Buckeye State to West Virginia…

Today was another great lesson on the male competitive spirit and how it can motivate people to go above and beyond what they may think their body is capable of.  Prime example (and really the example for this entire trip) is Frank.  Frank is putting in more work than anybody else on this trip.  He bikes just as much (usually more) than anybody else all day and instead of retiring to bed after dinner he stays up to deal with the administrative business of the trip.  He’s usually up until about one or two AM every night and gets minimal sleep before heading out to “run it hot” or “get all psyched up” (as mentioned in previous blogs) all day long.  Today he rode 120 miles through so pretty good hills in order to do twice his age in miles (he turns 60 at midnight tonight…happy birthday Frank the Tank).  Anyway, this trip has shown me how incredible this male competitive force can be and how the man having more fun while doing it will always succeed far beyond his counterpart (this may be justification for me never lettings get to me, but hopefully my theory plays out to be true in the end).

 

            Learned today that in West Virginia you can’t run for public office if you’ve ever participated in a duel at some point in your life.  Kyle, Jay and I are looking for more obscure rules for each state we hit…mainly because it’ll be fun to say we’ve broken them may have to face the consequences someday. 

 

            Kyle and I are sitting in the Business Center of our hotel room right now.  He’s playing music videos while we write our blogs.  The song of the trip (playing right now) is “Catch my Disease” by Ben Lee.  This has easily become Frank’s favorite song since we introduced it to him on Day 1.  He sings it while he rides, and we tend to open all the doors in the van and blast the song next to him while he rides.  Great song, I highly recommend you put it on right now if you have the means…

 

            So as we were having our nightly shot, beer and Bailey’s combo at the local pub across the street from our hotel (props to Judie who kept the bar open and extra half hour for us!) with Jesse (word to Jesse for joining us tonight!) we talked a lot about how every little things we’ve done in our life has somehow brought us to where we are.  It may have been a different story if the actions of our being had brought us to a dive hotel in West Virginia, but it is a completely different story when that West Virginian town is just a stop on your bike ride across the United States with an incredible mix of people.  The message here may be a little to deep to go into during a blog, and too deep for a Sunday night after a number of drinks, but it’s fun to think about.  It’s mainly fun because it lets you think about all the people that have been/are in your life that have played a part in your happiness thus far.

 

            Change of pace.  I think social stipulations are very outdated and can be extremely trite given the circumstances.  Example, most dinner rules are disliked by everybody who abides by them, however they are strictly followed in order to not offend anyone or to be seen as a rude person.  The problem is that everybody complains about them, and it’s is the person at the table that loosens everybody up that will ultimately prevail.  Sounds confusing and weird, but true.  People need some escape every now and then.  I feel like Jay, Kyle and I have been the escape for mostly everybody on this trip thus far, and hopefully we’ve helped make it more enjoyable for everyone!

 

            So insane that we are 4 days from the finish.  So insane that we will be at Bucknell soon.  That I will become a full-time working member of society, and that we’ve pretty much completely planned out entire rest of the year without having money, or possibly time, to do so.  However, everything will work out; it seems to always be that way…

 

Frank and Walt referred to us as “like sons” to them today.  Meant a whole lot to the three of us and just goes to show how powerful Bucknell ties can be, especially given the fact that we’ve know these guys (in person) for just two weeks!  It has also been weird to be having such a jovial time with a trustee of our university.  While in school, trustees are perceived as these higher figures that spend money and make rules for students to follow.  We’ve found out that this is barely the case.  Frank and his fellow trustees seem to really care about the students well being (this includes their social life).  The problem has been that they don’t get as much person interaction with students as they would like, and that is needed to increase relations.  We’ve voiced many concerns of students to Frank on this trip, which has helped him a lot.  At the same time he has showed us/reminded us that the trustees are the people that cared the most about Bucknell while going there and have the student’s best interest as their top priority.  I would have never thought I’d see a trustee barreling up a hill on his bike while belting out the lyrics to a song he had just found out about two weeks ago! 

 

Anyway, time for us to go explore/hang out with Jake and Jesse for a bit.  Hope everybody had a great weekend.  Kyle has the worst farmer’s tan I’ve ever seen/could have ever imagined!  Check it out when we get back, you’ll be impressed.  We also passed two sweet towns in Ohio today, one called Guysville and the other called Coolville.  Cheers!

