Larned, Kansas!

Date: 7/10/06 and 7/11/06
Mileage: 74 on 7/10 - 75 on 7/11

Funds Raised:

$10,515.62 for Kupenda
+$25.00 thanks to Martin Gould
+$25.00 thanks to Sommer Upman
+$50.00 thanks to Susan Assel
+$20.00 thanks to Carly Stump
+$20.00 thanks to DeeDee$20,000 is the goal for Kupenda. That is the amount needed to build a boarding facility so that 30+ children, who have disabilities, will get to go to school!!! It is a chance to really make a difference in a lot of people's lives!!!$8,235.00 for ADA
+$100.00 thanks to Don Kramer!Battling diabetes is something that is close to our hearts since Adam has Type I Diabetes. AFC's mission at it's core is to raise awareness, show other diabetics that anything is possible, and to do anything to combat diabetes!We have met some amazing people lately!

On our way from Ness City to Larned, Kansas we met three really awesome bikers who were also going West to East. They had like a million stories to tell us about all of their adventures with Bison, Bears, and crazy people! There was a couple from the UK and they go on bike tours all around the world! They told us millions of cool stories. They were biking with a friend that they met along the way. Rick who is also going across the US.

We camped on the picnic benches in Larned's park. It was a nice night to be outside and sleeping. The roof over the benches provides a great cover from any rain. This is the second time we have slept on benches and we love it!

We also met two girls biking across the country in the opposite direction as us to raise money to help the environment! What a great cause!! Here is their website: http://greencycling.com/

(GreenCycling girls Rose and Maya with their friend Justin)

When we got to Hutchison, Kansas today we met with Donald Kramer and his wife! Donald has helped us soooo much. He has found like a million places for us to stay! He met us at the local bike shop and showed us to the Church where we will be staying tonight. He also took us out to dinner at a great Mexican restaurant! Thanks sooooo much Donald!! We really appreciate you!

(Mr. and Mrs. Kramer..
They have helped us sooo much it was great to finally meet them!)

(We also met an ostrige!)

-Pattt

Sugar at Sugar City!

So....

For those of you who don't know. Adam's nickname is "Sugar". That has been his nickname for as long as I have known him. When we saw the sign for a town called Sugar City we had to celebrate. The rest is history...



Hope you enjoyed...

Yes we are taking donations for the work done to make that video :-)

Donate Here

hahaha!

-Pattt

Ness City, Kansas!

Date: 7/09/06
Mileage: 82

Funds Raised:

$9,383.87 for Kupenda
$20,000 is the goal for Kupenda. That is the amount needed to build a boarding facility so that 30+ children, who have disabilities, will get to go to school!!! It is a chance to really make a difference in a lot of people's lives!!!

$8,135.00 for ADA
Battling diabetes is something that is close to our hearts since Adam has Type I Diabetes. AFC's mission at it's core is to raise awareness, show other diabetics that anything is possible, and to do anything to combat diabetes!

So, last night was very exciting! As we were thinking about setting up our tent in the park in Leoti, Kansas we saw a huge storm on the horizon heading our way!! As the winds picked up we knew it would be a bad idea to even try to get the tent up and going. There was a hospital across the street and earlier we hung out in the lobby to charge our cellphones and use the computer for a bit. We decided that it might be a good idea to go and ask the ladies in the hospital if we could spend the night there. Somehow the told us yes! But if someone wanted to use the waiting room that we would have to leave.

When I was just about asleep I heard someone crying and I saw ambulance lights flash by! The nurse rushed in and told us we had to go. We felt bad that we were in the way of some emergency so we packed up and got out ASAP. We got out of there and looked around in the park for a place to sleep. We found the perfect place! There were 4 picnic tables stationed under an awning in the middle of the park. We got out our sleeping bags and went to bed right then and there. All night a huge storm raged but we were completely dry and safe under the awning! In the morning everyone agreed it was one of our best nights of sleep yet on this trip. It was so much better than sleeping in the tent that leaks and getting all wet :)

When we woke up we packed up our things and headed out. The wind was not nearly as strong as yesterday. It was very strange though. Yesterday the wind was always in our face. Today the wind was constantly switching directions but since it was not very strong it didn't matter much.

