Day 44-48 Jefferson City, MO - Terre Haute, IN

Day 44 July 24 Jefferson City, MO – Union, MO
Today was a pretty long day filled with some adventure. Midway through the ride we experienced a good ol’ Midwest rain shower. We saw the huge black cloud moving our way and kept going. Before we knew it, we taking mediocre cover on the side of the road and getting soaked. After letting the storm pass, we hopped back on the bikes and finished the day. We pulled up to Union HS around 2:00 and gorged ourselves on some cold pizza provided by a sponsor. After lunch, it was to the sleeping bag for the always-glorious afternoon nap. For dinner we headed to a local restaurant and had a nice meal provided by a few men of the local Rotary Club. We enjoyed a buffet of steak, chicken and other good dishes to fill us up for the evening. We went back to the high school and crashed for the night.


Day 45 July 25 Union, MO – St. Louis, MO
Throughout my night of sleep, I could feel my stomach wrestling with a few things. When I woke up, I decided I was going to get some breakfast and see how I was feeling after that. As we were getting ready to depart, I made the game time decision to stay off the bike for the day. I hopped in the van and helped the crew guys out along the road. When we arrived to the outer limits of St. Louis, we staged up with a police escort for an arrival at our lunch destination. I actually got to drive the lead van in the caravan and lead the guys to our destination behind the cops. It wasn’t the same as being on the bike but I felt like I was contributing to the team. We arrived at Vito’s Pizza & Pasta and met some families.supporters for a nice lunch. My stomach still wasn’t feeling all that great so I ate a few things and relaxed with the guys. After lunch, we staged back up for an arrival at Keaner Plaza in Downtown St. Louis. We then walked across the street to the ballpark Hilton where we were being put up by our Project Manager’s parents. After we got settled in, we headed to a former Pi Kapps home for dinner with his family. My stomach was feeling much better so I stuffed my face with lots of turkey, green bean casserole and cheesy potatoes. That wasn’t enough so I partook in several pieces of “oohee gooy butter cake.” When we got back to the hotel it was out for a night on the town with the guys. We found a place that had dancing and let’s just say, the 10 of us took over the dance floor.

Day 46 July 25 St. Louis, MO – Day Off
I slept in to 10 and went down to the lobby of the Hilton to grab some breakfast before heading to our friendship visit. We went to a local park and met up with the St. Louis Arc and the St. Louis Society. It was a fun friendship visit that consisted of lunch and some games afterwards. I enjoyed playing human basketball with a big ball and hula-hoops. I played with a young man named Craig. Craig had many physical problems but was eager about playing basketball. Towards the end of the visit, my sister in laws parents showed up. Mr. and Mrs. Rauch came out to see me and it was really fun to see them and catch up. After the visit we headed back to the hotel for a few hours before we headed to the Holley’s for dinner. We went to the house of Jay Holley, our project manager who is from St. Louis. His parent’s are also the one’s that put us up in the Ballpark Hilton. They are great! We enjoyed some down time and good food as well as some good fellowship with some of the Holley’s family friends. After dinner, it was back to the hotel to do some computer things.

Day 47 July 26 St. Louis, MO – Effingham, IL
Today was tied for the second longest day of the trip at 116 miles. It was a long day but it was flat the whole way so it was tolerable. The last 30 miles were tough because we were starting to fatigue and it was pretty hot. We arrived in Effingham around 4:30 and walked across the street to the Middle School for some quick showers. We were staying at the local ARC community center where people with disabilities come to do daily tasks and receive different services. They brought in some pizza from a local pizza joint and we partook while mingling with some of the folks involved in this center. After dinner, four of us went to the local ice cream joint to grab a nice cold treat. I got two scoops of their homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream and a small watermelon slush…it was delicious. After that I made some phone calls and called it a night, I was pretty exhausted.

Day 48 July 27 Effingam, IL – Terra Haute, IN
We woke up at 6:00a.m., grabbed a quick breakfast and hit the road for an 80 mile day into Indiana. The ride was consistently flat surrounded by corn and soybean fields. We got into Terra Haute around 1:00 and staged up for a small arrival at Indiana State University. We were met by some school administrators as well as some Pi Kapp brothers from ISU. We had a nice lunch in the school cafeteria and then headed to our lodging at Dr. Pontius’s house. He bought the old Lambda Chi house near campus and fixed it up. It was really big and had lots of rooms. We relaxed for the afternoon and then headed to our dinner and friendship visit at Happiness Bag. This was one of the biggest visits we’ve had thus far. We were outnumbered 4-1. It was multiple organizations from the city at this one event. After some pork sandwiches, it was karaoke time with lots of dancing. I chose to stay out of the dancing and converse with a nice couple that sit on the board at Happiness Bag. They told me that Happiness Bag is an old Korean folklore when you give someone a small bag with a little gift in it that is special to them. Anyways, it was a great visit that ended with us getting an awesome neon green Happiness Bag shirt. That night a big group of us went to see the new Will Ferrell Movie, Step Brothers. It was a good time.