the long awaited first post!

hey everyone!

sorry it has taken me so long to make my first post. things have been a little crazy for the past week. but i'll try and give you a quick recap. here goes. so i got to providence on monday (june 2) and we had some general orientation type stuff, then a bike safety/maintainence clinic the next day, and then a build day the next day. building was pretty awesome - we got to build frames for the first story of a house, and our group finished all of them! it was really rewarding to have accomplished so much in just one day. then, all of a sudden, it was wednesday night and we were getting ready for our very first day of biking.

wednesday morning we got up around 6 and headed down to india point park to dip our tires in the "atlantic ocean." it was really cool because the local news came and taped the ceremony. after that, we were off! we got to our first stop 37 miles later, in plainfield, connecticut. from there, we went to middletown and then over to danbury. let's just say that connecticut was a little hillier than we all expected. it came as quite the shock, and i think we were all pretty tired after a couple long days of hills - especially the day from middletown to danbury. but sure enough, we made it, and on sunday morning we crossed the border into new york state! we were all really excited. it seemed at first that new york was going to flatten out, but we hit some mountains in the early afternoon. but we also hit some incredible downhills (going almost 40 mph!) and some awesome views. it was really a beautiful day.

the next day (monday), we crossed the border into pennsylvania, stopping in a city called stroudsberg. then it was on to reading, and now to harrisburg. i can't believe we're already in pennsylvania. it has definitely been my favorite place yet. some rolling hills, but beautiful scenery. although monday and tuesday were almost 100 degrees, today was much cooler and much easier to ride in. today was also really exciting because we passed by hershey park! a bunch of people stopped to take a break and go in, but the group i was with decided to ride on. we took some funny pictures by the signs. so now we are in harrisburg until friday morning because tomorrow we have a build day! i am really excited to take a little break from biking - my muscles are getting pretty sore, and i think a day to recover will be perfect for everyone.

now that the trip is more settled down, i will hopefully be able to write more often, and more in detail. the trip has been great so far, and i am excited for what is to come.