We stopped half way to Ness City at around 1:00 to watch the World Cup Championship game!!!! It was between Italy and France!! Naturally we were all rooting for France because that is where PhillyK and AndyK were born! Unfortunately France lost in shootouts :(

When we arrived in Ness City it was the same as the night before. Major storm on the horizon and no place to go. It was even worse becasue we talked to some people that told us that when the rain comes the park will flood so it might be really bad to sleep there. We rode our bikes around and we found a Church. We went in and met a girl named Michelle. We asked her if we could stay the night in the Church and she took us down the street to talk to the preacher.

We knocked on the preacher's door and his wife answered. She told us that we should sleep in their basement!!! We were sooo happy!! It is amazing that these two people who have never met us are giving us a place to stay! We are soo grateful. I can hear the turrential down pour of water outside. It is nice to be in here where it is dry.

-Pattt

Leoti, Kansas

Date: 7/08/06
Mileage: 99

Funds Raised:

$9,383.87 for Kupenda
$20,000 is the goal for Kupenda. That is the amount needed to build a boarding facility so that 30+ children, who have disabilities, will get to go to school!!! It is a chance to really make a difference in a lot of people's lives!!!$8,135.00 for ADA
Battling diabetes is something that is close to our hearts since Adam has Type I Diabetes. AFC's mission at it's core is to raise awareness, show other diabetics that anything is possible, and to do anything to combat diabetes!

Today was a very very long day. So much so that it inspired me to write this AMAZING poem.

The Rockie Mountains,
were easy as pie.
But the Winds of Kansas,
make grown men cry!

With air this strong,
our pace line is a joke.
We hammered all day,
not a word was spoke.

It was like being in a race,
Wind stay out of my face!!!

Adam also told me a poem that he thought of while he was biking...

WIND STINKS!!!

(When the sign reads "Vending Machines at Post Office"...
You can bet there won't be any food to buy at this town)

Before we started biking in the morning we had some problems with Adam's diabetes. Yesterday it got extremely hot in the plains of Colorado and we think that the insulin in Adam's pump went bad. So all last night and this morning Adam could not get his sugar levels to go down. Eventually he took out the insulin from his pump and replaced it with fresh insulin that we store in the cooler. Luckily that fixed the problem and his sugar levels went down. He thinks that one of the reasons that it got so extremely hot was because the clip to his pump is broken so he has to keep the pump on the inside of his shorts on his hip. This keeps the pump out of the air and closer to his body making it even hotter. He is working on getting a new clip ASAP.

(Adam with broken insulin pump)

Tonight we are camping in a park in Leoti, Kansas! It is a free and there is a hospital across the street that has bathrooms. Lets just hope there won't be another thunderstorm tonight.

-Pattt

Haswell, Colorado... Flat As A Pancake!

Date: 7/07/06
Mileage: 94

Funds Raised:

$9,383.87 for Kupenda
+$50.00 thanks to Geoffrey Matrangola
+$50.00 thanks to Sandra L Hudock
$20,000 is the goal for Kupenda. That is the amount needed to build a boarding facility so that 30+ children, who have disabilities, will get to go to school!!! It is a chance to really make a difference in a lot of people's lives!!!$8,135.00 for ADA
Battling diabetes is something that is close to our hearts since Adam has Type I Diabetes. AFC's mission at it's core is to raise awareness, show other diabetics that anything is possible, and to do anything to combat diabetes!

Again for those of you who might not know as a side project team AFC MUST do Karaoke in every state we visit. Since tonight is our last night in Colorado we had to get our Karaoke on last night before we left Pueblo (big city.. means there must be karaoke somewhere). We talked to some very nice people at the University and they directed us to a place only 2 miles away called ShowTimes. It was some great Karaoke!! They had a hugeeeee selections of songs. So for those keeping track:

States visited: 6
States karaoked: 6!!! :)

After getting in late last night from karaoke we woke up at our usual 6:30am since we knew we had a 90 mile day ahead of us! By far today was the hottest and in some ways the hardest day of our trip. It was completely flat the entire day. We could see the horizon on all sides of us! That is pretty cool, comming from Maryland we never get to see anything like that. The sun beat down on us all day and the wind was always against us but we still managed to have a good time. We went through a town named "Sugar City" and Adam's nickname is "Suga" hahaha oh boy that was fun.

(This Picture will be replaced by a video ...
you dont want to miss this...
trust me!!!)

We also met some cool people who were traveling the opposite direction as us. They were from the Netherlands which means really cool accents!

(Cool friends from the Netherlands!)

Our destination was Haswell, Colorado. It is an extremely small town but it has FREE camping! The thunderstorms are crazy here and you can see them comming from miles and miles away. As I type this blog I am watching and praying that the HUGE thunderstorm on the horizon is not comming our way. We may be in for a longgggg night.

