Whirlwind

So you have probably been wondering what the Hoxsie gals have been doing for the past 2 or 3 months! And like a good blog follower you have checked back regularly to only find NOTHING NEW! No worries tho, a new post is here to save the day!

I am here to announce that I am working on a new blog for a social media class. This class is through MSU and will count towards my masters degree. I am taking it online and it has been a struggle to study and work on homework. I expected the class to be easy yet this week has really given me trouble.  With no experience and little resources I am tackling Google Analytics.

Now more about my blog. One of the recent trends in my life has been work with non profit organizations. I love the work and the grass root initiative that non profits have. They are full of spunk, passion, and creativity. The new blog called "The squeaky wheel gets grease" highlights the work of non profits I or my connections work with. I hope to create awareness about issues, publicize the work that the non profits are doing and create conversation surrounding the solutions to todays problems! Please read! I will post about once a week, will gladly take suggestions and welcome guest bloggers!

xoxo Emmalilly

Time flies by when you are having fun!

Sorry I have not blogged in awhile this week has flown by. Here is a little recap of one of my last weeks here in Valencia!

Saturday July 7 - I went on a day trip with the school to Segunto which is a town a half hour north of Valencia. We toured a Roman Theater and learned a little about the history of the town then it was a beach day! The beach there was beautiful!The water was so blue and calm. We attempted to swim to a buoy but then realized that it was much farther than we thought so we just floated in the water for awhile. It was a very relaxing day! Frist photo is Sam, Anna, Sara and I at the theater. Second photo is on the beach!

Sunday July 8 - After a relaxed morning and finishing two papers I headed to the Rio. Sara, Anna, Sam and I had a little photo shoot. It was really hot but still so pretty. Here are two photos from our photo shoot.

Monday July 9 - I went to the Mercado de Russafa in the morning with Anna. There is the normal market and then on mondays the streets are full of vendors. They are selling a variety of things from clothes, shoes and jewelry to random household goods. I got a necklace! I then headed to my 420 class. It was the usual two hour discussion of spanish literature. I had a chill afternoon with Tyler. He got a doner kebab sandwich and we walked the Rio. There are so many people running, walking, biking, hanging out in the Rio even though it is really hot! On the way home we ran into Tyler host padre so I got to meet him which was cool.

Tuesday July 10 - This was a beach day! I went to the beach after my two morning classes and stayed until almost 7. I took a very nice beach nap and got in a good swim. I laid not under my umbrella for about an hour to improve my tan. I am actually fairly tan for me but its mostly just freckles.
Anna and I at the beach!

MSU in the sand!

Wednesday July 11 - I slept until my afternoon class. Portland has international nights once a week to help people practice their english and spanish. I went and ended up talking to two guys and one guy from France. We spoke in english at first to help them practice and then in spanish. We just talked about random things but it was fun to talk to locals and practice my spanish.

Thursday July 12 - I had my normal morning classes and then off to the beach. It was a chill normal beach day until I decided that it was time to get buried in the sand. It had been discussed before but never followed through. Nobody besides Chris and I was really into but we wanted to be buried so we started digging. Digging is hard when you do not have a shovel. We used the pole to the umbrella to loosen the sand to make it a little easier.

We finally got a hole big enough so that we could fit in it. We laid down and our friends covered us. They used their feet so there was a lot of sand in my face! Eventually we were buried and good to go! People on the beach looked at us funny. After about ten minutes of laying in the the sand we escaped. Despite being completely covered in sand it was so much fun! 

   After dinner we went out to the beach. Almost everyone from our group came out so it was fun to be all together again! We stayed out until the sunrise and it was prettier than last time.
Genna, Sam, Sara and I at Portland before the beach.

 The start of the sunrise over the Mediterranean!

 It was beautiful!

Friday July 13 - After watching the sunrise I just slept until lunch. I was productive in the afternoon with a little bit of homework. After dinner I went to a local place to play some cards with friends.

