We have certainly been in the gear known as gooooooooo for awhile now. But it has finally paid off, tomorrow will be the last day of our near three month journey. However I will lament about that later, for now I am only concerned with what we have done lately and what you have not seen. From our last update we have battled endless hills which have been anywhere from exactly what we have expected, hard. To something we did not expect, really really hard. The one that put us down the most was a two or three mile grade rising at a minimum of 10 percent. Many other hills were quite harrowing but overall we made it through the Appalachians without too many scratches. Along the way we met many more interesting and nice people, got to see some local music, cruised along the blue ridge parkway, slept in the house of the legendary Cookie Lady (June Curry) and now are back with our parents for the last two days of riding. We also separated from one friend who had to finish two days earlier and to do so put in four days ranging anywhere from 90 to 120 miles. 

memory tats! Mom almost fell for that one.

Ben loves his mom thaaaaat much

Dogs!

peach doughnuts! they tasted like... doughnuts

we debated on a moat as well but decided it would trap us in, not them out

swinging bridge, no more than three people, how about four and their loaded bicycles?

Mary and Frank were on their way back from DC

all of that is memorabilia from bicycle tourists, dating back to '76

it keeps going

Mountain, i say to you: I AM GODZILLA, YOU ARE TOKYO

Shenadoah valley from on high

and going

As weird as it may be the first words that crossed my mind as I saw our first hill this morning were as follows: Gooooooooooooood Moooooooooorning Aaaaaaaaaaaaappalachia! We aren't even close to the heart of the Appalachian mountain range yet the hills have started to grow faster than the Cudzu vines that have begun to surround us. All the same we are keeping up our average miles and our spirits. The last few days in particular have helped as we got to see some familiar faces. On Sunday our parents made the three hour trek down to meet us and than drive us to Mammoth caves. Once there we were met by our cousin Kate and went to explore the beautiful caverns! Along with our parents came the dogs and lots of food! We survived off the leftovers for the next day and a half. Two days later and at the end of a 90 mile barrage of rollers we were greeted by even more companions from home! Mary and Frank from next door came down and treated us to a wonderful dinner at the Boone Tavern in good 'ol Berea Kentucky. As we pedal on Maura has to stick close as she just lost her 3rd phone this trip. Just like Maura. Well we have many hills and even more miles to cover. We will see you all soon and are excited to be home!

It is true...I am terrible with phones.... it has been the bane of my existence on this trip...

~love
Mo

Kaaaaaaaantuckey

Well we've done it! Today we crossed over the Ohio river into Kentucky! There are now only two states left, albeit long ones but still! we're close! Our crossing into Illinoise was somewhat treacherous but we made it okay. That night we stayed at a small place up the Tunnel Ridge bicycle path. Getting there was quite Intresting as we had to first ride through an old railroad tunnel. Approaching the tunnel it looks simple, you can even see the hole of light on the other side. However as you get closer and closer to the center you can see less and less until all you have to focus on is the light dancing in front of you as you try to not swerve into a wall. finally we got out of the darkness and to our campsite. which was a shack on the side of the trail where a man left things out for you to take and leave money for on the honor system. The man showed up later and ended up being a really cool guy who just loved to meet people from other places. That night we slept in a shed out back where we were able to fit all 5 of the people who we are riding with. Next morning brought us a beautiful day and a good ride into the Amish country of South West Kentucky.

Almost there

Well, we have almost done it, later today we will be crossing the Mississippi river, a big milestone in our Trans-Am trail. After that we will only have three more states to cross (one of which we just skip across the bottom edge) a distance of about 1200 miles. The trip sure is going fast. Over the last week in particular we have covered quite a bit of distance as we hopped off route and onto the Katy trail an, old railroad which has been covered in hard-packed dirt and rock for cyclists and walkers to enjoy. On the way to the trail we met a Trans-Am couple of particular interest; they had re-started their trip in May after a five month hibernation through the winter. Why was it taking so long for them to cross a measly few thousand miles you may ask? Well because they were walking across America! They were each pushing a trailer filled with gear. Riding along with them was their small dog, he looked a little wet and cold but was enjoying himself. They amazed us to no end and were only tied by another couple we met while on the Katy trail. This set was riding Unicycles across America! They had started in May and are planning on finishing in early October. Each of them had racks with small bags containing their clothes and a backpack with food stuffs, but besides that they were staying in hotels so there was no need for camping gear. They said their maximum speed is about Ten miles an hour and that's it, going up or down hill. On the way down a mountain they can't stop pedaling, so if they go too fast they begin to wobble, as such they have to just hold their break and ease their way down at six or seven miles an hour. The Rockies are going to be a loooooooong ride. After getting off the trail and finally making it to Farmington, Missouri we were greeted by the legendary Al's place. A hostel for bicyclists that is supported by the city and filled with things to fill our needs. Like a wash machine, showers, fridge, bunkbeds galore and ,of course, a toaster. After sleeping in we are all ready to start the next part of our journey.