-Pattt

Rest Day at CSU - Pueblo

Date: 7/06/06
Mileage: 0

Funds Raised:

$9,283.87 for Kupenda (+$300.00 thanks to CSU-Pueblo Upward Bound!!!!!!)$20,000 is the goal for Kupenda. That is the amount needed to build a boarding facility so that 30+ children, who have disabilities, will get to go to school!!! It is a chance to really make a difference in a lot of people's lives!!!$8,135.00 for ADA
Battling diabetes is something that is close to our hearts since Adam has Type I Diabetes. AFC's mission at it's core is to raise awareness, show other diabetics that anything is possible, and to do anything to combat diabetes!We got some ridiculously awesome sleep in the CSU-Pueblo dorm rooms the night before. Might have been my best/longest sleep of the entire trip. We all really needed it. Breakfast at the dining hall was amazing as were all of our other meals! I love this place!!

After breakfast I went back to snake more sleep while everyone else did more productive things. Adam sent out mass emails to people about AFC. He was especially focused on sending out emails telling everyone about our newest idea! AFC has decided that after RAGBRAI we will bike from east Iowa all the way to Chicago. We haven't planned out our route yet but we figure it will be around 300 miles of straight biking! (we will have a more accurate mileage after we plan the exact route)

We decided to do this because:
1. God is on our side so we can do anything :)
2. We Love Life and we need a challenge!
3. It will raise awareness for our causes and mabye we can get a couple donations out of it!

For lunch we met with Gary who we knew through Cindy (president of Kupenda and best friend). Gary is the guy that setup our stay at CSU-Pueblo. If it wasn't for his hard work and kindness we would have probably slept in the middle of a soccer field and had gotten soaked by sprinklers in the middle of the night! Gary is a truly great guy. He was very inspiring to talk to and it is because of people like him that our trip is so worth all the work.

(PhillyK, Pattt, Awesome-Gary, Jesse, and Adam)

At 5:45 we were scheduled to give a presentation about AFC! It was one of the most incredible experiences of this trip so far! We were honored to give our talk to Colorado State University's Upward Bound Program. Our audience was all high school kids and they had all watched our Kupenda video earlier that day. They were incredible! It was great to talk to them. They were all so smart and they had a million questions about diabetes and the kids in Africa. The most amazing part of the talk was that these kids all get a stipend for their summer camp. Other that money they really don't have much. They were so fired up about helping others that they all donated a portion of their stipend to Kupenda! The total donation was $300.00. That money means more to us and our cause than most other donations because it actually was a sacrifice for them, since they don't have much to give to begin with!

Wow! Everyone of those kids truly inspired us. I have never met a cooler group of people in my life!

(Colorado State University Upward Bound)

CSU - Pueblo treated AFC right :) Thanks soooooo much!

-Pattt

Colorado State University - Pueblo

Date: 7/05/06
Mileage: 50

Funds Raised:

$8,983.87 for Kupenda (+$30.00 thanks to DeeDee)$20,000 is the goal for Kupenda. That is the amount needed to build a boarding facility so that 30+ children, who have disabilities, will get to go to school!!! It is a chance to really make a difference in a lot of people's lives!!!$8,135.00 for ADA (+$50.00 thanks to Judy Weilmuenster)

Battling diabetes is something that is close to our hearts since Adam has Type I Diabetes. AFC's mission at it's core is to raise awareness, show other diabetics that anything is possible, and to do anything to combat diabetes!

AHHHH yes!! Finally a nice short day. Especially after such a crazy July 4th it is super nice to take it easy.

After we woke up in the middle of a grass field where sprinklers were shooting everywhere we went to a super good breakfast at a local diner! I am obsessed with blueberry pancakes.

Knowing that we only had 50 miles we biked hard and fast to get to Pueblo. The wind was against us the entire time and it was nothing but rolling hills. Good Times!

(hahaha ohhh yea!)

When we arrived in Pueblo we had to look for Colorado State University - Pueblo because Cindy's friend Gary was super nice enough to work very hard to get us a place to stay there. When we finally found the place it was like heaven on earth compared to the last few nights. We are staying in 3 dorm rooms, we get full meals at the dining hall (yay for breakfast waffles), we are giving a speech about what we are doing, and we have met so many cool people!

(I am telling you... This place is incredible!)

