No Words

 Alex, Layna and the US!

 Loop swoop and Pull Ohio

 55 or cry

 This is a giant park!

 This shows it gets gigantic 

 Rock sitting in Springfield

 Average everyday college foundation

We climbed every route... because we are awesome

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Richmond, a quart of chocolate milk, to Springfield Ohio!

Hello hello hello and heelllloooo,
   Streaming to you live from the Clark County Public Library, where Nate is reading a book about black holes, worm holes, and time machines...
   A wet substance covered the ground this morning, we were confused as to what it was as we did our yoga... We have a few ideas, but it probably was NOT dew or anything like that... Our cold breakfasts are always a morning delight before we set up to set off into the morning light!
   Mark and his two children rode with us this morning out of town. They showed us a natural spring/well where we filled our water. Then we took the scenic way out of town which was very enjoyable. Thanks Mark. Also, Thanks for letting us sleep in your yard and use your shower! It was actually a cool 60 degrees or so last night!
   The ride wasn't bad at all. Turns out truck stops have no stickers for souvenirs and it doesn't tell you when you enter into Ohio... Oh hey, we made it to OHIO! We are state crushing monsters on the road, so watch out! On smaller scales we also crush counties...
   I (Fearless Leader) slammed a quart of chocolate milk about 12 miles outside of our ending spot. It was delicious! Both Nate and Matt thought it probably a bad idea to drink it all.... YEA RIGHT! 880 Calories, 32 grams of protein, high in potassium and salt. What more does the body need?
   Before we hit Springfield we crossed path with another cyclist. Robert was his name and he is an IRONMAN!! He has finished two Iron Man competitions and is training to do his third in under 10 hours! If you were wondering, that's a 2.5 mile swim, 112 miles on a bike, then a full 26.2 marathon... Going BIG, that's what we like to see!
   Now that we have made it to Springfield, a bit of the ole interwebs was used at Wendys to find a park. A sweet park was then found, in which we have been hanging out at for the past 3 hours. We did casual rock climbing and casual frisbee playing. Always enjoyable!
   Currently we are residing in the Clark County Public Library. Here we are typing the blog for, YOU, our readers. Also, we are killing time before we can meet up with our warmshowers host tonight at his house for a comfy bed and couch to sleep on! WOO! Of course, we are also spreading awareness that kids get arthritis too!
   Ohio has been a pleasure, and I'm sure it can only get better! Tomorrow is my cousins house in Columbus! Then its Rhuematology Camp on my birthday! Those kids are getting a Squigee Hunt!
   As always, we wouldn't have made it as far, or done what we have without the help of everyone along the way. Just a huge shout out to everyone who has been kind to us, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
   Keep on checking out the blog and reading it up! Tell you friends and family. If your in Wisconsin, please eat some cheese for me... Most importantly, help us reach our goal of $20,000 to the Arthritis Foundation!!! As for now, see ya later alligator, not now brown cow, til then penguin, asta minyana iguana, and okie dokie artichoke! Please post comments and or follow us on our facebook page: The Rain Cyclists!

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Crickey! we have some great pics but the webs is being slow, they will come at a later date! SORRY YA'LL

Indy to Richmond!