Indianna to oHEYo

Today I saw a sign when we got into Ohio the I am going to blow up and put in my bedroom. It was a sign marking two cities ahead of us on the road which read: Lewisburg 5 and Springfield 26. Basically it was a sign that was directing me toward the two places I refer to as home in my life (sorry DC, but you may be in the mix in a few months or so). So that was exciting. However, not as exciting as the fact that all 5 Bucknell guys finally got to ride together in the van today. And on top of that our rotation was: Frank and Walt together, then Kyle, Jay and I togther. We switched off with that rotation for the day and it was awesome. Brings me to the first thing I learned today: Even the most boring surroundings (nothing but corn fields all around) can be the best time of your life if you’re with the right company.Don’t get me wrong, the scenery may seem boring when it’s right there in front of you, but today I think the first impact of this trip finally hit me. We are biking across the entire country! These are things we may never ever have seen in our entire lives if it weren’t for this trip (Jenna/Jive, we owe you big time!) This hit me while we were driving. I was in the back of the van with the side sliding door open (if you haven’t had the chance to ride in a minivan this way, I highly recommend it). I was staring off into the hazy Ohio sky, and trying to look around the huge corn fields for something interesting, when I picked up Jay’s camera and started to browse through the pictures.

I was looking at pictures of places I could barely recall, but also some places that I’ll never forget…and that’s when it hit me: it’s been only two weeks and we’ve seen sooo much of this country. Our shirts have a map on them of our route and we only have about an inch to go! Wow.

So right now we’re hanging out in London, OH. Kyle’s parents came to visit us for the night with a couple of his friends. Props to Mama-Ro for all the bananas, cookies, protien bars and oranges! Probs to Papa-Ro for wearing another sweet Hawaiin shirt, I’d like to go shopping with him someday so he can pick out a ton of sweet just “hangin’ out” clothes for me. We’re about to head out to a sports bar of some sort to watch some college football (can’t believe it’s already Saturday, again!) and load up on our liquid carbs for the next few days to come.

So the third thing to take away from this: spandex can be a lot of fun when taken in doses. If you live in spandex for two plus weeks, they begin to wear on you…especially when you only get to do laundry once a week.

Goldie, maybe someday I’ll actually get to talk to you on the phone…for now, just ask Gracie how I’m doing because I’ve been texting her like crazy! Cheers to the Bison raising our million dollars, let’s not stop there! 

Kim, great looking out on getting Wet Hot American Summer…that’s the first thing we are all doing when we get back to DC!

Illinois to Indiana…

Yesterday was fun. I learned that 100 miles of riding isn’t all that bad while on this trip and it got me ready to do about 200 miles each day. We also scooted into just under a week left on our trip. Bittersweet to think about: each day we get really excited to see everybody we left behind, but that also means our adventure is getting closer to a close and I don’t think any aspect of this trip has sunk in yet.

Today I was back in the Penn van and had an interesting day. Our van has satellite radio, so whenever I’m driving I bounce around as much as I can to try new things out on the radio. I learned that my Spanish hasn’t faded as much as I thought while listening to the news in Spanish for a while. I also learned that the stand-up comedy station is fun to listen to when you get tired…made me think of Murnane a bit and the time we made an entire party walk to 7th street to support his open mic routine!

I got to talk to Mayo on the phone for a bit today (also tried to call Goldie, who screens my calls…), the third most important phone call behind my Mom and Grandma. Hope your shoulder gets better Mayo and you are prepared for our return! Along the lines of talking to Mom, it seems like she has single-handedly turned me into a local celebrity within her circle of friends…I’d like to thank Uncle Billy and Auntie Deb, Uncle Beady and Te-Te, Uncle Pat and Eileen, and the rest of my extended family back in Swingtown that have been staying up-to-date with our travels…I could list everybody but I’d forget somebody and might have enough room to list you all.

We got a lot of beeps and cheers today going through Indiana, thanks to everyone along the road that supported us, and not so much thanks to the guy that had a few choice words that might not be acceptable to repeat on the internet.

Anyway, we’re all feeling good. Rosey and I just got back from checking out a local pub that had karaoke night! Props to the guy that belted out the Bill Withers song without having to look at the lyrics. The Midwest is pretty crazy in my opinion, it’s a strange blend of people that I am glad to have been a part of for a few days, mainly because I may have never been able to do so without this trip.

