Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Life is good....Do I say that a lot?? Well I mean it, last night we pitched our tent in a large field behind wal-mart on top of a mound, in a grove of pine trees, and in the middle of the night i felt a drop of water on my head and we put the rain fly on just in time for a thunderstorm, it was relaxing to go back to sleep listening to the heavy thunder and pitter patter of the rain on our tent.
Leaving Nauvoo was almost as emotional as it was when we entered, it was hard to go, we really loved the people there, our friends, the heritage, the activities, even the feeling of the small city holds you like your mother would and makes you not want to leave!
There are several things that have given us comfort, satisfaction and joy during the bike trip, a few of those things are: gas stations, pillows, grocery stores, and small town parks. We have been blessed enough to have experienced all of these delights this week. I will not go into further explanation now as to why those simple things bring us so much indescribable joy, but if you have to know, and cannot use your imagination, then contact us and we would be happy to give the details.
We have crossed the mississippi river and in so doing it seems as though the towns are getting closer together, which unfortunately makes it less practical to stop in every single one. Also being more east has given us more larger cities which have their blessings and curses. Blessings: bigger food choices, more buffets, bigger grocery stores (with more day old baked goods), bike shops, Wal-marts (wait... Is that a curse?) and plenty of other options to make your head spin. Curses: Busy roads with no shoulders, beggars that think two college students on bikes have money, a lack of the feeling of security that small towns offer, less camping spots, and too many choices. We always experience a large relief to get out of the big cities that we enter.
The biggest city of the week was Springfield IL. We really enjoyed this one (i say after bad mouthing big cites). We actually rode most of the way into Springfield with Dr. White, a kind man whose family we stayed with Sunday night, we had gone to church with them in Macomb IL and then were kindly hosted by them for the night after being fed by the Green Family from the same Church. Well Dr. White is a biker and a very active outdoors man himself, and wanted to taste part of what we are living, so after work on Monday he drove ahead of us and rode with us for a little while. It was great to have a third person riding with us and specifically to enjoy his company and lively personality, he took us out to dinner once we got to Springfield, what a nice friend we made. People just keep giving and giving and Eric and I have had several conversations questioning ourselves why? We are normal people, why do we deserve so much kindness and charity from others? We figured it's pointless to ask....or we are the coolest people in the world, but I vote choice A. We just accept people's kindness and thank the Lord for all that he has blessed us with to make this experience happen and to sustain us richly along the way.
Springfield is of course where Abraham Lincoln lived for a good while, and we had the opportunity to go to the Lincoln presidential museum, it was VERY impressive...One of the better put together museums we have been to. We also went to the state capitol building which was one of the most beautiful we have been to. We didn't leave until the after 5pm! WHOA!! But we still managed 50 miles for the day.
Whelp...we are 50 miles east of the Indiana border and doing well, we love food, our families, kind people, and the late President Abraham Lincoln. I would love to write more but we need to hit the road if we want to meet our goal for the day.

13 comments:

Jenna said...

We felt the same way about Nauvoo - it was like a big warm hug. We had family there showing us the gun shop & Lucy Mack Smith's home but without them the city still felt great! I think that the reason people want to feed you & be nice to you is because you are good clean-cut all-American guys doing something that we all wish we were brave enough to do. If you were coming to South Carolina, we would feed you - instead, we will just say GOOD LUCK! & happy trails.

Anonymous said...

It was great to ride a few miles with you guys though Athens, Illinois. I wish you all the best.
-drake white. drwhite@macombmd.com

Jeremy said...

Man, you guys are awesome. I'm honored to have been able to work with y'all in YM. Stay safe.

Bro. Holmes

Jeff and LeAnne Case Africa Mission Blog said...

Matthew and Eric,
It sounds like the adventure is just getting better as you travel through Illinois. It was great to talk with you this morning and hear about spending the night with the Amish family.

Now it is on to Shangri-La (Indiana) the home of your birth Matthew.

I thought you would be interested in an article by Orson Scott Card published in the Mormon Times where you guys and your trip are highlighted.

http://mormontimes.com/ME_blogs.php?id=1398

Love,
Dad

pagefamily said...

Matt and Eric, you BE CAREFUL! I love the blog, and I am so glad you are journaling this great adventure! You both are awesome! I'll feed you in NC! If you have time for the Pages! Be safe and take care
Anne Page

Leah Lund said...

What an adventure! Erik and I are enjoying hearing all about it. How about for your next one, you take our 2 boys with you? That would be really worth writing about. Sven would love it and he can even ride without training wheels now.

lori said...

Matthew-
Loved the article your dad referenced. Was too funny about the Elvis impersination. Made me think of you in those ghastly peter pan tights....oh to be young! You two are amazing and we're are so grateful you are finding clean water. It's been fun to see who is checking in on you two. Jackie says hello.
Love you guys...

Anonymous said...

What are you guys, hippie biking mormons? Get a job! ;)

Haley said...

hey we found your napkin at Annie's in Nauvoo!! I think what you're doing is really neat. And the custard at Annie's is basically to die for. So...... Just saying hi and I hope you have more more amazing adventures!

Anonymous said...

Hi Matthew!! I hope you have fun going to church in the blessed town of Columbus, Indiana. I have been thinking about you guys even more this weekend because I know you are there. Say hi to our old house, Parkside Elementary, the Oil Can Church, the downtown libary and all our friends from church. Be Safe!!
Love, Kristin

Anonymous said...

Hi. It sounds like you guys are having the time of your life. It really is amazing how kind people are. After watching the news or reading the paper or magazines etc... you get this negative picture of humanity. But when you are face to face you can truely see the truth in the gosple thar we were all honorable, that's why we are here. I did someyhing similar to what you guys are doing when I was younger that actually led me, in part, to the church. Maybe I can share that with you sometime. Love you guys. Get home safely.

Anonymous said...

It sounds like you are really making good progress. I am glad you are staying safe. You've gone a long way since Tabor, Iowa. We took our stake young women canoeing last week, and there was a couple camped next to us who were on a long biking trip. It made me think of the two of you and the nice Sunday we were able to spend with you. Liberty misses you and still talks about "the brothers". Good Luck!!!
Tammy Johnson and family

Benzedrine said...

Whats up, buddy? Hope your trip's going well and you guys aren't meeting the impersonal fist of raw elemental nature, etc.. But it sounds like you're having fun, Man. Your sis told me abt. the whole deal a little while back. How long's it taken you to get to Illinois from the left side of the New World? Good to see your pretty face.. Especially that your ballsy enough to rock the mustache. Oh and I ran into Charity the other night when she came over to a coworker's place. I figured there couldn't be too many of those in Greensboro, so I namedropped you, without saying too much, and it was the same girl you went to school with back back in the day. Small world, Gboro. She's Guilford-hippied out, now, but anyhow.. Take care of yourself and have fun out there amongst the highways and the tall grass in the middle states there. Later Ons, Ben