Greetings those of you who read this from time to time, or all the time,
   Today started with a wonderful breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon, and orange juice! IT WAS SO DELICIOUS! Bess forced us to eat as much as possible, so of course we did. Then before we knew it, we were off to the streets for a 70 mile day to Richmond.
   The ride today had a lot of wind coming from the north and since we were heading east it was a bit of a cross-wind. That may make it seem like it was a possible bad day until what I have to tell you next. IT NEVER GOT TO 90 DEGREES TODAY!!!!!! IT WAS PARTLY CLOUDY FOR ALL THE RIDE!!!!! IT WAS CHILLY THIS MORNING, WE WERE CHILLED WHILE BIKING! IT WAS AMAZING!!!!! Even though the wind shifted at around 50 miles to come from the northeast, it still didn't stop us trucking.
   We stopped in Cambridge City Indiana at their library to check out the weather conditions for the rest of the day. Turns out that it seemed suitable to continue to the next town, Richmond. While at the library we check warmshowers.com, a touring cyclists website for places to stay. We emailed a few people in Richmond and a few in our town for tomorrow Springfield. Then we went outside to enjoy a bit of lunch before we took off to Richmond.
   While eating lunch we got a phone call from Mark on warmshowers! He said he had a shower and a yard to set our tents up in! We said we'll take it. So the ride continued to Richmond which was another 15 miles. Upon arrival there was a brewery, which you always have to stop at breweries to taste their selection. Well, that was actually a bad idea... Best part of the brewery was watching the US Womens Olympic Volleyball team start to crush Korea! The beer was not all that good besides the IPA which Math enjoyed.
   Now we are all showered up, its 5 o clock and we are about to eat some din din and catch a good nights rest. We would like to thank Mark and Hopie for letting us stay in their yard and allowing us to use their shower! Thanks a bunch, showers are the best thing on the road!
   As always, please tell everyone about us! Spread the word that "kids get arthritis too"! And most important... EAT YOUR VEGETABLES!!! Thanks ya'll for being the bomb diggity! Read up and eat up knowledge like a professor at a book eating contest...

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 Matt, Bess, Alora, Will, Lockelen, and the Rain Cyclists!

"We're getting the band back together"

"You cheat Indiana, NO more cards"-Kid

Greetings Ya'll,

Breakfast at 6 am. in a motel? Yes, please. Yesterday morning we did some intense morning calorie counting as we ate as much continental breakfast as we could before we set off on our road to Cloverdale Indiana.
   We had 10 miles to go before we reached the Illinois-Indiana border and the border city of Terre-Haute. Once in T.H. we rode along with Dave (which may be wrong...) who told us about how he wanted to bike across the country back in the 70's. He also told us about a race that goes across Indiana that he did a few years back and finished in the top 500! It is always a pleasure to have another rider share the road with us. To exchange thoughts and ideas, if only for a couple of city blocks, it is always an experience worth having.
   On our latter part of the day, Indiana actually surprised us with some hills that mocked Missouri... No fear as we crushed up and down them, through the highways rolling turns and tree overhanging roads. With a threat of severe thunderstorms, we rolled on up into Cloverdale at just the right time. The right time to be out of the 1 minute rainfall they received while we were there... I believe we are the anti-raincyclists.... so sorry about the drought...
   However that did not stop us trying to find a place to stay to try and be out of the storm that was still coming. We checked around churches and none were open. So then we stopped at Casey's gas station and the attendant told us to check out the Christian Women's Ministries... 3 guys going into a women's ministries place just doesn't seem all that right, NO FEAR, and then we were off to see if we could sleep in their basement!
   We rolled up into the ministry and met someone outside. We told her our story and she let us come in and see if they could help us find a place to stay. It was their bible study night, so women just kept on coming and eventually, we had 7-8 people trying to help us find a place to stay. Sometimes we were talking and then we couldn't even get a word in edgewise because someone had found a lead on a place to stay. It was a gracious burst of energy from a group of people trying their best to help some tired travelers about to get hit by a thunderstorm...
   If you ever catch a lead on anything, or feel a pull toward a place that you are uncertain about, hands down, go big! We ended up getting a place to stay thanks to a friend of Miss Patt, a lady at the women's ministries.

 Terre Haute

 Terre Haute building

Our new found friends at the Women's Ministries

   Pat called her friend Gina and Gina was gracious enough to think about letting us stay at her home. But due to this continuous drought their well was a little low so she was not sure if she had enough water to have us shower and such. So instead she went and got us a room at the days inn motel. Thank you so much Gina!! That was more than gracious and we would have been fine with a floor to sleep on without any showers. But she did get us a place to sleep and then came back later to pick us up and take us to her house for a delicious home cooked meal. We had dinner with Gina, her daughter Jana, her son in law Dave, her friend Pat, the same one that called her, and her three grand kids. We had lasagna, apple salad, steamed vegetables and salad and PIE!! It was so good that we ate over 5 pounds of it. This was quantified by weighing ourselves before and after.

