i must apologize for the lack of posts in the past week or so, we’ve been in some pretty rural areas and the service on my phone has been very spotty and i haven’t been able to upload anything on my phone.  last week we crossed over into kentucky.  we had been climbing the appalachian mountains which was difficult to say the least. so basically the highlights were mountains, climbs and hills and being chased by dogs.  mangy, junkyard mountains dogs chasing you is pretty much the most horrifying thing ever, thank goodness we got good at yelling at them and getting them to stop chasing us.  on friday we had our first 100 mile day which was difficult and long but super rewarding to finish.

after a hard week of climbing mountains, we were in for the greatest thing we could ever think of.  thanks to mrs. mahoney we got to stay in a hotel for the nights of our day off in mamoth cave.  i may have almost cried when i heard this news.  the weekend got even better when my grandpa and cousins allen and mia told me they decided to come visit for my day off. it was really nice to have a piece of home.  we went to cracker barrell, i.e. one of my favorite places for breakfast and had some delicious granola, almond and fruit pancakes.  after that, we went on a tour of the caves which was absolutely amazing… words or pictures don’t do it justice, definitely one of the coolest places i’ve ever been. if you ever find yourself in western kentucky you should definitely go check it out.

after a much needed day off, we were back on the road again today with an 85 mile ride to owensboro, ky.  today i rode with alex, emilie and marci.  we had fun together even though the ride was somewhat monotonous.  the day ended on a great note with delicious dinner donated from olive garden. tomorrow we cross into illinois, i’ll definitely try to upload a picture of us with the state sign.