Saturday July 14 - I got up and went shopping with Sara and Anna. We went to Colon street and found some good deals! I got a pair of shoes, skirt, tank top and a dress all for 25 euro! I came home for lunch and headed to the beach. A good beach nap is always great! I had dinner with just my madre because my roommate went out. She made me pizza! It was nice to hang out with her. After dinner we watched part of a movie. There are no commercials during movies on TV here  or at least not during the one we watched. I headed out witha  few people to the beach. It was my last saturday here in Valencia so we danced the night away!

Sunday July 15 - Today is a homework day:( I have three exams this week so Iam working on finishing the study guides. I am going to explore old town after I put in some studying.

Happy 4th of July

Monday July 2 - Monday was a chill day. I slept in until 11 and then went to class. After a nice walk in the Rio I came home to work on my project. I had to do a powerpoint presentation about the attitude toward nudity and sex in Spain.

Tuesday July 3 - I had my presentation in the morning, it went very well! To celebrate being done I went to the beach! I am loving the beach more and more everyday! I still lay under my umbrella a majority of the time I am there because I do not want any sunburn ruining my fun!

Wednesday July 4 - 4th of July and my anniversary with Jon Spain style. I was able to skype Jon for about an hour in the afternoon before he was off for his day of holiday fun which was so nice! After I skyped I went to the beach! It was a little windy on the beach so not too unbearably hot. I am getting tanner and tanner each day aka I have a lot of freckles! To celebrate the 4th we went to the American bar Portland. Portland was serving american food all afternoon and was full of people who were here traveling and studying. I met students from Cedarville Ohio, Iowa State, Virginia and North Carolina State. It was fun to hear about their travels. There was no parade or fireworks or Mackinac Island so it did not really feel like the 4th of July. I will just have to see some fireworks when I get home! Below is Sam and on on the 4th! We both dont really own any red, white and blue so we just wore cute dresses:)

Thursday July 5 - In my morning class we had a speaker come in and talk about the Camino de Santiago. It was a really nice presentation and made me want to travel and do something big! After class I went to the beach again! I took a nice siesta on the beach. We got a spot right near the water so I could hear the waves right next to me better. After dinner we went to a local bar to hang out. We then went to a discoteca on the beach. We stayed to watch the sunrise over the Mediterranean Sea.

Friday July 6 - I slept in until lunch. We had rice and a fried egg for lunch which was not very filling. I am excited to eat normal food when I get home! I have already put in my requests to my mom of what I want! After lunch I went shopping with Anna and Sara. There are a ton of sales here in July so practically all of the stores are having  rebajas. I wanted to get a cute dress but didn't fall in love with any but I did get a bag. I came home and took a nap until dinner.

Tomorrow I am going on a day trip with the school to see a roman theatre.

Owling in Madrid

Last weekend I went to Madrid with three friends. It was a great relaxing weekend. It is so nice to travel with four people instead of the large group like in Barcelona. We rediscovered owling so we owled all the city. I will tell you about our weekend through pictures!

We rode avanza bus there. As we were getting on the bus we were worried we were going to be really warm on the bus. It was quite the opposite, the AC was on high the whole four hours. I had the goosebumps!

 Our first night we grabbed dinner at a restaurant near our hostel. I had broken eggs which is two fried eggs on top of french fries. It was interesting. We explored after dinner. The city is beautiful with so much to see. We found a concert in the streets. Below is a fountain!

 We owled too!

 Saturday morning we got up and had breakfast at our hostel. I had toast. We then headed out exploring with our new friend from denmark.

 The streets were shaded by these huge canopies so it was a nice temperature as we walked.

 We went inside the Palacio which was really cool. We werent allowed to take any pictures inside but the view from the courtyard was nice.

 We owled with statues.

 Sunday morning we went to the Real Madrid Stadium. It was so cool to walk around and see it.

 I owled on the field.

