in Seattle

We've arrived. It's very exciting but a little surreal. More to come later.

Back in Idaho

So I'm back in Idaho and I've decided that I like northern Idaho considerably better than central. Maybe its just a preference of mountains over potatoes. But the scenery is beautiful. Today I rode the longest gondola in the world up to the top of Kellogg mountain.

After that it was a nice lunch at the lodge, and then after a long ride in the heat of the sun and with some headwinds, we headed in to Coueur D'Alene which is a really cute town with an absolutely gorgeous lake. We are headed into Washington tomorrow, our last state. And after a short ride in the morning we'll be building in Spokane, so for once we'll live up to our name and bike and build all in one day. And then a much needed day off before heading across Washington and the cascades.

I'm a bad blogger

So, I realize that I'm terrible at keeping up this blog. Perhaps its because of the sporadic internet through the Midwest and west. Perhaps its because I'm lazy. Perhaps its because after biking 70 miles I day I'm really tired and just want to go to bed.

Regardless, I am I now in Jackson WY which would be incredible if it wasn't such a tourist trap. Basically it puts Marthas Vineyard to shame. I feel like I could happily live outside of town (perhaps near Hobank Junction, which we rode past on the way in) so that I could enjoy all the scenery, biking, hiking, climbing, rafting, floating, swimming, etc, without the crowds and the endless paraphernalia.

Anyway, today on our day off we drove out of town to a little spot on the Snake River where there is a sharp (90 degree) turn in the river which caused a large deep section right next to a rock cliff, ideal for jumping in. The water was frigid. My rock skipping skills have improved greatly, I realize that I'm a lot wussier than I was when I was little. And all is well with the world. On the way there we drove past the Grand Tetons, which are gorgeous (we're going over that pass tomorrow), and on the way back into town we got stopped by a herd of bison crossing the street.

The scenery in Wyoming has been rather bipolar. Half of the days have gorgeous mountains and the other half have been boring ( although recently they have just been amazing so maybe that was just central Wyoming).

I'm being a little tangential, but a few days ago we went over South Pass, (for those of you who played Oregon Trail at some point in your life ) which was a lot of fun to climb. But after lunch was all headwinds and unhappiness.

Life is excellent. When I get home I'll try and put some sort of cohesive actual journal together ( with some of my pictures) as I have failed miserably at doing that on the road.

Love

Jeffrey

A couple of photos

Just thought you might like to see a couple of photos of me to let you know that I am alive and well in the midwest.

Jeffrey

finally the Midwest

So, the last time I posted was in Poughkeepsie, which means that lots has happened since then.

On the 7th we biked to White LakeNewYork in the pouring rain. It was rather terrible. but the people at White Lake were excellent and after dinner they took us to see the site of Woodstock, which is becoming the Bethel Woods Center for performing arts, kind of similar to Tanglewood. The New York Philharmonic is supposed to play there soon.

After that we went across another state line and headed into a long trek through the hills of Pennsylvania. We got into Scranton on the 8th after a refreshingly nice day of riding. and to celebrate that I was about to get a day off, I went to bed early.

The 9th ( my birthday ) was spent at a restore near Scranton. Restores are an extension of habitat that gets donated building materials and uses them for habitat houses and sell them to benifit habitat houses. The person at the store heard it was my birthday and got me a very nice cake and after a rendition of happy birthday, I failed to blow out all 20 candles ( I missed 4 ).
That night I went out to a nice Thai reasturant down the street, to get a break from whatever form of beans were being served. At the Thai Reasturant ( which was amazing ) I ordered a fried ice cream for desert which was them set aflame with a flambe sauce. and the 12 bike and builders in the reasturant started singing to me. Then the lights dimmed and a disco ball turned on and all of the waitresses started dancing and singing a disco rendition of happy birthday. It was perhaps the funnyist thing ever.

The next night we stayed in a really pretty chuch near Tawanda, PA. there was a really nice farm dog. the weather was absolutly perfect. It was very gorgeous in every way.

I am now in Iowa and Internet access has been scarce and I am far behind in my blog. I just wanted to send you some news. You can stay posted at the Bike and Build site http://www.bikeandbuild.org/follow/journals/P2S06.php.

If I don't find internet soon, I wanted to make sure I wished everyone a happy 4th of July.

From the cornfields of Iowa,

Jeffrey

Poughkeepsie

So far so good,

The trip started a little bumpily in providence as we headed out in the pouring rain, but after navigating out of the city with only small incident ( I got a flat ) we headed out to pampered Connecticut where we spent the night at First congregation Church. We made ourselves a small dinner, and a few bike and builders from last year stopped by and brought us ice cream.

In the morning we woke up far too early and headed to pampered, Connecticut. Where we got a very friendly welcome, and the church we stayed at had a pot luck supper for us. We gave our first presentation on affordable housing which went really well. The next morning they made us breakfast and we headed on our way to Kent. Kent is a beautiful little tourist trap catering to the people who wander around Connecticut antiquing. We stayed at the Kent School , a gorgeous little private school that more closely resembles a small liberal arts college.

Today we got into Poughkeepsie, ( where I was born) and we're being put up in St Pauls.

The entirety of northern Connecticut is beautiful. The scenery has been amazing and my trip so far has been wonderful. I'm looking forward to heading through New York and into Pennsylvania.

First real post

So, I'm leaving in two days. Which means lots of packing and getting things ready. Below is the trip schedule. I'm very excited, and I'll keep you posted