Anyway, let's do a little time travel and see what our intrepid travelers have been up to.
On June 1st, having rested up and recovered from a crazy bout of pneumonia, these two hit the dusty trail again.
They pushed through Wyoming, encountering some weird weather as they did. Lucky for them, this time, they had Naomi along for the ride! She's out there even now, following behind in her car and helping the fellas however she can. What a woman, amirite?
That first night back on the road, all three were rescued from having to sleep in the rain by some nice folks who upgraded them from tents to cabins.
June 2nd marked Day 11 of the total trip, and thus far, the guys had traveled 651 miles (76 just that day!). I think Kevin put it best: "Oh backside of the Rocky Mountains, how I love thee, and all thine downhill goodness!"
Day 12 brought a pretty severe headwind (though nothing like what they'd encountered in Idaho, apparently). When they set up camp for the night, this storm rolled in and brought its fair share of rain and hail, which made for a muddy morning the next day. Thank goodness for sturdy tents!
(I'm not sure what those black bars are about on either side of the picture. Take your complaints to Kevin.)
On June 5th (Day 14), Naomi posted the following: "So remember that thunderstorm the other night? Turns out there is a whole lot more of that smothering our path this weekend! 58 mile per hour winds, tons of rain and lightning, and hail. Lots of 1 inch diameter hail! The path we were supposed to take today through Lusk is flooded so bad that miles of freeway are closed both north and south. Bridges are down and people are missing. We will be driving about 100 miles this morning to try to get around it and hopefully start biking a bit north from Lusk but the skies don't look promising. It might be a 'seek protection and read a book' kind of day." Later that day, they made it safely out of Wyoming and into South Dakota. Near their campsite, they found a disturbing scene.
A sculpture made from the remnants of bikes who had gone before, the only remaining evidence of foolhardy cyclists who thought, "Hey, let's go to South Dakota!" For shame. Turn back now, team.
But did they turn back? NO THEY DID NOT. Because they are brave and also determined and also I made up the story about the bike sculpture. It's just a weird pile of bikes.
Since the beginning of this journey, Dell and Kevin have planned on Sundays being days to rest, recuperate, and stay in cheap hotels. June 7th was no exception.
(I believe that is a pile of Kevin. Not unlike the aforementioned pile of bikes.)
They were back at it again on Monday, and Day 16 turned out to be pretty epic! Without the headwinds they'd dealt with previously, Dell and Kevin had their fastest day so far. What's more, they also broke 1,000 miles total for their entire trip, ending just outside of Valentine, Nebraska.
Actually, the day went so well that this little traveling band had time to squeeze in a movie before hitting the hay ("San Andreas," in case you were wondering).
Day 17 was a scorcher! In fact, I have access to a picture of Kevin bathing shirtless in a river in an attempt to cool off, but I've elected not to share it here. That farmer's tan is just for the Facebook friends.
And on and on they went, with the dudes on bikes and Naomi in the sag wagon (kept company by the many mix CDs I made for her, YOU'RE WELCOME NAOMI.). Is this a sunrise or a sunset? I can't tell. But I think Naomi has the better end of this deal. For sure.
(My official guess is sunrise. Because these folks are up early.)
The night of June 10th was a soggy one, so the tents were set up under a pavilion to try to keep everything nice and dry. Incidentally, some folks across the street left their back door open in case Kevin, Naomi, and Dell needed to run in and use their tornado shelter. #nicepeople #tornadoesarescary
One June 11th, Naomi wrote: "$3 in a bar in the middle of Nebraska will get you 3 hot chocolates with marshmallows, shelter from the rain, a warm place to sit, and some pretty good belly laughs from these folks." That's a bargain!
Question though: did they also offer to let you stay in their tornado shelter?
Day 19 brought the team into Iowa, having traveled 63 miles that day and 1,224 overall. The rain, hills, and headwinds didn't let up, but neither did the fellas.
Day 20 brought them to nearly 1,300 overall miles and prompted some "Field of Dreams" quotes.
"Is this heaven?"
"No ... it's Iowa."
Classic.
Kevin said: "We battled more headwinds today, but still did well. We got a late start because we were so exhausted from yesterday's mash-fest that we overslept! We've learned our lesson though: we've stopped praying and asking for a tailwind, and now we simply ask for a slightly more benign headwind. So we got what we asked for, and it was only 5-15 mph in our face today! Enjoying the gorgeous scenery of Iowa (it really is picturesque!), minus the pig farms which smell about as bad as they look. We're moving along!"
I'm gonna give you the short version of the following days: Rain. Rain. Bugs. Rain. Iowa. Rain in Iowa.
And then ...
ILLINOIS! The Land of Lincoln! And just as noteworthy, the Land of Kevin & Naomi from 2009 to 2014! (Do I have those years right, guys?) It was nice to be back in somewhat familiar territory (and out of Iowa).
Also, I don't want to be irreverent or anything, but check out Kevin on the Mississippi River. Is it harder to walk on water or bike on water?
Fine, it's actually a puddle. Still cool-looking, though. This was the spot where the crew had planned to camp at the conclusion of Day 23, but serious flooding made it impossible, so they moved on to greener (and dry-er) pastures.
Speaking of Day 23, Kevin and Dell biked 84 miles and ended up at 1,548 miles overall.
On June 17th, Naomi wrote: "The remainder of this week we are slotted to make it through Illinois and Indiana and hopefully cross the border into Ohio by Sunday. In the forecast: rain, flooding, wind, more flooding, rain, rain, wind, more rain, more flooding. On a positive note, I'm pretty sure Dell and Kevin are both secretly superheroes! There is nothing they can't push through and overcome. Super proud of them both!!"
(This is a dream photo op for the Hanks men, I just know it. It was the whole point of this adventure in the first place actually.)
By Day 24, the team made it to Marseilles, Ill. and made it over 1,600 miles. The toughest part of the day turned out to be finding a place to set up camp, since the whole area was still soaked and flooded from the rainfall.
The next day, there was a run-in with a local sheriff who gave the guys a hard time ... but it was funny ... ? I guess ... ? But marginally-funny jokes aside, he did help them find a dry place to camp, so that was appreciated. Until it flooded that night. #thanksofficer
However, our trio of mighty adventurers is now in Indiana, so progress is still being made! And in fact, it sounds like yesterday went really well (mostly because there was no headwind). And now, it's on to Ohio!
So ... that does it for my update. I'll probably blog again in four months. Get excited.
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