One thing I thought a lot about today: Bruce asked me where I see myself in 20 years. Wasn’t sure how I could possibly answer that question. I feel like in the past 10 years of my life it would be pretty hard for me to predict what I’d be doing in the next week. How could I have predicted sitting in a hotel room in Indianapolis right now with Kyle sleeping in the bed next to me, Jay two rooms over typing about the bike ride we had today to make our way across the United States. Or about all the people I’ve already met along the way? I may have never crossed paths with any of these guys, would have never met Jake and Jess (and would have never already planned a trip to Argentina to meet Jess in a few months) or Murray who was great to have for a few days…hope to see you at the tail end Murray! So 20 years down the line? I don’t even like to say that to myself. For now I have my sight set on each day. My long term goals are how much fun I’m going to have with guys like Mayo and Luke Greeley in 6 days. I haven’t even started to think about work, that time will come. I hope in 20 years I’m doing the same thing I’m doing right now: surrounding myself with a healthy blend of people I love and people I’m just starting to discover. I hope they all treat me as well as, and intrigue me as much as, the people that have been a part of my life thus far. I hope they all are infinitely up for a good time, always ready for an adventure, never apprehensive about rules or guidelines, ready to discover new things, and possibly trying to get “weird” from time to time.

Ohio tomorrow, can’t wait to see the Rosendale family! Cheers.

Let;s be ckiche: We’re not in Kansas anymore…

The night of day 10 was one of the best nights of the trip! We rode all day. I started off with the Penn van, but got picked up by Jake and Jesse around 11am so they could bring me to the Bucknell van for the second half of the ride. On our way between vans, we stopped at Sonic! My first Sonic experience, and let me tell you, it was pretty legit. I always wondered why Sonic advertised so much in the northeast, given that the closest Sonic is in Richmond, VA. I figured it out; the drinks there are THAT good. Get a smoothie…you won’t be disappointed.

So back to the night. I jumped in the Bucknell van because we had to get in early in order to drive 2 and a half hours to Kansas City for dinner with some Bucknell folks. Dinner was arranged by Ron Benjamin and family…easily the best dinner of our trip thus far, and maybe the dinner of my year. We got to see the Logans again, Andy Logan’s (VP OIPS’) parents, who are always a lot of fun to talk to and who taught us a lot more about some of the better sides of Kansas (it took some convincing that the state was more than boring roads and cows). So we ate and drank like kings for a few hours, Kyle and I showed everyone our nightly tradition: shot of Jack, a beer and a glass of Bailey’s on the rocks. Then on the car ride home we talked to some girls we know from Bucknell who invited Kyle and I to a date party when we get back to Bucknell (we know, they miss us that much…right).

Today, day 11, I was back in the Penn van and ready for action. At this point I would prefer to ride the entire day by myself if I had the option, I’m running hot and getting psyched up, but I need to pay my duty to drive the van every now and then. I learned what the Ozarks look like and how nice old ladies in the Midwest can be. The lady that ran the lodge we stayed in last night was the nicest woman we’ve met on the trip. Not to mention the room Kyle, Jay and I shared was soooo sweet. We had 4 beds, a kitchen and a room big enough to house 30 of our closest friends.

Also learned today that we have already hit our goal of raising $1 million for Bucknell, and we still have over a week to go! Wow, the days seem very long, but this trip is cruising by. It’s going to take a few days, once this is all over, and probably a few nights of celebration for everything to hit me. Jay and I try to sit back a lot on this trip and figure out what exactly is going on, it’s more comic relief than anything, but we seriously have been really lucky to end up where we are right now. For instance, we just got back from dinner, we’re in Missouri and nobody has any concept of what day of the week it is. We just raised $1 million by riding our bikes and having the time of our lives with a group of guys we had never met (besides the 3 of us) before a week and a half ago.

Shout out to Kellan, sorry I forgot to include you in our previous story (blame K-rO for that because he didn’t believe me that you were there) and stay strong with your running to get ready for the marathon g-pop. So I’m sitting on the bed of our hotel room right now. About to go up to Jake and Jess’ room to post this blog, before Kyle and I go take care of our nightcap routine, is it weird that I spend most of my day on the bike thinking about how I don’t have much to think about? I generally spend more time wondering why I don’t have anything tot think about than actually thinking of something useful. Maybe it’s because my mind can’t really ponder many things unless it’s out loud? Maybe I think I already have things figured out? Maybe because things are going so well that I have nothing to fill my thoughts with? I think a big part of it may deal with how fast everything is happening and has happened. Just yesterday I was sharing a mod room with Dan Mayo and learning the ins and outs of our fraternity by the older guys that paved the way. Ever since, things have just flown by and now, instead of sitting in an auditing room, I’m riding my bike across the United States with two of my best friends and a handful of older guys that have since become new best friends of mine.