 After grabbing some lunch we explored a beautiful park.We only had 2 hours so we couldn't see the whole park but what we saw was beautiful! I do not know if you can see in the picture but you could rent row boats and boat around the little lake area.

It was a fun weekend of exploring. We got back to Valencia during the EuroCup finals game. So I grabbed a taxi home from bus station to drop off my backpack and biked to meet up with others to see the end of the game. SPAIN WON!! The place was crazy! Everyone flooded the streets. People were lighting off fireworks in the streets and dancing and singing. I mostly just watched crazy spaniards. It was fun to be here in Spain when they won though!

We made it!!!

2,050 miles! 28 towns! 20 new friends! 6 flats! 5 weeks! 2 houses repaired! 1 amazing bike ride adventure!

Can't believe it's over so soon!

Thanks for all the support, prayers, an donations!

More reflections to come soon:)

Spain is in the finals!

This is from last friday but internet failed.
Monday June 25 - I had class in the afternoon luckily because my alarm decided not to go off. I woke up at noon and made it to class on time at 12:50. After class I ate my bocadillo in the rio before heading home for a nap. It was a girl birthday on Monday so went to Portland to celebrate with her.

Tuesday June 26 - Tuesday was a beach day. I had early class and got to the beach around 2. It was just genna and I which was nice because I was able to take a good siesta under my umbrella. Sam joined us after a bit and we went in the water which was surprisingly warm.
After the beach we had a big dinner at home. My roommate's mom and aunt came to visit her for ten days. They came to dinner at our house. This was especially fun because her mom doesn't know any Spanish and my host madre doesn't know very much English. Karlie and I had to translate between them. It was weird hearing my host madre, Blanca, speak English. She pronounces words so different. Even though I didn't know karlie's mom it was nice to hear about life in the US. Blanca made a big dinner and was all dolled up and we used the nice table cloth and cups. It was a nice evening.

Wednesday June 27 - being productive here is harder than at home. School work is never on the top of my to do list. I came home from school around four and was going to get ahead on some school stuff before watching the futbol game. In the three hours I was home I did a little bit of research for my project and wrote my essay the 20 minutes before I left. Studying on my bed just results in a siesta.
We watched the game at our usual bar near school. It is crazy how into the games I get. If I were home I probably would not watch games and would hear results from Jon but here I cheer and intently way h the games. This game went into penalty kicks and Spain came out with a W!! Spain is going to the finals!! The bar erupted with noise when Spain made the goal to win the game! I got flagged at the game meaning the Spanish flag covered my face and arms as you can see in the picture. It was such a fun night. On the way home we stopped at the carnival and took a ferris wheel ride . The city view was really cool again.

Thursday June 28 - Today was another beach day! I got to the beach at 130 after my two classes and relaxed until around 630. The water was beautiful and beach siestas are the best.
It was my friend Eileen birthday so we went out and celebrated her birthday after dinner.

I am off to Madrid for the weekend with three friends! I am so excited!

Rounding the last turn

Wednesday (6/27) we rode into Fort Lauderdale, FL. I rode in feeling exhausted, sun burnt and worn down. Tom and I were sweepers that day but most of the time we were fixing my flat ores. After 4 weeks of no flats, I got 2 on Monday and 4 this day. The front tire just didn't want to hold air.

During the ride we experienced heavy rain, light rain, beautiful ocean views, ginormous beach houses on both sides of the road, light breezes and heat. After the last rest stop the group and I met up with a man named Scott who has been following our ride. He helped me with my flat tire and even carried the old tire when we replaced it with a new one.

That night we ate with a community Presbyterian church and watched "We bought a zoo." I really liked the movie and it made we want to visit the Detroit zoo soon! I also visited 2 bike shops to get some fresh tubes and CO2 cartridges for Tom.

Thursday (6/28) we rode to Homestead, Fl. It was about 67 miles. The ride was flat and hot but we had few problems. There were a lot of turns when we went through Miami and so we stopped a lot to chalk for the people biking behind us.

