Update from Kansas

I was unable to post this so I sent it out as an email, but now that I can post I thought I would add it...this is from Kansas



Ok I’m trying to collect my thoughts so this entry doesn’t sound so scatter-brained!!!
It’s amazing what sleep deprivation does to your mind. It plays tricks!! I was with Steve, one of the racers inside a Shell station. These two older couples asked us if we were going to North Carolina . We looked at each other and neither of us knew!! Yesterday Friday was an amazing day. We were in four states: AZ, UT, CO and NM. I hope you remember 4th grade states. We went through Monument Valley at sunrise….OMG it was absolutely the most amazing place. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera. We are quickly approaching MO!!! Today..it’s 11:24 pm on sat. We have spent the last two days in the Rocky Mountains . We went up as high as 10,200 feet in elevation. It was late at night and I was punchy! I look at Andrew and say wow look at the sandtraps from that golf course. I thought he was going to wet himself. Yeah Judy we are going to play golf at this elevation….shit it was snow!! Ya know I’m no mountain girl…hell this is the first time I’ve seen mountains!! That was the standing joke of the night. We did have a scary cat incident. I say to Andrew hey wat’s that dead in the road…as I say it the thing lifts it’s head and runs away. It was a cat in the middle of the road. We find out afterwards that clyde hit the cat at breakneck speed. We can’t tell Michele the female rider….she’s an animal lover and RAAM would have been over for her. She thinks it was a possum. We saw lots of deer at night. It was really cool to come around a mountain bend and see them standing off in the field.
Today we were out at 4:30 to do an ulgy mountain climbing stage. We had to change riders every mile cause it was so cold. They had to take the descent slow because they were freezing. Steve is a great descender…I would be scared shitless, but he takes it all good. So this morning the temperature was 32 yes 32 and we saw snow on the ground. Very cold!! We hit Oklahoma and it was 95. Michele and Steve hammered through OK. We had a nice tail wind and they kept speeds in the 20-25 range. We were flying. We were almost to KS and Michele was out on the road. There were these small baby calfs walking across the highway. You have to see the photos not even five feet from the white line…That made OK exciting. Not much to write about. Its flat and full of wheat, soybeans. Andrew educated me about some concrete and corrugated pipe thing…you gotta love that I can’t remember the name. There’s lots I can’t remember right now. I want to share it all but most of it won’t make sense.
It’s 11:37 and we are in Plains, KS. I don’t know where it is. Let’s see we got on the bus at 8:30. We ate and I tried to watch a movie in my bunk. That didn’t work for me. So I attempted to sleep. I listened to some music and maybe dozed. I got up and the bus was stopped but pitch black. People were sleeping in the couches. So I thought I would do this.
So now we are planning on going out around 12:00-12:30 and staying out for 6 hours. We are going to do two time stations. It’s going to be a long night. I think I’ve only had about 4 hours of sleep…since yesterday. I did finally get to shower. Literally jumped in a cold shower got wet. Turned the water off and shampooed my hair and washed my body. Rinsed off and that’s shower. But it felt great. I can’t keep track of brushing my teeth. Sounds crazy but living out of a backpack on a bus with 14 people is hard. It’s draining to keep track of your stuff!! Yesterday I thought I lost my camera case….couldn’t find it anywhere! Finally it was in the basement. That’s what we refer to the bottom part of the bus! It’s so hard to remind organized. We come into the bus and run to charge our stuff. I have to have my ipod in order to go to sleep. My backpack has become a snack holder. In the quest to find something different to eat, I always buy something at the gas station. Sometimes I have a change of clothes in my bag for the pull.
Eating is weird. At 10am this morning, I got on the bus and had a sandwich and chips. We go out on our next pull and Brenda is asking me what kind of sandwich I want. I tell her I ate lunch…No she said you ate breakfast…shit I don’ know. We were going to have Mexican food at the OK/ KS we arrived and the place. It was closed for a wedding. Disappointment for me, but yet glad. 14 people, two toilets and beans…OH MY!!
So they had ordered pizza from Pizza Hut. Brenda also made pasta con broccoli.
So I’m hoping that I gave you an update and it was more organized. I will attempt to upload some photos.
We are quickly approaching MO and better yet St. Louis . We found out part of 94 is under water and we will be rerouted. The St. Louis time station is a gas station just west of the clark bridge. We think we will be there on Monday around 11am. I would love to see anyone that wants to come out. IF you want to know as we get closer…call my cell phone 314-814-5839. If I don’t answer…I’m working or I don’t have cell service. Until then take care!!! Email or call

We are thinking we are going to be at the alton bridge around 1pm tomorrow
call if you wanna knwo

Judy