It’s just weird the way things work out. You could see somebody awkwardly sing a rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on stage one day and the next day you could be flying to Seattle to go visit them. The connections made along the way are wild when you think back on them. I know I may have repeated a few things from previous postings, but each day gets me closer to realizing how much fun I’ve had thus far and how great things to come will be. Can’t wait to get back to DC and rock out with Goldie, Martin, Gracie and all the other clowns we have down there. I strangely can’t wait to start work to meet new people and learn new things each day. I guess I’m rambling, so I’ll go find Kyle to grab a drink before bed. Thank you to everybody who has helped us reach the $1 million, let’s try to make it $2 million!! Go Bison, can’t wait to see everybody when we get back!

Day 8 and 9er

Kansas, who would have thought, is the most boring state I’ve ever been through.  Up until now, the winner has been Delaware, but compared to Kansas, Delaware seems more exciting than heli-skiing with a torn rotator cuff (props to Mike for actually doing that, along with being our daily answer to most of the questions Kyle, Jay and I think of while on our bikes).

So, given the previous statements, I learned that Kansas doesn’t have much to offer, sorry Logan, but we are trying to discover that little things about this state that make people love it so much.

Yesterday I was with the Penn van again and we had a great time.  I got a lot of riding in and had some great movie conversations with Bruce and Mike.  Yesterday I learned how windy Kansas could be and also that having a few extra drinks will greatly improve aerobic performance.   This is something I’ve been preaching for quite some time, and I’ve finally discovered how well it works.  Since a few nights ago, Kyle and I have been staying after dinner to have a couple more beers, a shot of Jack and a glass of Bailey’s.  Ever since, we’ve been riding like champs and sleeping like rocks…my rock sleep might be a little louder than most, however…as a few people might already know and Kosa just found out.

Today we did an old guy/new guy split, meaning it was Jay, Nir, Kyle and I in one van and Frank, Walt, Bruce and Mike in the other.   We cruised through Greensburg, KS to begin and saw all the damage that was caused by the recent tornado.  It was quite an eye-opener and really made us think about the different parts of the country and how much other people have to worry about, whether it be tornado, earthquake, hurricane, etc..

Mike taught us today about the weight of cows and how seagulls always fly with their heads into the wind (a good sailing trick if you need one).  So I learned about both those things and also that scratch tickets are dangerous.  You would think I would have learned my lesson two summers ago, but now Jake and Jess have us buying tickets at every gas station.  We are hoping to win some money and put it all on red or black when we get to Atlantic City…but we’ll see.

Can’t wait to be back at school.  Tomorrow night we are heading to Kansas City to have dinner with a trustee and VP OIPS’ (Mr. Andy Logan) parents…so excitement is very high.  We are hoping a lot of our friends can make it out to Lewisburg the weekend of the 28th to celebrate of return with us.  It’s something we look forward to everyday, especially now that we’ve hot the Midwest (today we past the point that is exactly halfway across the country!)  We look forward to seeing and hearing from everyone along the way.  We appreciate all the voicemails and texts we’ve got, and hope to keep everybody entertained upon our return.

Cool.  Alright, we’re going to keep on rolling.  Cheers, and a special shout out to Chad King for being such a special man.

Day 7

Back in the Bucknell van today, but Kyle and Jay were in the Penn van.  Can’t wait until we all have a good period of time of riding together.

First thing I learned today was that it’s possible to go 62.7 mph on a bike.  It was soooo sweet.  We had two really big climbs, which lead to two really nice downhills.  Easily the prettiest day we’ve had yet!

So right now Kyle and I are in the “Business Room” of our hotel typing away, after a good session at the hotel bar accompanied by the whole team.  Today I also came up with a good riding technique: if you take your biking jersey off ( I took mine off today because I was “running hot” as Frank would say) two cool things happen.  First, when you go down hill (given that you tie your jersey to the back of your shorts) it feels like you have a cape on.  Second, it helps with getting rid of/preventing farmer’s tan…

So we did the bulk of the climbing in the past week, and have a good few days of nothing but flat downhills through Kansas, which should be fun. 

Want to say hi to Mom, who has been staying on top of my blog each day and hope all is well back in Springfield.  Also want to say thanks to all the kids who’ve sent me messages, ect…

 We’ve got a good thing going and I don’t want to see it end.  Congrats to Troasty and Danielle.  Doc Walt is still crazy, but I love him and Frank more each day…this trip has been phenomonal and we still have 12 days to go!!!