   This morning we had some more continental breakfast... More calorie counting, trying our best to shove our faces with as much food as possible... We are trying to figure out how much calories we burn while biking and we figure anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 on mountainous days. So we need those calories (ON A SIDE NOTE ITS RAINING!!!!!!!).
   On our ride we stopped at Gina's daughters house, Jana and Dave. We then met Jana's sister, so we basically met the whole family besides the son who is in Iraq I think. Jana gave us some ice cold, refreshing water and we chatted for a bit, but it wasn't long before we were on the road to our destination!
   Today we stopped at a couples house whom we met in St. Louis at the J.A. conference! Bess and Matthew were kind enough to feed us and give us a place to stay. They have a 4 yr. old daughter who has J.A. and it is great to be able to talk to a family that is basically new to the world of arthritis. It's been great to give them information and share stories. I am glad we got this chance to stay with them!
   It marks the beginning of staying with other J.A. conference people along the way! This adventure is turning out to be better than I've ever imagined! The people are our fuel, the our bikes are our work benches, our smiles are our trademarks, our cause is what sews seeds and inspires us both to continue and tell the stories. Thanks so much to everyone! Please keep the comments coming! Tell us who you are, where you met us, what you like and dislike! We love feedback! Thanks again, and be sure to tell ole Nick W. what to do, which is DONATE TO THE ARTHRITIS FOUNDATION!

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The Kind People of Marshall Illinois

Greetings!

   Coming to you alive in this Illinois heat from within the comfy confines of our motel room! But I'll get to that later...
   We got an early start this morning at 5:45 am. I believe a sign said it was 78 degrees at that early time of the morning... Needless to say, it wasn't as hot as Arizona or Kansas or everywhere else we've been thus far. The riding was good, we strode off at a good pace and made it 50 miles by 10 am. After stopping at a grocery store in Casey Illinois and getting donuts and other various foods, we made it to Marshall.
   We stopped at Bishop Cafe where the food was delicious and the service even better! The proud owner Carol was kind enough to give us free breakfast! The pie was delicious, the breakfast food even better. Matt ate all his gravy! Not only that, but she also was kind enough to call around town to see if she could find us some lodging. As it turns out, Bishop Cafe was our best option.
  Carol did her calling around town and contacted Marshall Ministerial Alliances, a Christian group that helps out travelers. We had to get police background checks to make sure we weren't master criminals disguised as cross country bikers. Turns out we are not so they got us a motel room! (Little do they know... We own over half the Louvre... but shhhh).
   Now we have been hanging out in the room all day escaping the 112 heat index outside. I (Joey) fell asleep reading my book in a pretty classic manner and the US Womens Soccer team crushed France 4-2 in the Olympics! Overall, today has just been a classic day of middle America kindness. The people throughout this country continue to help us out in any way possible, and it makes us the happiest cyclists around!
   Don't forget to wear your socks inside out (they're seamless that way) and tell everyone about our blog! Share it with your friends, follow it via your blog, thank your parents, and don't let Nick W. get by without donating to the Arthritis Foundation. Thanks everyone for being awesome and keep it that way! Indianapolis in 2 days!

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P.s. if you want, check us out on Facebook. Group name "The Rain Cyclists"

Guess what... its still hot!
Woke up this morning and it was still about 80 and sticky. Nate had a dream about the "Bear." It walked up and was just standing above me smiling, it wouldn't move and neither did I. I woke up looked around and with a shrug i was back to sleep.
  We hit the road with our usual 6am daylight peaking over the trees and after a nice 2mile warm up on a country road in Illinois we hit Hwy 40. Road that on down to Vandalia. Where we met up with Tom, a man we met at the Grand Canyon. We got a hold of him yesterday and got a ride out to his house this morning.
   The Carr family; Tom, Pam, Nick, Nate, Diane, and Barry were excellent hosts serving us a delicious breakfast. We walked into a cozy country home greeted with smiles and some home cooked smells. Menu was two types of breakfast sausages, Sausage gravy, biscuits, ham steak, scrambled eggs, orange juice, coffee, and fresh well water to boot.
   After going to town on the food and exchanging stories and sharing some laughs we were off again. Carr family we appreciate everything you did for us. You all made it the best morning of the trip. Thank You. Getting back to our bikes and starting to move again was a little rough with the heat building. With the knowledge of our high for today being 115 with the heat index speed was on our mind. The wind was at our backs for the most part and helped push us along to Effingham.
   Once we got to town and biked around for a little bit we found  the Bike & Hike. www.bikeandhikeweb.com Chatted Robby Sams up for a bit and after Nate picked up a couple supplies and tried out a different saddle we took off. Robby pointed us to the baptist church down the road. The pastor agreed to let us stay the night but to come back a little later. So a little trek on down to a nearby park was in order. Lunch was had by all and than we said our good byes to Kate and Rob. Back to carrying our packs :( We are now at a cafe typing this blog and getting ready to go back to the church. As always tell your friends and family and donate to the Arthritis Foundation. Those kids really do need your help!