Giving speeches is definitely the best thing about what we are doing. It is a chance to really reach out to people and tell them about diabetes, get them fired up about doing good works, and inspire others in any/every way possible to do something to help others!

Also, our friend Lauren found this verse for us. It very much describes how we approach life and how AFC first started.

Proverbs 16:9 "A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps."

Many things that we do, especially when it comes to all of this AFC stuff, we do without thinking of the consequences. We do them because we are fired up about doing something good often with little or no planning. When you do something good and you do it for God amazing things happen that you never even expected! I promise... I dare you to go and try it and see for yourself :)

-Pattt

Independence Day!

jDate: 7/04/06
Mileage: 75

Funds Raised:

$8,953.87 for Kupenda
$20,000 is the goal for Kupenda. That is the amount needed to build a boarding facility so that 30+ children, who have disabilities, will get to go to school!!! It is a chance to really make a difference in a lot of people's lives!!!

$8,085.00 for ADA
Battling diabetes is something that is close to our hearts since Adam has Type I Diabetes. AFC's mission at it's core is to raise awareness, show other diabetics that anything is possible, and to do anything to combat diabetes!

We left South Park, CO and headed to Canon City which was only 75miles away. Coming off our last big mountain pass and by looking at our map we figured that it would be all downhill. We would drop about 4,000ft so we were positive it would be an easy day. Turns out we were wrong! Somehow even though there were more down hills than up hills, the up hills were very steep and the wind was blasting against us the whole day.

(Pushing up one of our steepest hills to date)

When we arrived in Canon City our first order of business was to find out where the party was! Even though we were tired you have to see some fireworks on the 4th. A big thunderstorm came through at around 5:00pm so we ducked into one of the only places that was open in the entire town, Rumors Bar. There we found an all you can eat/drink buffet for only $5.00. We also heard from the bartender that a bar located about 2 miles down the road has Tuesday night Karaoke!! It doesn't get any better! After all we still haven't done our karaoke in Colorado yet.

As we walked down the street to find the karaoke bar, AndyK decided to go back and get the video camera to record our yokey exploits! He took off his shirt and ran back. We found the karaoke bar and while we waited for the yokey to start we watched fireworks go off from a nearby mountain... That was awesome!

As time passed we got very worried that AndyK either got lost or could not find the bar where we were. So, Adam and I ran back to find him. By the time we found him we were all so tired that we didn't want to go all the way back to the yokey bar. We also had not found a place to sleep for the night. We decided to pitch the tent on the grounds of a high school. At around 2:00am, an awful thing happened. The sprinkler system went off in the field where we were sleeping!!! We didn't have the top of our tent on since it was such a nice night outside! We all woke up not knowing what was going on. AndyK was quick to jump out of the tent and battle the sprinklers! From in the tent all we heard was him yelling and screaming as he tried to cover the onslaught of water, all the while getting himself soaked. He soon changed tactics and tried to put the top on the tent. I got up and together we secured the top. Inside the tent we were decently dry and everything was fine except for the sound of the sprinklers hitting our tent all night long.

After a restless night's sleep we woke up to the sound of trucks and lawn equipment. I got out and looked around. There people everywhere getting the lawn equipment out of the school's storage shead. They didn't seem to mind that we were there but we decided we had better get up and get moving out of there before someone yelled at us. Not to mention that the sprinklers were turning on again and we wanted to get the tent out before they sprayed us.

Our 4th of july was quite an adventure. The worst part of the whole story is that only Jesse and PhillyK did karaoke that night. Our rules are that at least 3 of the 5 of us must do karaoke for a state to count. We only have 2 nights left in Colorado!!

-Pattt

Fairplay (aka South Park), Colorado

Date: 7/03/06
Mileage: 97

Funds Raised:

$8,953.87 for Kupenda
$20,000 is the goal for Kupenda. That is the amount needed to build a boarding facility so that 30+ children, who have disabilities, will get to go to school!!! It is a chance to really make a difference in a lot of people's lives!!!

$8,085.00 for ADA (+$100.00 thanks to FamilyK!!!)
Battling diabetes is something that is close to our hearts since Adam has Type I Diabetes. AFC's mission at it's core is to raise awareness, show other diabetics that anything is possible, and to do anything to combat diabetes!

We got an early start this morning because we knew we had a BIG day ahead of us! We were ready to climb a total of 4,000ft up to the top of our highest mountain pass of the entire trip! Mount Hoosier is 11,542ft and we had to climb all the way to the top! It was incredible. There was snow all around. The climb was definately the hardest climb we have had yet. It was incredibly steep.