When we got to Homestead some of us went down the street to get food. I got pizza and ice cream and it was delicious! It was a Cuban place and the woman kept talking in Spanish and then changing to English.

Today (6/29) we rode into Marathon Key, FL. It was around 80 miles. I rode with Tom, Alyssa and Christian for the majority of the day. We only made the first rest stop too because we got too far ahead of the van after that. At mule 53 we stopped at Robbies Marina to feed Tarpon! Then at mile 70, Tom blew his back tire. We spent the next hour or two waiting for support and sitting in the ocean! It was so cool and relaxing. The rocks were slippery and rough but we had flip flops to walk around in.

Tonight for dinner we went to a great spot near the 7 mile bridge. It had a pool and like 3 bars and a long dock and a beautiful sunset! We ate really well!

Tomorrow is the last day!! Ahhh!

Going postal

This weekend we spent the night in Daytona Beach, FL! The ride on Saturday (6/24) was very enjoyable. The first 40 miles of riding the sun was rising over the Atlantic Ocean and it was beautiful! I swept with Tom and we spent lots of time marveling at the large beach houses! At the 40 mile mark I switched sweeper duties with Alyssa. So Maranda , Kelsey and I headed out together! We jumped on a bike path and had great fun acting like kids. Out of no where this group of 20 serious cyclists passed us on the road. We started talking back and forth with them and ended up joining their pace line! It was very hard to keep up but also gave me lots of adrenaline! When we arrived at the church I was welcomed with a giant stack of mail! It was a beautiful and exciting site! Kelsey C and I went through our loot and loved everything!

On Sunday (6/25) we went to cracker barrel! I had delicious apple pancakes and a yogurt parfait, yummy. Church was contemporary and I likes the music a lot. The sermon was about Sarah and Abraham. It confused/frustrated me. For the ret of the day we did chores and relaxed. I even played the piano, I forgot how wonderful it is. Maybe once I'm settle in Newaygo I will try and find someone to give me cheap lessons. My mom would like that idea.

Monday (6/26) we biked 94 mike in tropical storm Debbie. I got my first flat tire!!! And then my second flat tire!! All before the first rest stop too. So I changed the tubes and the back tire and was golden from that point on. The wind and rain was hard to ride in and it made me tired. I was pushing my pedals and still only going 15 downhill. St. Sebastian church hosted us and made us surprise dinner. We went to a local ice cream shop and I got a double scoop of strawberry cheesecake and oreo, yum!

Today we only rode 63 miles to Port St. Lucie. It took us longer than usual because there is still lots of headwind .
The little bit of rain we got felt refreshing! Check out the sweet mailbox I found!

Headed further south tomorrow, will be to Key West on Saturday! Wow, time flies!

A weekend of firsts

This weekend was my first...

Carnival in the Rio

Ferris Wheel ride at night

noche de San Juan

time staying on the beach all night

bonfire on the beach

time to witness a legitimate fight

ride in an ambulance

time in an ER waiting room

time at the Spanish hospital

Friday June 22 - This was one of the fridays we had class, so I went to class in the afternoon:( After I took a siesta I met up with Genna, Sam and Anna to shop at a few stores around our houses. I got a new shirt for only seven euro! I headed to Portland to watch part of the Greece vs Germany game. Germany beat Greece 4 to 2. I was planning on going to a jazz festival with a group of people but on the way there we heard there was a carnival in the Rio so we decided to check it out. We arrived at the carnival around 1145pm, so it was fairly empty still. we rode the ferris wheel first. The city was beautiful from the top of the Ferris wheel especially at night. Below is Sam, Genna and I on the ferris wheel.

We rode a couple more rides and headed home around 1am. As we were leaving people were just getting to the fair. The night life here is so much later than back at home. 