Midwest vs. Southwest

 Mighty Mississippi

 Nate just a wishin he was on a raft...

Rack city, rack rack city

Ride into the sun

 Breakfast friends! Thank you so much! Nick, Diane, Tom and Pam

 Nate and Matt with the Nate, Matt and Joey

Jesse Funks house

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St. Louis to Greenville, Illinois

Greetings mostly water beings,
  We are coming to you live from a campground just outside of Greenville, Illinois. We left the cozy comfort of Beth's house this morning and began once again toward our goal of the Atlantic Ocean. The ride started a little bit sketchy as we had to travel on a 4 lane highway with on and off ramps to cross the Missouri and then the Mighty Mississippi rivers. Once over the Mississippi we entered our 8th state and the closest one to our home, Illinois. Today's ride was especially awesome because Kate and Rob, Joey's mom and step dad, are with us for two days and will be riding with us. Today Rob started out with us while Kate drove the car to find us a place to stay. Once at our destination she got on her bike and met up with us on the road. Little did she know that we were gonna go real fast and therefore she was only going to be able to ride 10 miles with us instead of the 40 or 50 she wanted to. We went so fast because since we have a car again for a few days we don't have to carry anything on our bikes, and also Rob likes to go fast and in the words of Kate, "He does it all for the workout." The ride was good with a strong tailwind and mostly flat terrain. We conquered 65 miles in a little over 4 hours. Once at our campsite we had a delectable lunch of ham and turkey sandwiches with some real Wisconsin cheese. Then we got in the pool and did some low gravity stretches. Just so you know it is still very hot. It seems to always be hot and never not hot. Did I mention that it is hot. In two days we will be out of Illinois and into Indiana and three days after that we will be in Ohio. Our approximate route is the background of the blog but here is where we will be going. From here, Greenville, Illinois, to Indianapolis, to Columbus Ohio, to Cleveland Ohio, around Lake Erie to Niagara Falls, along Lake Ontario, across New York State, into Vermont, into Massachusettes, to Boston, then up to Portland, Maine. So if you are on or near that route and would like for us to visit you or stay with you just post a comment and we will get back to you. And as always remember to spread the word and donate all your money to the Arthritis Foundation!

Sorry for no pictures they will be coming soon...

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Juvenile Arthritis Conference-St. Louis

Hello!

   We are all sitting at my cousins house in Florissant, MO, exhausted from the Juvenile Arthritis Conference that was held this weekend in St. Louis! It has been 4 days of networking, connections, family, friends, making new friends, stories, excitement, tears, and so much more!

   Day one of the conference and I (Fearless Leader Joey) had the chance to be a speaker in front of all the parents at the opening session. This is something I had been anticipating, wanting to tell my story to the parents to show them that you can overcome Juvenile Arthritis.

   I spoke second after Arlen Harris, a former NFL running back for the St. Louis Rams! I had no idea that when I stepped onto that stage, I was sitting next to a former NFL player whose family, and himself, have been living with rheumatoid arthritis for a long time. I have never even thought of playing football due to the physical aspects of the game and how it could affect my arthritis. To hear his personal story of overcoming his arthritis in college and then too play in the NFL is inspiring to me. That takes true courage and such a high level of mental ability to compete professionally in any sport, let alone with arthritis! Thanks for the story Arlen, it was the first of many wonderful things I heard during the conference!

