Join me as I bike Sea to Sea

Distance Biked Today: 38.8 miles

Time Spent Biking: 2:36

Avg Speed: 14.8 mph

Max speed: 28 mph

Total Distance Biked: 274 miles

Making breakfast and lunch

The gear trailer

Me, Joy and Rick showing our dirty faces

Here's our mobile bathroom

Manley Baarda and his dirty face

Art Smit cleaning his bike

Today the ominous clouds that greeted us when we got out of our tents reminded us of the rain that fell last night. Even though this area, a semi-arid desert, has less than 10 inches of precipitation a year it was misty for the whole morning. The cooler weather that accompanied the rain was a welcomed change from the hot weather every other day this week.

I biked with Doug, Joy and Rick today and to make up for the wet somber conditions we lightened the mood by trying to sing all the patriotic songs that we could think of. All the cyclists, including the Canadians, also celebrated America's independence day by placing small flags on each of our bikes.

Along the way, a family put out signs welcoming us to the area. I cheered as I went by, but I saw the family standing outside talking to some other bikers. Later I felt bad that I hadn't stopped and chatted for a bit.

With such a short ride, everyone arrived to camp fast. However the rain led to a lot of dirty faces. The extra time allowed me to clean my bike and grease the chain, organize my stuff, make some phone calls, and spend time writing down all the stories.

After not having internet at camp again, several others and I went to Mc Donald's to use their wireless internet, however we decided against it once we found out we would have to pay for it.

For dinner, a local church provided a great Fourth of July meal. We were warmly greeted and had appetizers waiting for us, along with water. For the main meal we had tacos. I loved it. They were very welcoming and they felt privileged to be a part of our trip. It's exciting to see everyone who is getting involved with what we are doing.

After the meal, someone walked up and wanted to know if I was David. So I said, "yes". Was I the David from Grand Rapids? Yes. Was I from Shawnee Park? (at this point I'm wondering what was going on...) Yes. Then knowing that I was the David they were looking for introduced themselves as Randy and Cherie Altena (not sure of the names). They are related to friends from back home and actually were helping out with the meal. I wasn't expecting this, so it was a welcomed connection.

Of course a Fourth of July wouldn't be complete without fireworks, so a church welcomed us to their root beer floats before the fireworks. What a great way to celebrate. The fireworks were great to watch, but I was tired and looking forward to my sleeping bag. I have to get rest for the next day!

Here is a time lapse video of us setting up camp!

Setting up camping at Sunnyside Christian High School - Time Lapse from Dave Teitsma on Vimeo.