Saturday June 23 - I slept in until noon which was really nice. I had to be productive in the afternoon and finish an essay for class. Saturday was the La Noche de San Juan which is a huge fiesta here in Spain. The beaches fill with people who stay there all night long. The tradition is to have a bonfire and at midnight jump over the fire to cleanse yourself from your past. It is also said to write down a wish and put it in the first or let it go in the Mediterranean sea. So around 5 we headed to the beach ready to stay there until sunrise at 635 am. On the bus to the beach we met a guy from South Carolina who was traveling alone in Valencia. He latched on to our group real quick because he knew no spanish so doing anything was very hard for him. The beach was not too crowded when we got there so we stalked out our area. Spain provides free firewood so we got some wood and dug our fire pit in the sand. The guys next to us were clearly experts at this, they brought their own wood and kindling and laughed as they watched us beginners. Below are three of the boys digging the hole for the fire. I was a very good supervisor of the job haha.

   

Before sunset we soaked up the last of the sun rays. I walked the twenty five minute walk down to the port to check it out. The Mediterranean Sea just doesn't get old. It is so beautiful! Below is Genna, Anna and I!

At midnight I jumped over the fire and ran into the water. I let my wish go into the sea, hopefully it comes true! It was crazy the amount of people that were there including people of all ages. I warmed up by the fire after my midnight swim. Our group began to multiple as we made more friends. We met people from all over the world. I took the chill path and sat by the fire most of the night. Around 2am things started to get weird and I could see why everyone warned us to guard our things while on the beach. Sam, Genna and I brought all of our stuff in one backpack so we wouldn't have as much to worry about and we did not bring anything of too much value. One of us was always with the backpack all night. Unfortunately other people in our group were not as careful. A handful of bags and shoes were a bit further from the group with no owners nearby. A guy in our group noticed someone walking and looking around our stuff. He went over to confront him and prevent him from taking our things. 

   This confrontation resulted in a fight and one of our guys in the ER. There were four guys that were fighting 6-8 South Americans that were stealing our things. The fight was worse because it was right next to the fire. As soon as I saw the first punch I immediately grabbed our backpack and stepped away. There was yelling in spanish and english. Our boys were quite intoxicated at this point and very very angry. A kid from our group got kicked in the face while he was down. His face immediately was swollen and bloody. The fight settled as the South Americans ran away. The instant shock of what just happened set in to the group. Two girls realized their backpacks were no where to be found. We tended to the kid who got kicked and we called 112 which is equivalent to 911 in the US. Sam, Genna and I were the ones who were there so we went with him to the police. The police were on the edge of the beach and directed us to the medics. We walked him to medics where it was determined he needed to go to the hospital. I was the lucky friend that rode in the ambulance with him to the hospital. The EMTS were very nice and spoke slowly so I could understand them.

     Ambulance rules are different here than at home though. At home cars pull to the side of the roade and stop when they hear sirens. Here they sow down a little but do not really move that much. We arrived at the hospital. They moved friend from stretcher to a hospital bed. I then had to check him in. This seems like an easy task but it has its challenges. The first challenge is that this friend I have only known for four weeks and all I know about him is that his name is Eddie. This is clearly a nickname for Edgar or Edward, I guessed correctly with Edgar. But his last name I had no idea. So I had no idea his address in spain nor his birthday either. I was a wealth of information. Second challenge was that the front desk was behind glass so it was hard to hear the lady speaking. She spoke very fast spanish and mumbled a little. I managed to get him checked in and then I headed to the waiting room. 

         I found a seat and sat. The room was freezing cold due to the air conditioner and I was wearing a damp swimsuit with a sundress. There were announcements that I could not understand so I just hoped they weren't pertaining to me. After about an hour of sitting there watching tv in spanish, Genna and Sam came. They took a trolley over to meet me. We waited together for another hour and half until finally we recognized one of the announcements. They said his name! We went down and picked him up. He walked away with nothing broken and just a really bad looking face. We grabbed a cab and took him home. 