(After climbing Hoosier Pass we had time to play a quick game of
basketball before heading down!)

After the summit it got even worse because we were comming down off the mountain and it was freezing cold. We had on all of our cold weather gear but it just didn't seem to be enough. After 23 miles of blistering cold weather we ended up in South Park, Colorado. Yes! it is the same South Park that the cartoon is based off of.

We got a ridiculously good dinner at a local cafe. Now we are relaxing in a Motel. We couldnt bear to camp outside in the freezing weather so we spent the extra money.

-Pattt

Hot Sulfur Springs, Colorado

Date: 7/02/06
Mileage: 65

Funds Raised:

$8,953.87 for Kupenda
$20,000 is the goal for Kupenda. That is the amount needed to build a boarding facility so that 30+ children, who have disabilities, will get to go to school!!! It is a chance to really make a difference in a lot of people's lives!!!

$7,985.00 for ADA
Battling diabetes is something that is close to our hearts since Adam has Type I Diabetes. AFC's mission at it's core is to raise awareness, show other diabetics that anything is possible, and to do anything to combat diabetes!

We took it easy this morning since we were all a bit tired from the previous two days. We didn't start biking until about 12:30 pm, we usually leave around 8:30 am. We only had one big mountain pass and just 65 miles of biking. We met some very nice bikers today. Steve and Lori were touring and heading in the same direction as we were. We met them before the mountain pass and at the top.

(AFC with Steve and Lori at the top of the mountain)


(Diabetics Gone Wild!!)

We had planned to camp outside but when we got to Hot Sulfur Springs we could not find a campground that was not completely full. I guess with the holiday everyone is out and about so we had to get a hotel room. Luckily the hotel is awesome!! The owner is extremely nice and he gave us 2 rooms for the price of one at only $55.00!! I told him we could all squeeze into one room but he would have none of that.

It was so nice to do a shorter day I was getting a bit tired and tomorrow we have 90 miles of mostly all climbing and when we are done we will have gone up the highest mountain pass of our entire trip :)

-Pattt

The Day That Would Not Give Up.

Date: 6/01/06
Mileage: 115

Funds Raised:

$8,953.87 for Kupenda
$20,000 is the goal for Kupenda. That is the amount needed to build a boarding facility so that 30+ children, who have disabilities, will get to go to school!!! It is a chance to really make a difference in a lot of people's lives!!!

$7,985.00 for ADA
Battling diabetes is something that is close to our hearts since Adam has Type I Diabetes. AFC's mission at it's core is to raise awareness, show other diabetics that anything is possible, and to do anything to combat diabetes!

It was sad this morning because Adam's parents, Alex, and Lauren left to go back home. We will really miss them. It is back to just team AFC now. When we woke up we took our time getting ready. My friend from work, Andrew Marcus, and is brother Aaron. We went to the post office because we had a package waiting for us sent from Kristin Carter, whom we stayed with in Eugene. It was amazing!! She gave us a box of tons of organic bars, fun stickers for our cool AFCMobile, and an awesome harmonica! We didn't leave Rawlins until 12:00. We figured that would be okay because we only had 60miles today (or so we thought ...)

(Coooool Lizard Thingy)

We biked 40 miles to Saratoga were we stopped at a bar to watch the Brazil vs. France quarter final soccer match! What an awesome game!! France won 1-0!! PhillyK and AndyK were especially happy because they are from France.

(Fellow tourers Tim on the left and Alvin on our right)

Next we biked to our "destination town" Riverton. We found a campsite called Lazy Achers. Jesse went to talk to the manager while Adam and I went to the grocery store. The manager at Lazy Achers was very mean to us. Apparently earlier PhillyK and AndyK drove through his campgrounds to scope out the place and he was furious because he has a 'No Trespassing' sign up. The sign was so small that they didn't even see it when they drove in. This was our first experience with someone who was really mean. Needless to say we could not stay at that campgrounds so we were forced to bike another 25 miles to the next campsite.

(Artsy Pic of AndyK)

(Artsy PhillyK)

When we arrived at the next campsite it was 7:30. The campgrounds were 2 miles off the road on a dirt path. After some discussion we decided to bike to the next town which was about 25miles further and across the Wyoming/Colorado border. Now we are here In Walden, Colorado and we biked a total of 115 miles which makes 240 miles in the past 2 days :) I LOVE BIKING!!

