Georgia.. to Alabama.. to Mississippi

Hi everyone!

Sorry it has been so long, but we have limited internet access. Here is a quick update!

The day after Norcross we traveled to Heflin, Alabama, a 107 mile ride. It was definitely a long day. In fact, we were so tired that we arrived and were greeted with a delicious meal, but we instantly fell asleep at about 8 pm. (we did wake up at 4:30 am in our defense).


We left Heflin for Birmingham (97 mile ride). I actually was in the first group finished: very strange for me! It felt good and it wasn't too impossible. We had 2 lunches, and we stopped at a church where we originally were supposed to stay, but it would have caused the day before to be a 120 mile ride, which none of us would have liked. I got to meet up with Robert, a friend of mine from senior design, and we drove (IN A CAR!!) around Birmingham. It was a lot of fun. The day rounded out at about 70 miles, which felt like nothing after the days we had been having.

We had a build day in Birmingham with Habitat for Humanity. It was good. I mostly calked the base boards of the house all day. It is a very large affiliate. They build about 40 houses a year.

After Birmingham, we headed to Hamilton, Alabama. This was our third century ride in a row. (96 miles) It was rough, and I really struggled. However, when I arrived to our second lunch, everyone shared a pity party about how sore we were after 300 miles in our last 3 bike days. It was good to see that I was not the only person in pain. It was a great bonding experience :-D

We left Hamilton Alabama for Tupelo, Mississippi on the 12th. This is the birthplace of Elvis, and this was a miraculous day. It was only 59 miles!!! (This to us sounds like an ice cream party announcement at this point.) We had time to explore downtown, and we stayed at a very nice church.

Finally, we left Tupelo for Oxford this morning. I was sweep today (this means I had to be the last person to arrive to make sure everyone was safe and accounted for at all times). It was a nasty day. We hit some thunderstorms and had to take cover, but Oxford is really really nice. We had a delicious dinner at a restaurant owned by one of the rider's cousin. It was amazing. Unlimited pasta and pizza. DELICIOUS! We had a 50 mile ride today, so although it was nasty weather, we got here fairly early. I am also currently on laundry duty, so I spent my afternoon washing everyone's jersey's with my chore team the PO-lice (named since we caused a police appearance after setting off a church alarm system in Charleston..oops). After dinner, we went to a delicious candy shop and a bookstore downtown. We are now at Ole Miss University using the computers in the student union. It is a really pretty campus. I am very impressed. I wish we could spend another day in this great city, but we will be leaving for Clarksdale tomorrow!

I may not have internet again for a while, but I will try to upload pictures the next chance I get. I finally found postcards, so I will be sending some out soon! Miss you all!