    So then I found myself walking home carrying an empty cooler and my wallet. The sun had risen and it was already very warm. The streets were empty and the city was quiet. As I unlocked my door my watch read 8:31 am. What a night! I set out the day before with intent of watching the sunrise from the beach of the Mediterranean Sea but instead I watched the sunrise from the emergency room waiting room at a clinic in Spain. After a long crazy night I came across this bible verse 

'What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?' Romans 8:31

We're half way there - Livin' on a prayer

     This week is the half way mark on my trip here in Spain. A month ago yesterday I was saying goodbye in the Detroit airport and a month from tomorrow I will land back in the DTW airport. It is crazy how much has happened since then.
     Today as I walked to school I was reminiscing on that first day when my madre picked me up from the bus and drove me to our apartment. Everything was so unfamiliar to me. Now the roads that were foreign then I now know and are comfortable navigating through. I have already taken midterms for my classes and I am beginning to work on papers and projects.  I traveled to Xativa, Peniscola, Barcelona and Porto! I have planned trips to Madrid and Rome in the remaining four weeks I have here. It is so cool how easy it is to travel around Europe once you are here. I am excited to go to Madrid and Rome but also to continue exploring Valencia. This week was a good exploring week her in Valencia. Here is a recap.....


Monday June 18 - My alarm did not go off so I woke up when I usually leave for class...oops! I showered and got ready real fast and I managed to make it to class on time! My class on MW is a spanish literature class which is tough for me because I am not very good at literature in english let alone analyzing spanish poems and plays. The professor is a fun guy but the material is rough. In the afternoon I went out with a friend to explore the neighborhood area we live in. We walked down some new streets and managed not to get lost.


Tuesday June 19 - I had class in the morning and then I came home for lunch which was nice. Lunch is the big meal of the day here so it is nice to spend time with my madre and hermano and get a big meal. We had a lasagna type dish, it had Alfredo sauce and spinach in it. It was good. I have tried so many new things here. I did some homework in the afternoon and took a really nice siesta. It was a friend's birthday on Tuesday so she wanted to celebrate but unfortunately nothing was really happening on a tuesday so I ended just taking a nice walk around town. The city still amazes me with beauty and tranquility. 


Wednesday June 20 - I had my literature class and then a field trip to the Cathedral in Valencia for another class. I had three hours between class and the field trip so I explored. I couldn't find anyone to explore with so I flew solo. It was  godo time to clear my head and relax. I found a beautiful park to eat my bocadillo in. Below is the fountain in the area of the park where I ate lunch.

 The park was not very full so it was very quiet and I could just hear the water of the fountain. In the garden there was a mini city almost where it appeared children could ride their bikes or toys on roads. There were traffic lights and crosswalks. There was one small boy playing on the sidewalk when I walked through. Below is part of the area, which was quite large.

I continued my exploration of the garden which led me to an ice cream stand. It was in the 80s on wednesday so the ice cream sandwich that I got really hit the spot. I continued on my way toward the Cathedral. Below is the center of a roundabout I encountered on my way.

I took a scenic detour and found a park with trees that looked like they were from the Jungle book. The trunks were huge and complex. There was also a park with a playground. Once I regained my bearings of what direction I wanted to go in, I encountered a man that was not very happy with me. I was simply walking down the street minding my own business when he asked me if I was an American. This is not that odd of a question because people often are curious where we are from especially when we are all together and speaking english. This time was different though. Before I could respond to the man he began yelling at me. He waved his hand in the air and yelled F*** Obama and something about our government then continued to yell F** you at me. I did not respond to him at all and merely continued walking. It sure did scare me though. I made it to the cathedral where my class was meeting before the tour. 