-Pattt

125 Miles isn't Too Bad

Date: 6/30/06
Mileage: 125

Funds Raised:

$8,953.87 for Kupenda
$20,000 is the goal for Kupenda. That is the amount needed to build a boarding facility so that 30+ children, who have disabilities, will get to go to school!!! It is a chance to really make a difference in a lot of people's lives!!!

$7,985.00 for ADA (+$25.00 thanks to Andrea Gowetski)
Battling diabetes is something that is close to our hearts since Adam has Type I Diabetes. AFC's mission at it's core is to raise awareness, show other diabetics that anything is possible, and to do anything to combat diabetes!

We decided to skip over Jacksonville since there were not good RV sites at that location and we squeezed two days into one so that we had 125miles from Lander, Wyoming to Rawlins, Wyoming. All of it was through a desert. I ended up drinking 2 full camel backs plus numerous gatorades and I was still dehydrated at the end of the day. Even though we were in the desert it was strange to see that there were more dead animals on the road than anywhere else we have been, we saw at least 4 dead snakes along the way!. The land looks so barren but when you look closely it is actually teeming with life.

Today was the last day that Adam's parents, brother Alex, and our friend Lauren would be with us. They are leaving early tomorrow morning. We are REALLY going to miss having all of them to hang out with. Alex is a monster on the bike! It was great to have a 4th biker to draft off of.

(Lauren and Alex's last day hanging out with AFC)

(Alex and rainbows!)

When we got to Rawlins we headed to the Daily Times for an interview. We will be in the local newspaper tomorrow. We have been in at least 7 newspapers since this trip started in towns that we have passed through. This has mostly been through the efforts of MiniMed which is the company that makes Adam's insulin pump. We have a PR person that is working to get us in the media. It has been great for spreading awareness of diabetes and for inspiring others :)

Adam Health Side Note:
For those of you who may have been wondering... Adam's sugar levels have been doing extremely well. For example while we biked 125 miles yesterday he only had 1 time when his sugar was low and it was only like 65 or so. He drank a soda and we were back on the road. It is a blessing that he has been doing so well. We also wake Adam up every night at around 1:30am to check his sugar, just to be on the safe side. I can't remember the last time we woke him up and it was low. He is doing EXTREMELY well!! Not to mention that his fitness is through the roof. I can't imagine anyone being able to bike faster than he does up a mountain pass!!
Jesse Health Side Note:
Jesse had his thyroid removed just before we started the trip. There was a concern that it may have been cancerous. He just recently got his blood work done and had the results faxed to his doctor at home. Everything looks fine. They may increase his thyroid medication dosage just a little bit. Ever since he started taking his pills at 3am instead of 6am he has been waking up much faster. He was feeling groggy in the mornings before.

Pattt Health Side Note:
If I can just keep up with these guys everyday then I will be happy. Everyday they get more and more fit and it is harder and harder for me to keep up... seriously those guys are animals! :)

-Pattt

Lander, Wyoming!! (It is getting hot)

Date: 6/29/06
Mileage: 75

Funds Raised:

$8,953.87 for Kupenda
$20,000 is the goal for Kupenda. That is the amount needed to build a boarding facility so that 30+ children, who have disabilities, will get to go to school!!! It is a chance to really make a difference in a lot of people's lives!!!

$7,905 for ADA

Battling diabetes is something that is close to our hearts since Adam has Type I Diabetes. AFC's mission at it's core is to raise awareness, show other diabetics that anything is possible, and to do anything to combat diabetes!

Karaoke Stats:
States visited: 5, States Karaoked: 5
Last night we went out in town to a local saloon where we found "Red Dog's Karaoke". We completed another state of KARAOKE!!! We are now 5 for 5!! By far this was our best performance yet! Not only have we had 4 other previous states to practice through but we also had some help since Adam's parents, brother Alex, and our friend Lauren are traveling with us this week in an RV. The owner of the saloon was appropriately names Red Dog. He had a long, flowing, white beard and when I asked him how long he had been growing it he told me "65 years" when I asked him hold old he was he told me "60 years and 9 months". Needless to say he was the coolest man I have ever met.

(Red Dog is my hero)

In the morning we got up bright and early! Mr. D decided that he wanted to bike with us for the first 1/2 of the day!!! I was soooo happy! He was incredible. He never really bikes at all but he was able to keep a hot pace for a total of 40 miles. There were some very challenging hills along the way but he never let up.

(PapaD getting ready for a 40mile ride!)