   When it was my turn to speak, I basically choked up within the first 10 words... I find it hard to speak of the troubles I have been through, it brings back a lot of painful memories. But those painful memories have pushed me to realize that my story, and what I am doing, is worth telling people. How I have overcame everything from complete immobility, spiking fevers of 105, swelling of the heart and mostly everything else that comes with Systemic JA to biking across the country. I felt the need to share my story in hopes to inspire the other young kids with Juvenile Arthritis that it is possible to beat the pain. That you have to DREAM BIG! Even though it hurts, some days worse than others, you cannot let it stop you. Indeed it should only push you further. You are living with a disease that in the end, makes you stronger. It makes you a fighter, someone who will work harder than your average Joe to complete a task given to you. 

   From the response I got after the session was over, I can safely say I have completed a task given to me. To inspire. Many parents came up to talk after the session and were just so thankful for what I was doing. They were so happy to see someone who has overcome arthritis and is actually biking across the country. Their eyes were wide with joy that their kids can also overcome this disease. They all had questions and I was happy to answer them to the best of my abilities. What I heard most in response after I was talking was how I needed to go talk to the kids groups. How my son, or my daughter would just love to meet you! To have these parents tell me that their kids would truly appreciate seeing someone who has overcome arthritis and is doing what I am doing made me happier than I have ever been. My heart, like the Grinch, grew three sizes bigger that day. 

   Everyday since then, parents have been asking if I can take pictures with their kids. They stopped me everywhere to tell me how thankful and inspiring I am to them and their children. Matt and I got the chance to talk to 2nd graders, 6th graders, 5th graders, juniors and seniors in high school, and 4th graders. While telling my story to the 6th graders I was nearly brought to tears... I actually had to fight them off in front of all the kids. Parker, a 6th grader with Systemic Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (same as me) told me that I was a big inspiration to him. He had never met anyone with systemic JRA before, and for him to see that I have beaten what he is going through, has really inspired him. Thanks Parker, that is my biggest goal of this trip, and for you to be the first person to speak up and tell me that made me even happier than when all the parents told me how inspiring I am. It's the kids like you that inspire me to do things like bike across the country.I am actually shedding tears typing this right now. So again, thanks Parker, I am going to find your blog and I can't wait to start reading it!

   After making all the visits to the kids rooms we couldn't walk anywhere without having to stop to chat with someone. It was wonderful! All the kids would stop to ask me how I was doing, or if they could take pictures with us. They all had the biggest smiles on their faces and it only put bigger smiles on our faces. We were so happy to have had this opportunity at the conference to meet all these kids and their parents. It is all of you that inspire me to do what I am doing. To see everyone in such a great atmosphere, happy with their new friends, hardly even realizing that they even have a disease to begin with... This is exactly why I am raising money for these kids, because I know it is going to the best cause in the world. To a cause of putting a smile on a kid with arthritis, to inspire those kids, to create new drugs, and in the end find the cure! 

   There is just so much that happened during this weekend I could write a book (Also, a goal in my life). To the parents telling me stories of their kids telling them stories of me! To the St. Louis Cardinals game where everyone waved when we entered like we were some sort of celebrity. To the abundance of new found hopes and dreams! I want to thank everyone and the Arthritis Foundation for hosting this event yearly. I will be there in Anaheim next year!!! Like former Miss Michigan said that it is her cause to tell communities her story, it is also mine. That now shines inside of me brighter than the north star in the Arabian Dessert. I believe I will continue to do adventures while raising awareness that "kids get arthritis too". To tell my story while doing it in hopes to continually get donations to the Arthritis Foundation. Some of you may have heard me even say so, but I think I am on the road to becoming a "professional adventurist/advocate". This conference has sparked what a pooling sense of being inside me, and now the fire has started, I don't think it will be put out for years. As always I cannot say thank you enough!

