The Hills in the East

So far we have not seen a day of flat land. It's been a great challenge of strength and spirit.

We were in Pennselvania for 4 days. We didn't have any build days here but we still had a great time riding. We have had a few long day in the 80+ miles. It's not so bad but we did have a little trouble on one of the rides. We traveled about 59 miles out of a 70 mile day and his a huge hill with a steep grade. It wasn't an expected hill and everyone had a hard time getting up the hill. We have also been dealing with a couple days of rain. What is nice about this area is that it is usually warm when riding in the rain. I kinda find it fun. Oh... and we also got to go to Hershey, PA!!! That was a lot of fun. We got to go into Chocolate World and see the "Sectet Process" of how the chocolate is made. It was fun. I was tempted to buy the 10 pound block of chocolate but I knew I wouldn't be able to fit it onto my bag. The overall note on Pennsylvania is great. There was never a dull site, great cloud formations and it also gave us our first wheat fields.

We then crossed over into Maryland. This was a very sad day. My poor Camera died. I have been able to take some pics. I did buy a cheep camera for now but I will be looking at Wal-Mart or Best Buy to get a better one. So I am missing a few highlights. Maryland came with more great trees, better roads, and a build day!!! We worked in Cumberland with a local church. There isn't a Habitat Chapter in Cumberland yet but we met a lady that just submitted the paperwork to become an official Habitat Chapter. One group went and built a set of stairs on the back porch of a homeless shelter. These stairs helped them lower their insurance costs because it gave an exit at the back of the building. My group got to hang sheetrock in a unit for low income living quarters. Not as fun.... I got fiberglass all over me. I did get to have a little fun with my video camera thou. I hope I make a good video with my goofy footage.

We then went into West Virginia. By far the most beautiful state we have been in but also the most hilly state we have been in. We did take a lot of country roads which got us lost a lot. But the views have been spectacular!!! I did snap a few pics on my phone. Not as good or easy to do while riding. Some came out nicely. I also got to ride on US-50 for a while today in WV. We also had a thunderstorm, by the way. Most of us got to hang out in the garage of a fire department. Kinda cold but really fun. You'll see the pics. I definitely would not mind coming back to the WV but not on my bike. It would take forever to get somewhere.

I just want to thank everyone that have been sending me text messages while I have been on the road. It is very hard to get back to you while riding. I will try my best to do so but no guarantees. Also thanks for the comments on the blog. Steve, surprisingly I haven't gotten any flat tires yet. And Leslie, trust me when I say it's a lot harder than most of our rides. Debbie, thanks for all the encouragement. I will be getting more pics on when I get a good camera. Maybe I should get one that can get a little wet every once in a while. hehe....

Thanks again for all your prayers and support. Until next time....
~Ryan