1,850 miles into the ride. This means that yesterday was actually our halfway day! To celebrate we rode 104 miles. Ha! Ok so that was actually already on the trip schedule and had nothing to do with our halfway celebration. But it was still cool that we had our first century (100 miles) ride that day. All in all my first century went really well. Most everyone else felt the same way. I've learned that you can ride way farther than you think you can as long as you have several rest stops, fun people, an overabundence of food, an optimistic view, hills to keep you sane, and of course ice cream. Fun people is probably the most important thing on the list. We've invented several games along the way to keep the entertainment level high. This includes: A.) Seeing how long you can scream while going down a hill (I won), B.) Getting 18 wheelers to honk at you, C.) Counting the number of road kill per mile, D.) Playing "would you rather" (I can't even explain), E.) Playing the spelling game (I lose or should I say loose) We were just so exhausted by the end of the day due to our 4:30 a.m wakeup, 90 degree heat, and of course 104 miles. I was asleep by 7:23 p.m.

We are in Nebraska now. If Nebraska is half as nice as Iowa then I will be happy. So far Iowa has been my favorite state. Who would have thought Iowa would have been so amazingly beautiful and hilly? On a sad note 2 of our riders had to leave. Julie, a national competitor in tae kwon do, received a broken arm from doing tae kwon do at the YMCA and Hanah had to leave for a while to be with a friend in need. But we plan for both to be back soon. They will be greatly missed by all.

On an interesting side note, I found it very funny that most the people on this trip do not know what a hushpuppy is. That's like asking what a French fry is! I never knew that hushpuppies were such a southern food. I also never relized how different things could be up here. Today I had to discribe what a fire ant and a red wasp was. Also, the amount of fried food consumed up here is like 1/4 the amount that would be consumed where I'm from. One of the first things I'm going to eat when I get back is chicken fried steak smothered in gravy (also a dish that many have never heard of) But I love learning new things and seeing how other people do stuff.