Missoula, Montana

June 18, 2009

Today we woke up at 5 am and we were on the road by 6:15 am. It was a very busy morning for the team. We had to ride 85 miles before noon or we would get racked to make it on time to our scheduled lunch with Adventure Cycling at 1 pm. We cycled on the interestate today, which was challenging. Montana is one of three states in the country that allows cyclists on their interstates. There was a significant amount of construction on our route, so we had to pay careful attention to the road. It was a real rush when semi-trucks would drive past our bikes going 70 mph.

After an intense morning, we made it to our team meeting area by noon and organized into two pacelines to ride into the city. It was great meeting the people from Adventure Cycling. Adventure Cycling organizes cycling routes for individuals across the country and around the world. Their hospitality was wonderful and at the end of the visit they gave our team stickers that said "I Ride Therefore, I Transam." We all placed the stickers on our bikes.

After meeting with Adventure Cycling, we departed for Hellgate Highschool, our lodging site. Tonight we had a very special friendship visit. We visited a home with eight residents. They could not talk much, so we communicated with yes and no questions. This was a challenging visit, but it was really rewarding. The caretaker told us that the residents look forward to the JOH team stopping each year and it is like Christmas to them. The residents loved having people visit. We ate wonderful pork ribs for dinner. After dinner we visited a local ice cream shop and headed back to the school to relax. Tomorrow is a day off!

June 19, 2009

Waking up at 9:30 am was amazing this morning! The team has enjoyed some time to relax today. I did laundry this morning and then made some phone calls to catch up with friends and family. This afternoon we visited a local pizza parlor and then checked out some other local hang-outs. We went to see the new movie "Hangover." Tonight we had dinner provided by a Pi Alpha (a Pi Kappa Phi member who has completed the Journey of Hope). We ate dinner and played volleyball at a local park before heading back to the school for the night. Tomorrow we are off to visit Philipsburg, MT.