The burning question: How many corn cobs grow on one stalk?

This day seemed to last forever on the road, but it was so relaxing. We left the JCC around 8 and were forewarned to be extra careful when driving through rush hour traffic in Columbus. Two days earlier Nate was hit by a car, he is OK, but his bike was damaged. Once we reached downtown Columbus I realized that it's actually a city. For some reason I never thought of Columbus as having tall buildings or any type of city life, but it did and it was great. Win and I stopped at the intersection of Gay and High Street at a coffee house that many bike couriers hang out at, so naturally we fit right in.


Once we got on the road we moved at a steady pace, only stopping at really bizarre signs to take pictures. One of the many things I've noticed throughout this vast country is how people use freedom of speech in such a fantastic way. This church sign is really one of my favorites.



Another favorite of mine, that I really had to do a double take for was back in Ohio, in the middle of nowhere, so I'm not really sure how this message is going to be widely spread but anyways it said "Get the U.S. out of the U.N." Alrighty then.

Along the road, it became painfully obvious that this was the beginning of what we had all been dreading, flat land with corn on the right and corn on the left. You can see miles ahead, so you KNOW there’s nothing coming up to excite you!

We arrived at lunch to find Patrick, who was the days van driver. He told us he had just visited the ice cream shop across the street and tried to make conversation with the woman inside. He said things like, “this is a really cute town, do you like to live here? How long have you owned this shop…etc” And she quickly replied by saying in an accent I only wish I could recreate through this post, “Son have you looked around? This town is White trash.” Pat smiled politely and walked away. So much for small talk in small towns.

After lunch things kind of went downhill. There was a severe downpour so Win and I stopped at a drive through convenient store (they have these all over Ohio)! Then we continued driving only about 10 miles until I got my fourth flat tire of the trip. As soon as I knelt down to change it, the rain began again. Great.

So the flat was changed and we pushed on but in about 3 miles we both had to use the bathroom. With all this corn everywhere, it’s the perfect mobile bathroom, it really goes with us everywhere. Off our bikes we go, trekking into the cornfield to pee, not thinking so much about the rain and the mud that has been created in the cornfield. We sure did notice it once we walked out though and then we spent about 10 minutes digging it out of our shoes.

After this whole production was finally over we arrived to such a welcoming church. They put a sign out for us, provided little snacks and a great dinner. That night brought a lot of positive energy for our group because we had a mail drop and even I got a postcard (thanks dad). Herman, from Habitat Providence also sent us each an individual package full of goodies so that was really sweet. Later, at our town hall meeting, we each read anonymous “Way to goes” about one another, congratulating each other on accomplishments for the week!

Once morale was boosted I slept on a couch. Life is sweet.