   Aside from the conference, it was great to see our friends from Wisconsin. Maggie, Stacey, and Sean all came to volunteer at the conference and had a blast while doing it. Nate even got a surprise visit from his sister Hannah! They all learned new things and have a new found respect for arthritis! We did awesome things like celebrate Seans' birthday at a dueling piano bar, go the St. Louis Cardinals vs. the Cubbies game, and have a blast in the pool! It is always good to have a little bit of home come to you!

   The conference has ended today... It is always sad to have to depart from the friends you have just made. But you leave with so much more year after year. You leave the feeling confident about yourself with a feeling that you can love life even with arthritis. I was approached by someone after the last session ended and he came up, shook my hand, and gave me a hug. He was crying when he told me how inspiring I was to him and his kids... Talking to him didn't last more than 15 seconds but it sure made me cry right there. The world is filled with such kindhearted folk to not love life. I will forever remember this weekend in St. Louis... It has been the most inspiring weekend of my life.

   Thanks to everyone who offered us places to stay! Please, feel free to leave a comment if you think we will be in your area! If you want you can also email me personally at michelsjoseph@gmail.com if you don't want your information on our comments! Please comment about anything and everything! We would love to hear feedback and/or possible ideas of advocacy or fundraising! We hope to stop and stay with as many of you as possible! So please, follow the blog and let us know! We are planning our route in the next few days and we would love to squeeze you in!!!! You all have blessed us with your kindness, so thank you, we appreciate it with all our hearts! Tell your friends and family, share the blog with everyone! The more people the better for awareness!! Thanks thanks thanks thanks THANKS! 

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 breakfast spot in the Marriot!

 St. Louis Cardinals vs. The Cubbies

 Wonder what that funky think in the left is???

 Stacey, Matt, and Sean

 cats in water

 the Mall

 Just overall a giant place

 Front room by check in

 elegant eh?

 Juniors and Seniors at the JA Conference with Miss Michigan!

 Arthritis Foundation... DUH!

 Matt giving you the YOU SHOULD DONATE face!

 somewhere in China...

 this is what Matts Arch support looks like...

 Pictures of Picture takers

raincyclists with Maggie, Stacey and Page

Florissant, MO Lets just call it St. Louis...

Welcome readers of interpreted symbols,

   We come to you today from the cozy quarters of our new temporary domicile. That housing is known to most as Beth and Josh's house or Joey's cousins to those in the framily. This post covers a few days so let me take you back to Monday morning in Hermann Missouri.
   We awoke in the Christian Community Church recharged full of delicious cheese and ready to crush our 80 miles to Beth and Josh's house. We left at our usual time of around 6 and immediately crossed the Missouri river to get back onto the Katy trail. We instantly had to make a stop as the sunrise over the river was basically perfect and warranted a picture.
   With beauty behind us we set out on the ever so flat Katy trail toward our off point of St. Charles. That day consisted of 60 miles on the Katy trail and then a few more to be discovered to get to Beth and Josh's. Those few more turned out to be around 20.
   The day on the trail was gorgeous with shade and trees and bluffs and animals and bikers and runners and joggers and walkers and ect. We encountered some completely covered parts of the trail with overhanging vegetation that gave it a tunnel type look.
   We biked 40 miles before stopping at a trail side picnic table to have a quick lunch break before finishing the first leg to St. Charles. We had the usual PB and J for me (Matt), honey on a bagel for Joey and tuna with hot sauce for Nate. If you haven't noticed we are not much for variety.
   We were about 4 miles from St. Charles when Nate attempted to bunny hop a small crack which ended with his pannier falling off and eventually breaking one of the clips that holds it onto the rack. At this point a wonderful biker by the name of Steve asked us where we were going and what we were doing. We told him our story and he was amazed at what we were doing and told us, "You guys are heroes!" It is always great to hear things like that as it keeps you in high spirits and reminds us why we are doing this.
   The Katy trail once in St. Charles took us directly to a brewery. Seeing this as a sign we locked our bikes up and headed in to sample some of the local micro brews. They were of adequate quality and the brewery had wifi so that we could actually find out where Joey's cousin lived so we could get there.
   With directions on the mind we set out to end our day as at this point it was getting hot, as it always seems to be. We arrived a few hours later to an eerily empty house, but we made ourselves at home and made ourselves clean again.
   That was Monday and I am now coming from you in basically the same place that I initially sat down and it is now Wednesday night / Thursday morning whichever way you want to look at it. Since then we have been treated to delicious meals including but not limited to; Monkey Bread, Grilled Red Pepper and Mozzarella sandwiches, Grilled Chicken, Grilled Pork chops with a spicy sauce, a Mediterranean tomato cucumber salad with feta, Potato Salad, green beans and so many other things. My point being Josh has been making us some delicious meals and I have barely seen him sit down since I have been here.
   Other than eating we have been catching up on some reading and playing A LOT of Monopoly and one game of Life. It has been extremely hot outside so we haven't really left the house. Why would we? We really appreciate the hospitality that Beth and Josh have shown to us. Especially because they have a 8 week old newborn baby girl that needs way more attention than we could ever need. They have been extremely kind and gracious and we appreciate everything they have done for us. We really would have been happy with a floor to lay on and water to drink.
   Well it is 12:25 am at this point so Kate and Rob, Joey's mom and stepdad should be here any minute. Also our friends from Wisconsin should be here in about an hour. Tomorrow the National Juvenile Arthritis Conference starts so we will be going to St. Louis to get our hotel room and start volunteering for them. As always tell everyone to keep reading and to keep donating. We recently hit $3,000 so we are on our way. With your help $20,000 is easily within reach. Also by getting to St. Louis we hit 2,000 miles biked thus far on the trip!!!!!!!!!!! 