Can’t wait for Lewisburg…hope everybody is ready for our return!

Day 6

Today we went over the continental divide!  I was in the Penn van again and we logged some serious miles.  Before we set off I got a chance to catch up with Mayo (you better meet up with us in Atlantic City dude) which was nice.

First thing I learned was that some things in life are kind of creepy and can’t be explained.  We were cruising through the end of Arizona and I, for some starnge reason, was thinking of Mike Coldwell.  It may have been becuase of our trip we took to Arizona this past winter, but the first time I looked down at my mile count on my bike the milage read: 12.34…so Coldwell, you continue to weird me out.

I also discovered that the soap in our hotel the night before smelled like cookies and cream ice cream…it was great.  Sorry, dumb side note.

So I was on my bike for 85 miles today and did a lot of thinking. Unfortunately, here’s the most interesting thing I came up with:  there are certain words in the English language that simply can’t belong together.  For instance, I like farmers and I love tans, but farmer’s tan is the worst.  Riding through the desert with a bike jersey has really hit me hard in the farmer’s tan department.  An example of two words that are great together: parachute and pants.  Who doesn’t love parachutes and who could have anything against pants…therefore, parachute pants are sweet.

More serious note, I realized that you can be anywhere in the world, having the time of your life, and one small conatct with home, or what you refer to as home (in this case, Bucknell), can make you a little homesick.  I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world right now, riding across country with the group we have has been one of the most amazing trips of my life.  However, I did get a text from somebody at Bucknell that really made me want to go back right away.  Says something about the kind of people at Bucknell and the love I’ve developed for such a great school. 

Day 5

 

Two weeks to go!!!!!!!!! 

Today I learned something very important.  I learned that there is something that exists called The E.T. Effect (a phrase I coined myself and discovered today).  So for any of you that have seen the movie E.T., remember the scene where E.T. drinks the beer and Elliot feels the effects while in class?  Basically the two of them become emotionally and physically connected in some strange way.  Anyway, at the beginning of today Kyle was in more of a low-key mood and I was feeling a bit tired after a night of not so good sleep.   Now either the way he felt had an impact on me or vice versa, but my theory is that we’ve spent so much time together in the past, what, 3 years that we’ve begun to share symptoms…granted that 99.99% of the time those symptoms are overly-excited and enthusiastic about the smallest thing in the world.  Nonetheless, I discovered the reality behind E.T. and apologize to Jenna for bringing up “the scariest movie ever made”.

 

We also further discovered the power of being a Bucknellian.  As far as Kyle and I are concerned, we could pick out anybody that went to Bucknell in our time and be able to tell a story about them, or recognize that we once had a conversation with them.  Well, last week we got a message from Emily Johnson, one of the rare Bucknellians that we hadn’t crossed paths with during our 4-year stay in Lewisburg.  Regardless, she saw that we were coming through Colorado (easily my favorite state thus far, by far) and contacted us to see if we were coming through Durango.  Just so happened that we are staying in Durango tonight, so we got in touch with her and had a few beers, some dinner, and shared some stories.  Props to Durango Brewing Company for staying open after hours and letting us sample their beers (Mayo we thought of you)!  We met her roommates and co-workers Miles and Hanna for a beer in downtown Durango…another scene that convinced us that we need to spend some time in Colorado very soon (Micah, we now feel your love for your home state).

 

I also realized today that I missed a few things in the passed day or two.  First, one of the days I saw multiple signs that informed people of the fire risk in the desert.  The funny thing was that each sign was a giant picture of Smoky the Bear giving us the update on how safe it was.  All I could think of while I was on my bike was Giaco and the power hour he introduced us to.  The same power hour we used at 9am during the week…props to the crew that was there with us, especially Lando who tried her hardest to keep up and had to resort to wearing a Bucknell Rugby jersey for extra motivation.  We also talked a bit about one of the routes we did where the only turn we had all day was a left turn.  Shout outs to the Duke Greeley and Cuz Lyons for reminding me of NASCAR (sorry it wasn’t you Jenna) on that left turn.

 

I spent a lot of time today thinking about people back at Bucknell.  I learned that no metter what I’m doing, whether it be biking across the country or sitting in an auditing room for PwC, I can’t stop thinking about all the people I’ve had the opportunity to meet while at Bucknell.  I owe so much to such a great place and am glad that I can be a part of giving back to it.  Plus this race is a great excuse to go back to school as an alumni and hang out with everybody for a few days!