When we started the day we were only about 20miles down the mountain from where we found snow the day before. When we finished biking we were in the town of Lander and it was 99 degrees. Luckily 99 degrees in Lander is nothing like 99 degrees in Maryland. It is soooo dry here that it doesn't feel hot at all :)

After we biked we went out to dinner and enjoyed the beautiful night. Adam called his girlfriend from home and we found out that she had to go to the hospital for a viral infection. She was released very late at night from the hospital but please keep her in your prayers just in case :)

Tomorrow we have 130 or more miles of biking to get to Rawlins, Wyoming! It is going to be a gooood day :)

-Pattt

Dubois, Wyoming

Date: 6/28/06
Mileage: 95

Funds Raised:

$8,953.87 for Kupenda (+100.00 thanks to Sadj the president of our Triathlon Club!)$20,000 is the goal for Kupenda. That is the amount needed to build a boarding facility so that 30+ children, who have disabilities, will get to go to school!!! It is a chance to really make a difference in a lot of people's lives!!!

$7,905 for ADA (+50.00 thanks to Tom Keller!)
Battling diabetes is something that is close to our hearts since Adam has Type I Diabetes. AFC's mission at it's core is to raise awareness, show other diabetics that anything is possible, and to do anything to combat diabetes!

In the morning before we left out campsite in Jackson Hole my boss from work, Mike LaRoi, visited us! He was on vacation in the area and wanted to stop by and say hi. It is great to have such awesome support from back home. He also bought some food for us for breakfast :)

(Jesse, Pattt, Mike, Adam)

After breakfast we started our ride from Jackson Hole to Dubois we started the ride by passing the Grand Tetons again. It was a perfect day outside so PhillyK and AndyK were able to get some ridiculously artsy pics of us biking.

(It was a super beautiful day!)

(King artsy pics!)

Today would be out longest and highest mountain yet. We climbed up to 9658ft at a 6% grade for 17 miles. I am pretty sure there is nothing in the world that I would rather do :) I loved every second of it.

(Even after climbing 2,000+ ft for 17 miles at a 6% grade...
up the highest peak we have been to so far we still didn't feel very fit...
so we broke out and started some strength training...
hahaha)

(This sign caused us much confusion, frustration, and anguish...
gears?
I don't understand)

-Pattt

Hanging Out In Jackson Hole, Wyoming!

Date: 6/27/06
Mileage: 0

Funds Raised:

$8,863.87 for Kupenda
$20,000 is the goal for Kupenda. That is the amount needed to build a boarding facility so that 30+ children, who have disabilities, will get to go to school!!! It is a chance to really make a difference in a lot of people's lives!!!
$7,855 for ADA
Battling diabetes is something that is close to our hearts since Adam has Type I Diabetes. AFC's mission at it's core is to raise awareness, show other diabetics that anything is possible, and to do anything to combat diabetes!

(Look... PhillyK found a fellow Hawk)

Since Adam's parents, Alex, and Lauren were in town we decided to take a vacation day having fun in Jackson Hole. The RV sure makes our lives a lot easier. We have a refrigerator to keep Adam's insulin cold, a nice place to sit at a table to eat lunch (other than the hood of AFCMobile), and other people to hang out with!

We took full advantage of our rest day by sleeping in late. At noon we went white water rafting! Most of us had never been before and we all had a great time. We went down class 1, 2, and 3 rappids.

After white water rafting Adam, PhillyK, and AndyK went running while Jesse did some catching up on his book writing, and I took a nap. AndyK, PhillyK, and Jesse are all training for the Baltimore Marathon where they are going to qualify for Boston! I will be running Boston also, it is going to be great since we all will be going. I am pretty sure that Adam will be either running Boston or doing some other even more amazing feet of endurance racing when we get back.

At night we went out to eat at a place called Bubba's Resturant and then we went "shopping". Although I pretty much hate shopping more than anything in the entire world :) I guess that going once every 3 months or so isnt too bad!

(See what shopping does to you.)

(MammaD and PappaD, Adam's parents)

-Pattt

Camping in Yellowstone State Park

Date: 6/25/06 and 6/26/06
Mileage: 80

Funds Raised:

$8,863.87 for Kupenda
$20,000 is the goal for Kupenda. That is the amount needed to build a boarding facility so that 30+ children, who have disabilities, will get to go to school!!! It is a chance to really make a difference in a lot of people's lives!!!
$7,855 for ADA
Battling diabetes is something that is close to our hearts since Adam has Type I Diabetes. AFC's mission at it's core is to raise awareness, show other diabetics that anything is possible, and to do anything to combat diabetes!