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 Picture one of the Sunrise over the Missouri River

 Picture 2, which one do you think is better?

The beautiful trail with Joey and Nate crushin it

Begin the Katy Trail!

Greetings digesters... of knowledge,
 
   Today, we embarked on our first off road magical bike trail! The Katy Trail! We left Jefferson City last night and after 60 miles already, hopped on the Katy Trail for at least 7 more miles. It is an old railroad track turned into biking/hiking/running trail that follows the Missouri River. Lots of really tiny rocks placed on top of packed ground/gravel substance. Not pavement as we are used too.
   The trail has been wonderful though. We stayed last night in a semi dried stream bed with a lot of humidity and sweating. We awoke this morning to continue our ride on the trail. We have been stopping in the tiny little towns along the stops and checking them out, spreading awareness as we go. Which is great because the trail is mostly shaded by forest, follows a bluff, and is basically flat. That allows us to bike longer into the day and make more frequent stops to do our job of awareness spreading!
   Today we landed in Hermann, Missouri. Dave, a church member has kindly allowed us to stay in the cool church. He is a happily stranded explorer who ran out of gas in Hermann and has yet to fill back up, as he likes to put it. A huge thanks to him, we did not want to experience the humidity of the Midwest in out tents again...
   Hermann has been great altogether! We just had some free wine tastings at (http://www.hermannhof.com/) Hermannhof Winery, and it was delicious. Big thanks to all the staff at Hermannhof for the delicious wine and  baguettes, oh yes, and the apple! We also checked out a local brewery, the Tin Mill, and met a very kind family there. Thanks for the conversation Mark, Matthew, and Pam! The beer was also quite delectable.
   Tomorrow the Katy Trail continues, but as for now, we must catch some zzzz's in the quite, cold church. Thanks to everyone for following our blog! Keep telling everyone you know about it! Come bike with us! Comment! Dance! Think about us when your telling that one story you always tell! Eat pizza for us! Don't forget, do this all on your own! Thanks again to all of you! Keep reading! and we would like to know who you are that follows us, so please comment! Also, please make a donation below to the Arthritis Foundation and help us reach our goal of $20,000!!!

    DONATE BELOW!!!

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 Missouri looking similar to Wisconsin

 Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City

 Nate in aww of the dome in the capitol

 Where them politicians do that

 Stained glass, pretty

 Bears, apparently Missouri is all about bears

 More stained glass

 The Cycle Depot, thanks for letting us clean our bikes

 Missouri river with a capitol backdrop

 Pretty

Mark, Pam and Matthew with the raincyclists at Tin Mill Brewery