Andover, Massachusetts

Also known as ride day number one, this morning we said farewell to our church and packed up all our belongings on the trailer. We rode to Winthrop beach a couple miles away and met up with families that were there to see their cycling children off on an amazing adventure. Linda and Ray came out but we really only got a couple of minutes to take pictures before we were off on our ride again. Basically this means Linda and Ray drove two and a half hours to see me for two minutes before they had to turn around and drive two and a half hours back home. Thanks mom and dad for making the trip and for taking home my 45 extra clif bars and sweatshirt that wouldn't fit in my pack. Today we only had to ride 25 miles so there were some good times to build up decent speed and really push the tempo. Everyday we get a cue sheet that has directions and mileage on it for the day. It gets really difficult to balance the bike stay out of potholes avoid cars read directions and look for street signs while cycling. I was actually in the lead group today because I was feeling the need for speed. The lead group has the responsibility of chalking the route. Every so often and on tricky turns we stop and write on the street which way to turn. Most of my friends would be shocked to know that I was in charge or directions and didn't get lost once. Other groups weren't so lucky as a couple of times we had to go hunt them down and set the on the right route. We got to our host site at 1130 and unloaded the trailer. We're staying at a middle school tonight I'm Andover but not just any school, some super fancy schmancy private school. It is honestly nicer than my college. Tuition for pre k is $13,000 per year and increases gradually to $26,000 per year for ninth grade. Holy wow do they have nice stuff though. We all watched the world cup game on the projector in the theater. It was also nice to have a shower; not that it really matters because every second is spent sweating anyways. It's great to have an athletic group of people because everyone will play games and sports at the drop of a hat. We played kickball, messed around on a playscape, played knockout, parachute, more basketball, wiffle ball, catch with a baseball and a couple others. When we got the school lunch was waiting in the beautiful and air comditioned building. The spread was a variety of all you can eat panera sandwiches and every kind of girl scout cookies. Of course since it was all laid out before me, i binge ate. After running around for hours after lunch to pass the time, we went to the Weber's house in Andover. They are the family of Chris Weber who did B&B in 2005 and was later killed in a pedestrian accident. They were nice enough to open their home to us and cooked marinated steak tips, BBQ chicken, sausage and pepper grinders, so many different pasta fruit and beam salads and a dessert spread out of this world. Of course I ate my face off once again. We spent the evening at their house playing a semi intellectual group game called contact which was so much fun. We did athletic things there then came back to the school and did more athletic things. I had to shower again at the end of the night... Maybe I shouldnhave packed a towel after all, but I'm using one of my shirts to double as a towel whereas a towel can only be used as a towel. I think thus was more resourceful and saved me room packing so I still stand by the decision. I definitely run around, play more games, and work up a lot more sweat than others on the trip. Some people think I'm nuts because I'm so active. Others ask how I can have so much energy. The answer is simple: I eat like a horse. Life does not get any better than this, I am truly livin the dream.

Today was our first build day and we did some demolition. It sounds more fun than it actually is. Everyone had these ideas of making big booms when it was really just a lot of dust sweat and small detail work. It was still a great day and with the energy of 32 people hard at work we were able to accomplish a lot. The atmosphere was dusty beyond belief and my job on the third floor was to rip out recessed baseboards from this hundred year old structure. They were a real pain in the butt and very difficult to get a purchase point on. The duty started off with a dozen people but at one time I noticed and erie silence only to look around and see I was the only one working and everyone else had bailed. Well one kid went to a walk in clinic because he stepped on a nail so that excuse checks out. The work was incredibly hard and I sweat more than any time recently which made flying dust and particles just stick to me. It was a good experience and I took pride in working my hardest. My acknowledgement goes out to those that do this hard physical labor every day. I was only working alone for a little bit and after lunch was a riled up bunch of people who attacked the floor. We had new energy and morale and better productivity. It turned out to be really fun and I enjoyed my half hour break at the end of the day to chat with the construction supervisor. Dinner was at the Weber's again tonight and they provided another feast. I didn't play any games or sports today because I have no more clean clothes to change into. We were promised laundry today but it got pushed to tomorrow so I washed some clothes in the sink and hung them out to dry... very old school. Everyone was beat from the heavy physical labor of today and turned in early. As I'm always looking for an activity or something mischievous to do I wandered around in search of such things but came up empty handed. Each day I learn more about everyone on this trip and like them more and more. Everyone has a cool story of their own and I've been very impressed with the achievement driven nature of all. There are no slackers here.