Our campsite was right in the middle of Yellowstone. We even saw some Elk passing by like 100 meters from our tent! After getting a good nights sleep (I got to sleep in the RV with Adam's parents, Alex, and Lauren) we woke up, ate breakfast, and exlpored some of Yellowstone!

On the 25th We went to the sulfur springs and they were soooo amazing.

(PhillyK at sulfur springs)

(Lauren at sulfur springs)

On the 26th before we started biking we woke up extra early to leave the campsite and look for some wildlife. We found a coyote!! We also got some good pictures of the sun rising!

(Coyote in Yellowstone)

(PhillyK, AndyK, and Adam taking artsy pics!)

We biked from Yellowstone to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. On the way we saw the Grand Tetons. These mountains might be the most beautiful thing we have seen so far!

(Most beautiful day yet?)

(Riding with Alex with Grand Tetons in background)

Since we crossed the boarder of another state we tried with all of our might to find karaoke in Jackson Hole (again we have to do karaoke in every state we visit). We were unable to find any karaoke in Jackson Hole :( But it is okay because we have a lot of nights in Wyoming.

-Pattt

Fun Times in West Yellowstone

Date: 6/24/06
Mileage: 60

Funds Raised:

$8,863.87 for Kupenda
+$100 thanks to Paul, Katy, Nathan, and Claudia,
+$50.00 from Jen Canatella,
+$15.00 from Joy,
+$15.00 from Hillary,
+$15.00 from Piper,
+$5.00 from DeeDee,
+$20.00 from a randomly nice guy we met in Grangeville,
+$20.00 from the Jim and Mary Cramer!!$20,000 is the goal for Kupenda. That is the amount needed to build a boarding facility so that 30+ children, who have disabilities, will get to go to school!!! It is a chance to really make a difference in a lot of people's lives!!!
$7,855 for ADA
+$50.00 from Jen Canatella,
Battling diabetes is something that is close to our hearts since Adam has Type I Diabetes. AFC's mission at it's core is to raise awareness, show other diabetics that anything is possible, and to do anything to combat diabetes!

When we arrived in West Yellowstone last night we heard that there was a street dance, whatever that means, in the middle of town hosted by a couple of the local bars. Although we had a semi-hard day of biking the next day we just had to go and find out what a street dance was!!

Jesse, Adam, PhillyK, and AndyK went out to dinner while I stayed at the campsite to finish the blog and do some laundry. At dinner their waitress who had three younger siblings with Type I Diabetes just like Adam. She also has a 90% chance of getting Type II within her life time. She was all about what we were doing and PhillyK interviewed her for his Documentary.

(Cool waitress!)

While I was doing the blog and laundry I met Paul, Katy, their son Nathan and daughter Claudia. They were curious about our bikes and asked lots of questions about our trip. They were so excited about what we are doing that they donated $100.00 to Kupenda!! They are on vacation and were planning on driving to Yellowstone State Park tomorrow.

I met the rest of AFC after dinner and we went searching for the 'street dance'. It was great!! There was a live band playing that sounded very much like Linkin Park. There were not many people dancing but PhillyK and AndyK were eager to join in the fun since they are KING DANCERS.

(King dancer AndyK)

After the concert ended at 10:00pm we left the street to go to the bar that was hosting the event. There we met a ton of new friends. It was a blast!! So many people were excited about what we are doing after we told them how we are trying to make a difference. I was one of our most fun nights out since we started the trip.

This morning we got a late start since we were up later than usual making new friends! We biked from West Yellowstone to Grant Village, a campsite in Yellowstone State Park. On the way we met up with Paul and Katy and their son Nathan and daugher Claudia, again, from the day before. We were happy about that because we wanted to give them an AFC T-Shirt. Before we said a final good bye they said a prayer for us, that we would be successful and safe in our journies. It was the nicest thing EVER!

(Paul and Katy with their son Nathan and daughter Claudia.. on their way to Yellowstone)

There was only one mountain pass. By far the best part of this day was that we met up with Adam's parents, his brother Alex, and our best friend Lauren! We biked into Yellowstone and met them at Old Faithful. They are going to be with us for the next week.

They rented and RV so we will be living like kings for the next few days. We are so happy to have friends join us in our adventure. The best part is that Alex rented a road bike and he will be biking with us!

(Alex, Pattt, Jesse, and Adam at Old Faithful)

-Pattt