Every day, we have a couple hours that we can hang out because we dont have a friendship visit until later, and during that time I can either run errands, write a blog, or sleep, and over the past week I have chosen sleep every single time. Now we are in Missouri, im as caught up on sleep as I possibly can be, and I have some time to write my blog. Because I am so far behind, im just going to highlight the main places that we have stopped, Colorado Springs, Wichita, Olathe, and Columbia. In Colorado Springs we had a day off and it was a lot of fun, we were able to get an in depth tour of the olympic training center form the public relations manager of the facility, he works directly with the sponsorships from NBC and other large companies. One of the coolest parts was that we had the opportunity to talk to some of the paralymipians about their experiences and training. The athlete that we talked to was a swimmer and trained every day of the week, she was a really fun girl to talk to, and then later in the conversation we found out that she won three silver medals in the Beijing olympics! We also found out that when Michael Phelps trains there twice a year and when he comes there to train, they have a whole second buffet specifically for him because he eats so much of specific foods.

The next day, we entered Kansas..... Kansas is a flat state filled with corn and smells that you never really want to experience if you dont have to. We had an arrival at our friendship visit and had a great lunch, we all sang karaoke for a long time, and if none of you know, I have a stellar voice.... if you cant sense the sarcasm, you should. But anyway I partook in singing Taylor Swift Love song with one of the girls at the visit. I had a lot of fun with it and got very theatrical, at the part of the song that says "He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring..." I knelt to the ground and pulled out an imaginary ring. Overall I had a great time at the visit and was able to spend a ton of time with the people apart of Arrowhead West. That night we ate dinner at the local archery club. After dinner we got to test out our talent with the bows and arrows, and et’s just say that even though I was pretty good with a bow, I am pretty lucky that we do not rely on hunting with bows as our main source of food. The next day, we had an 80 mile day into Wichita, where we had another great arrival to a friendship visit where we played Bingo and had lunch. One thing that I have found that is pretty cool about Kansas, at least the western side of Kansas is that there are a lot of Broncos fans, so at most of the visits im able to talk about football! That evening we had a sponsored meal from a parent of a 4 time Journey of Hope member, and they were very nice and hospitable to all of us. That night we went out on the town to enjoy our night off, and in the morning we had a sponsored breakfast. Breakfast is by far the best meal to sponsor because we are used to a half or bagel, half of banana, and a small cup of cereal, so when we are able to feast in the morning it makes for a great start to the day. From there we went to an afternoon friendship visit and lunch. That evening we had a friendship visit with a local organization that aids people with disabilities to become independent. I met a woman who was just able to purchase a walker from the funds that we donated to the organization. It was very fulfilling to see that the hard work that I put into fundraising has made a difference and allowed a woman to continue to live independently. I also met the CEO of an organization called Lose Your Training Wheels. The organization teaches people with disabilities to ride bikes. They hold camps around the country each summer. That night we took a quick swim in the hotel pool and called it a night.

We have reached our mid-way point and most southern point of the trip in Wichita. From here we start heading north and counting down the next 2000 miles till Washington, DC. The day after Wichita, we had a 60 mile ride into Olathe, KS. We arrived at City Hall where the Mayor of the city proclaimed July 19, 2010 to be Push America Day which was a pretty awesome experience to have a whole community accept us so readily. We departed City Hall to the Kansas School for the Deaf which was our lodging for the next two days. After showering up we went to Marc Cameron's house to get a tour. Marc is a quadriplegic that had a diving accident in his 20's that left him paralyzed from the neck down. His entire house is accessible through buttons that he can press with his head on his wheelchair and through a lift system. Whether it is using the computer, answering the phone or opening doors, everything can be done from his chair. It was a really eye opening experience to see how someone who is a quadriplegic can live completely independently. That night, we ate a Texas Roadhouse and we stuffed our faces. If you dont know this about me, you will know now, I love bread... I must have eaten 10 rolls before dinner came out which proved to be a bad idea because I barely finished dinner, but in the end, it was so worth it. The next morning we had an omelet breakfast followed by a friendship visit at a local therapeutic center for children. I dont know what it is about our friendship visits with kids, but for some reason I always end up paired with the destructive kids that like to beat you up, so every time I leave these visits, I have bruises and slobber all over me, so hurray for that! That night we had a tailgate dinner and went to the Royals game, although the Royals are terrible, we had a great time at the game. Part of that fun arose from the gail force winds and hurricane rain that poured for 45 minutes before the game. James and I posed in the rain while people took pictures, only to later go out onto the field to be recognized on the jumbotron while soaking wet from the rain. We went to bed pretty early as we had three 5 am wake ups in a row...

We had a 75 mile day today into Missouri and it was extremely hilly... My legs were on fire basically all day, but we made it though. We arrived at the University of Missouri Pi Kapp chapter house which is our lodging for the evening, and it is an amazing house! It is a dry campus, and the house used to be a sorority house, and it still looks like a sorority lives there. My old chain was stretched out and started to skip gears so it was time for a new one, so I replaced my chain and now my bike shifts like it is brand new. The brothers and alumni of the chapter grilled burgers and hot dogs which were really delicious. Im going to call Sara and go to bed now because we have another 5 AM wake up tomorrow which is really starting to get old, but at the same time im getting used to it.

Until next time, enjoy the ride!