June 2: Bloomington
today was difficult. it was a time of meeting new people and trying to
adjust to them. it was also a day of getting up at 3:45a.m. if you know
anything about college students, it's that 3:45 is not a time to be arising
but rather a time to be thinking about going to sleep. i did not get to
ride much today and unfortunately when i did get to ride, i felt nauseated
and could not ride very far. hopefully things will go better tomorrow.
i'm not quite sure how i will do on this tour in terms of keeping all of my
mental faculties about me, because it someimes gets difficult not being
able to have any time to yourself or having anyone of similar age on the
tour.
June 3: Litchfield
each day is a new experience. i learned that illinois is not QUITE as
boring as i thought it was. always having gone through illinois by car,
it seemed to be nothing more than a falt monotonous state which did little
more than lull weary drivers to sleep or allow the police to give me a
speeding ticket (it only happened once, but still...). while riding today,
i saw a beauty in the flats of illinois. since i had to look at things
more intensely and for a longer amount of time, i noticed more.
June 4: Gray Summit
Wow! What a rush! today's ride went through my old hometown and current
summer home (with my parents). we got to see the chain of rocks ridge and
then we got to cross the mckinley bridge over the mississippi river into
st. louis with a police escort. all of my family was at our lunch stop
(Ted Drewes). it was the best day so far.
June 5: Lebanon
today went from gray summit, mo to lebanon, mo. today susan notorangelo and
i rode 40 miles on the tandem. on the uphilss we were a little slow, but
on one of the downhills we actualy got up to 41.8 miles per hour. that was
great. Tonight i am leaving the tour foe two days to visit a few of my
friends in joplin,mo. i will miss the tour but will have fun with my
friends.
June 17: Winslow
Today we went from Chambers,AZ to Winslow,AZ. Arizona is much more
desolate than New Mexico. Today most of the day our route was on the
intertate, unfortunately. I decided somewhere in the middle of New Mexico
a few days ago that in order to get an idea of the true beauty of a state,
the interstate is completely insufficient. Not only do you fly by things
on the interstate, but also the interstate goes through the flat portions
of the state. In New Mexico, it was so wonderful to be
on a small, windy
road where solitude is forced. There were no semis flying past with the
strong gusts of wind and noise as well as the exhaust fumes to smell.
However, today I found it quite unnatural to be riding along past untouched
land in its preserved(although relatively barren)state while listening to
the whine of the semis flying by. At one point, when we were riding on the
dirt road option we did get to see a pronghorn antelope, a few jackrabbits,
and many prairie dogs. Sue Notorangelo also pointed out to me how many
plants grew near the side of the road. I had been wondering why there was
so mach more green next to the highway than out in the open. She told me
the quite logical but unknown to me reason-- all the runoff from the road
allows plants to thrive right next to the highway. Because of that runoff,
there are flowers of orange, yellow, pink, and purple along the highway.
The flowers provided a nice contrast to the few colors in the open of
Arizona. The colors of the soil/sand are beautiful. Going past areas of
slightly different color. Arizona as well as New Mexico, being new states
for me as of this trip, I would gladly return to, for the beautiful
unspoiled nature.
June 18: Williams
Today our route went from Winslow,AZ to Williams,AZ. The ride was
wonderful. Although there was a headwind, it was cooling. Although much
of the route was uphill, it went through beautiful territory. Getting up
into the mountains, the number of trees increased from zero to innumerable.
This evening we went to the Grand Canyon. The view was impressive...if it
hadn't been for all the people there. We started hiking down this trail
into the canyon which was basically a gravel road. There were people
everywhere. I just tried to imagine what it would have been like minus a
few hundred people and also minus the gift shops and little food stands.
We were in a national park, and I was trying to figure out if we were
encountering nature or an amusement park. I still am not quite sure. I
hope to return there with some friends this fall, but I want to hike down
to the bottom and camp in a secluded area--I want to carry in all the
things I'll need and have no connection with the outside world of tourists
and material things and convene with nature and enjoy the company of my
friends. Wouldn't it be nice to escape the material world if just for a
few days?