 

All in all, today was another fantastic day.  The scenery was the most beautiful, in my opinion, that we’ve seen all trip.  Right now we’re hanging out in Jake and Jesse’s room typing away and gearing up for the Continental Divide tomorrow.  As Frank would say: “We’re in Big Boy Country now, we gotta get psyched up”!  Walking around downtown Durango tonight really made Kyle and I appreciate where we are, where, we’ve come from, and wonder where the heck we are heading.  For now we are heading East and we hope the rest will fall into place after that. Cheers.

Day 4

I am finally caught up with my blog, after a few stops in remote areas with no internet and not getting to sitting down, but rather bouncing around the hotel room with Jay and Kyle and talking about how incredible this experience has been…and it’s only been 4 days!  Today was the first day all 5 Bucknellians were in the van together, and it looks like it will be this way for a while…so excitement is very high.

First thing I’d like to learn: What does “the proof is in the pudding” mean?  Kyle and I were riding today, first we started off by playing the rhyming game (if you know us well enough you probably aren’t surprise and don’t need and explanation) and for some reason that saying came into my mind.  I’d love some help with figuring this one out.  Oh, just remember that on the start of Day 3 I learned from Doc Walt that the area between your chin and neck is, in fact, not medically referred to as a “gobbler”.

Anyway, I also learned that Jake and Jess will be coming with us to Atlantic City and then to Bucknell at the end of our journey.  This was great news, it’s been a blast hanging out with these two guys, and it will be a lot of fun to entertain them once we get back to Bucknell.  I learned that Jess has been doing a back flip in every state we pass through, so obviously Kyle and I made him do one on the spot.  Jake taught us more about all the sweet equipment he has and all it can do.  He’s got anything you would need, and is talented enough, to do some incredible things (as you’ve seen on this website), but the biggest breakthrough I took from that was that he has the capability to do karaoke on his computer…something we might not want him to film.

I learned something from Frank today that I loved.  He said “Lawyers tell you what you can’t do and businessmen tell you how you can make something happen”.  I’m not going to forget this for quite a long time, it made me realize that going into business is exactly what I should be doing.  I’ve never shot down an idea for being infeasible, but rather love the challenge of figuring out a way to make things possible.  We are really lucky to be on such a trip with so many profoundly impressive guys.  We’ve learned a lot from them in such short time already and have also seen that these guys, as successful as they are, haven’t forgot how to have a great time and “hang loose” (that’s for you Walt) from time to time.

I like this trip like I like fireworks.

Day 3

On Day 3 I was assigned to join up with the Penn team to help them out driving and riding a bit.  It was a much different dynamic, but we had a very beautiful ride up a great mountain and awesome weather to boot.

So what did I learn?  I learned that it is possible to get told to slow down while being a part of a race.  This was probably my fault though.  The first chance I got to hop on my bike this day I took off like a bat out of hell (I’d like to learn where that term came from as well).  I pulled away from the other riders on a narley downhill, almost got hit by a truck and then was told to slow down.  This may have been for my own good because I have a good history of crashing.

The second thing might be a smorgasbord of items.  I learned a lot more about the guys in the other van.  I got a great chance to spend some time with Mike, Bruce and Nir who are all interesting men who have come a long way and who had a lot to offer as far as conversation and variety goes.  As I said before, a big part of this trip has been meeting new people and so far it’s been a blast.

Thirdly, I learned/realized how much fun Bucknellians have regardless of any age difference or circumstances.  I missed being in the Bucknell van, especially because while I was gone Frank was hooking Kyle up with potential girls he can meet when we get back to Bucknell.  Anyway, the five Bucknellians we have on our journey have really become a serious force to be reckoned with.  Not only on our bikes, but in regards to how our personalities work so well together and how we get each other psyched about every little thing that goes on inside that white Dodge Caravan that I am proud to call home for the next couple weeks.  I have no doubt that our team will far exceed all expectations and help to achieve something great for the scholarship fund and for anyone who is proud to have spent for years going to college in Lewisburg.

After all of our riding we high-tailed it to Phoenix for an alumni event.  We met a bunch of new friends and also some familiar face, which was a lot of fun.  Thanks to K-Chen, Erin for coming to say hi and hang out for a bit.  Great to see both of you, see you at Homecoming.