Saturday, June 7, 2008

Gettin' faster and takin' naps

Hello all. I come to you today from St. Louis, and the campus of UMSL. The past couple of days have been great. Yesterday I was sluggish in the morning, having to battle 30 mph wind gusts through the farmlands of Illinois. I have become accustomed to taking little naps throughout the day, when I feel that I am having trouble pedaling. After lunch, I turned it on and caught up to the front of the pack. We were riding along a levy, with floodplains all around us. I knew the mighty Mississippi River was near. We crossed a couple of tributaries on our way into a beautiful but stinky swampland and island park which would lead us over the great muddy waters of the Mississippi. We came upon a bridge and peered over into a dank swampland covered with moss and low country foliage. It was breathtaking. The bridge we were on continued immediately out over the Great River. It was Muddy and HUGE, just like I remember from my childhood in the Big Easy. We stopped, snapped some pics, then continued on our way. We made perfect time to get to a bus station just as a thunderstorm broke and tornado sirens began to ring in our ears. We waited here until the lightning cleared, then cruised through the pouring rain into the city of St Louis. Warm showers and a great dinner provided by Anne's parents awaited us and then we went out on the town. After getting "home" and very minimal sleep time, we arose to tackle our build day. We spent the first half of the day painting and cleaning up the house of a local Cincinnati woman. Anne's parents then provided another great dinner at their house, and we relaxed in and around their pool for hours. In short, these past couple days have possibly been the best of my summer so far. From minimal soreness after biking in St. Louis to swimming in the pool and painting houses, I am having a blast.

5 comments:

Mimzy09 said...

Hi Cory -
It's good to see some happy and exciting days for you. You guys need a little R & R sometime!
Keep it up, Cory! We can't believe how far you guys have already gone. Your time seems to be passing very quickly. Continued blessings.
Love, Auntie Peg

mom said...

Hi Big Guy,
I remember that massively wide muddy Mississippi River well and the times I would take you and Kirt there to "explore" its banks. I never would have dreamed you'd be biking across it in St. Louis!
Rocco had fun with Clyde and Bruschi this weekend and he sends you slobbery kisses. He misses you very much and so do we all.
Ride on!
Love, Mom

Holly said...

Hi Cory....GREAT JOB!!!! I enjoy reading your journals...thank you so much for taking the time to write. Please tell Colin to WRITE IN THE JOURNAL...and GET HIS BLOG FIXED! His blog page won't pull up...has an error message. Keep up the good work...I know you are having a blast...ENJOY!.. Tons of hugs. Holly

Amy O. said...

Kool-Aid anyone? Hope you were safe in that storm in Illinois, I was happy to offer shelter to the rest of the gang that came through. My kids were thrilled with you guys and I have really cute pictures! Thanks for stopping by, stay strong and keep up the great work!
Amy O.

Unknown said...

Hi, Cory!!! I'm so proud of you and the fantastic job you are doing! I'm so glad that you are getting a little rest and revive time. God will provide what you need, and I thank Him for this. I am enjoying reading your journal and wish I could do what you are doing! Thanks for doing it for both of us! You continue to be in my prayers daily and I'm right there with you! Keep up the wonderful work and peddle on, Big Guy!!! claudia =^..^=