The Cathedral in Valencia was beautiful. There were a lot of small chapels on the side of the main church which was cool. We were able to climb up the bell tour for only two euro so we took the challenge. Our teacher warned us that is was quite the hike which was true. It was spiral staircase all the way up and it got steep towards the top. The stairs were small and we could not see the top or bottom, just stairs. The view from the top was worth the climb though. We could see all of Valencia in all directions. We were able to tell where our school was and where we all lived, which was cool. Below is Sam and I representing AOII on top of the cathedral.

 The city of Valencia and me! There will be more pictures of city on my facebook if you want to see more.

 On the way home from the cathedral Sara and I stumbled upon a clothing store that was having a huge sale. We tried on a bunch of dresses and skirts. We both ended up getting a dress. They were only 8 euro. Apparently in july here there are huge sales so we are trying to hold out until then so we can get some good deals! I made it home just in time for dinner. We had potato tortilla which is my favorite dish here. After dinner we went to a bar called Portland after Portland Oregon and is own by a guy from there. Below is Genna, Sam and I with Chris in the background.

We met a guy who was wearing a Michigan State Shirt. We all got really excited! The guy didn't really know what MSU was, he just liked the shirt so bought it haha. It is cool how we meet people from all over while we are here. 

Thursday June 21 - I had my early class today which is never too fun. After a week of not being on the beach, today was a beach day. The buses went on strike starting today so the usual 5 minute wait for the bus was 45 minutes today which was frustrating because I just wanted to be at the beach.The beach was a blazing 90 some degrees today. I was sweating from just getting there. I had my umbrella so I stayed under that most of the day to not get too sunburned. The beach was packed with people today. When I stood still and just listened it almsot sounded like an amusement park because all of the noise. The water felt so nice after roasting on the sand. I managed to not get too burnt today and mostly just freckled. Today at dinner it was just my madre and me because my roommate is traveling this weekend. The conversation started slow and then my madre went to call her mom. She calls her mom every night to say goodnight. When she got back from her phone call we talked for almost a half hour. It was really good and I understood most of what she said. She was laughing and in such a great mood. It was really refreshing to know that I can be confident enough in my spanish ability to hold a conversation. It has been such a great experience living with a host family. I feel right at home here and my madre is so great! 

After dinner I was able to skype chat with Emmalilly, Madison and Cameron which was great! It was so nice to hear from all of them and about their adventures this summer. I cant wait to see all of them again. Hopefully I will be able to skype my parents and Jon this weekend!

Although I am not traveling this weekend is still going to be a busy. There is a festival on the beach all night on Saturday to celebrate Saint John and Formula One racing is here in Valencia on Sunday. Not to mention the homework I should be doing and the beach which is constantly calling my name. 

I hope all is well with you where ever your summer adventures have taken you.

Pedal! Damn it!

Monday (6/18) 60 miles, we had to say goodbye to Kelsey and Amy:(

Tuesday (6/19) 57 miles, a camera crew and a walking tour of Savanna, GA.

Wednesday (6/20) = Day Off in Savanna! I ran errands with Alyssa, Kelsey C., and a past rider named Krystal. We went to a bike shop to get a wheel trued, to a bike shop and finally to Kroger. After that I went to Tybee Beach!! Tom, Krystal and Michael stopped at a cafe for lunch an then headed out. Krystal told us lots about the marsh and the animals that live there. We immediately went into the ocean after slathering in sun block. My tan lines looked mighty silly. The ocean was warm and the waves were perfect! They weren't big waved for the ocean but hey we're the biggest waves I've seen in a while. I was glad to avoid any encounters with fish or beach creatures. After some one in the water we went back to the beach to lay in the sun.

That night we had pasta dinner with the church. Christian and I talked with a couple that had been married for 50 years. Ryan gave a presentation about FC international work in Haiti.

Thursday (6/21) 85 miles from Savanna, GA to St. Simons Island. The ride was flat and the only hills were the ones on the bridges. The health club we showered at was super nice! There was a sauna, hot tub, steam room, changing rooms and 3 work stations! We took out time and got super clean:)