Al's place is actually an old jail house

bicycle storage

basically an apartment all for us

AAAAAWESOME

a railroad tunnel from the MKT or Katy railroad

scenery really changes fast

passing an Amish carriage, unfortunately it was a little too slow to draft them

and we didn't even feel short of breath

Fabien getting a feel for American food at the Missouri state fair

they are just cooler than us, plain and simple

one of many bridges along the trail

we may be crazy but i think that food is trying to talk to us

yup, we're crazy, there's logs howling at the sun

Well this is pretty crazy, two posts within a few days of one another. Well the last few days have also had some pretty major differences in our position at the end of the day as well. Right now we are in Clinton MO, the start of the Katy trail. We will take it East from here, flatening out our ride imensley. But there is one other major benefit to taking the Katy trail. We won't have to swim most of the way instead! The route we had been on passes right through the Ozark mountains which are criss-crossed with rivers and streams. All of which have been flooding like crazy after the past few days of unusually hard rain. Today alone there were 25 people rescued by the various fire departments in southern MO. Lucky for us we were able to stay in a church last night and we will be in another one tonight. Hooray! a dry tent and clothes, but from the last few days of things beeing wet and sitting in a bag my sleepingbag now smells like vomit, good thing it's too hot to really use it anyways.

Woooooh! a little more frequency! this is more like it, but unfortunately not all of it is news I would like to have. First we have been hitting a lot of rain, a little odd for Kansas right? Well normally the entire state is in a season of draught at the moment, with low humidity and high heat. Well it is almost completely opposite at the moment! the humidity is up between 60 and 80% the temperature is floating around 90 degrees and it has rained every day for about a week. Because of this there has been high water and the occasional flood. For example this is the town of Hutchinson we had just stayed in a few nights ago:

That's some pretty high water, luckily we missed it! But not long after we did come across a flooded road and ended up having to walk our bikes across it. Our friend Fabien however decided to take a different route, he loaded his trailer in a passing truck and rode straight across! great times. That night we set up camp in the Chanute city park a nice little place with showers and everything. What was not nice was the storm that came that night. at points the wall of my tent was touching me in the face and all I could do was put the miserably hot sleeping bag over my head and wait for it to end. Well, that and try to take a video. The next morning I woke up floating atop a lake as if someone had played a classic camp prank of throwing my sleeping pad in as a boat. Then floating along next to me was my journal. Okay, maybe it wasn't thaaat bad but there was water everywhere and I lost quite a lot of writing. But tomorrow we leave Kansas and get moving in some new, and very hilly, territory!

that pink pen didn't survive but the black did!

a walk across the pond

humming birds are really hard to get pictures of

there's a field in there somewhere

Kansas! 

many churches open their doors to us, and the fridge!

the rubber bands keep it a little more secure on the feet

Bonsure everyone!
We gone done with the Rockies, and what has greeted us in its place has been the flats of Kansas. The humidity is on the rise. We've steadily been pedaling our way through this state. At the moment we're in Newert. I'm going to let Dan take it away from here :)

-love, Mo

Well we have entered the heartland of America, good 'ol Kansas. Our plan was to use that West to East prevailing wind we had heard so much about and speed on through crossing the state in a magical four or five days! But, alas, it has not been so, we have faced headwinds on all except half of one day. It is quite unfortunate but it has been made up by good people. Almost everyone we have passed has been very kind and we have been able to stay in a few churches and tonight
will even be a fire station! exciting! At the moment we are in a debate as to whether we should take the kadie trail, a rails to trails path through Missouri, or battle our way straight through the Ozark mountains, what we hear is one of the hardest parts of the route. The decision will come soon! But untill then we'll keep rolling right along.

our new friend and companion Fabien, from Switzerland

In case you were wondering our exact position we are currently in Newton KS, we started the morning in Hutchinson to the West (it was a short day) and in the next two days we will likely be in Girard KS just about to cross into Missouri.

just pick up the key at the local bike shop!

the second time we have seen a full rainbow

within minutes we had surrounded and conquered the whole pavillion

we didn't know until then he had been carrying those with him

doggie goes along for the ride! (search bikebaileybike on facebook)

they let bicyclists stay in their church and give us water bottles!