Ketchup

Hello! So, from lack of internet and computer access as well as sleeping instead of blogging, I have not written since Charlottesville! Now I am in Ohio! Actually, I am almost out of Ohio. I will now attempt catching up (or ketching up, if you prefer.)

5/27 = Charlottesville = 2nd build day: I ended up working at the Restore in Charlottesville which consisted of me labeling a bunch of paint cans and moving stuff. What was most neat about that day was just seeing how much stuff gets donated and bought in a Restore. Reusing household items makes so much sense, economically and environmentally. Also, a majority of the money gets donated to local Habitat projects. That night we went to Gabe's (leading B&B this summer and has done at least one B&B in the past) house for dinner where we had homemade salsa and three hummus's and turkey, normal, and veggie burgers! Also delicious cupcakes and dark chocolate Reese's. We also had our first town meeting which is where we all sit in a circle and share our highs and lows for the trip so far! The picture above is from the next day when we biked 85 miles from Charlottesville to Lexington (Mark is in the picture with me.)

5/28 = Lexington,VA = 85 miles: We biked almost the whole day on the Blue Ridge Parkway which was absolutely breath taking the whole time. Literally and figuratively. It was probably my favorite day of all. Mostly because of the mountains and the company and the conversation and the weather. I was with Mark and Andy as well as Zack for a lot of the time and we all got to know each other a lot better especially because we had to take frequent hug/pee/snack breaks to be able to take in the amazing views. A common phrase by me was, "this is so pretty I want to cry." The road down from the Parkway and into Lexington allowed us to easily hit 40 mph! So much fun. We got to Lexington with much time to spare before the huge storm hit but others were not so fortunate. At least we got a bunch of free pizza.

5/29 = Marlinton, WV = 79 miles: Everyone was a bit sore from the day before but the terrain didn't provide much of a break. Some would argue that it was a harder day. Basically we had three big mountain passes but I personally love those mountains and loved the view even more. My appetite officially kicked up on this day and I was able to eat 5 elephants and 33 carrots. Not actually, but probably close (and I continue to.) Mark was my constant riding partner which was quite excellent and I was also able to talk with some of the other people that we rode with for bits of the trip. We were really set on finding a spot to jump in the river. While we sort of failed on that we did get to see a huge snapper turtle and talk to a man that was in the explosion where 29 coal miners were killed. It is amazing the people we meet and the conversations that we have with them. The dinner in Marlinton was provided to us by about 15 congregation members and consisted of every type of delicious food in the whole world. There was so much of it that there was even left overs, which is a every strange happening for our group. That evening a group of us and the church members played music and all sang together and we did a bit of dancing. Oh yeah! And we went across the WV boarder and everyone still calls me enormous emma!