Hills and milestones

Journal entry-6/28

Just a heads up: this blog post is actually from a few days ago, and is also the team journal entry for June 28th (I think). We are currently in Pittsburgh, PA, and will be biking into Ohio tomorrow. I will have another post up soon...promise.

We started off the day heading out of Port Jervis, NY, for a 53(ish) mile jaunt to Mt. Pocono, PA. As we ended yesterday with a 4 mile downhill ride into Port Jervis, we all knew what was in store for us as we crossed the border from New York into Pennsylvania: hills. Big ones, too. And the landscape did not disappoint. We got 'em. Today was challenging, to say the least.

But today was also a day of accomplishments, of milestones. At 4 miles out of Mt. Pocono, my cycling computer read 500 miles from the wheel dip in the Atlantic Ocean in Maine. We were also in 3 different states today, starting in New York, passing through New Jersey, and ending in Pennsylvania. That brings our state count total to 7, with over 500 miles behind us. Oh, and about those hills that, by many team member accounts, ranked among some of the tougher we've faced: we got up them. 

And not only that, at the top of the last big hill was our host site, Mt. Pocono United Methodist Church. For many 

of us, interacting with the various congregation and community members at our host and build sites along the way have easily been the highlight of the trip. The ways in which the people serve us as we pass through their towns--whether by cooking for us or providing lodging--is an inspiration and encouragement for our whole group, and Mt. Pocono United Methodist was no different. We were even able to have a special time to tell the church a little bit about Bike & Build, as well as thank them via video for their hospitality (and AMAZING meals they prepared for us), which will be shown to the entire congregation during an upcoming Sunday morning service.

While we have a few more days in Pennsylvania (which means a few more hills), that means we also have more people to meet and more beautiful scenery to see. Tomorrow we go to Berwick, and then on to State College. Keep following our progress on the website!