Homestretch ahead

Today we had our second-to-last build day, in Missoula, MT.  It was by far my favorite build day of the trip so far; the entire crew was busy throughout the day.  Most of the Habitat affiliates that have hosted us thus far have been a little stumped on how to handle 32 volunteers for a full day, but the Missoula Habitat affiliate kept us busy on three houses.  Most of the crew painted or hung sheetrock, while a few hung siding.  Kyle, myself, and a few others did various odd jobs throughout the day, including cutting a ton of rebar (which Lauren dominated, by the way), doing a wood recycling run, cutting wood for a porch foundation, and installing a vent through a roof.  I actually got to use some power tools and a hammer instead of just digging, so it felt like I was really building.  We even got to meet one of the partner families at dinner later in the evening, which was very cool (three really cute kids under 5 years old).  Overall, a great day.  I also got to talk to my parents and Aaron down in NOLA and Schirmer (congrats on the job!).  And of course, thanks to Keri, Schirmer, Denise, Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, and Aunt Cindy for the mail drop.  Aunt Cindy, the team is definitely going to enjoy the cookies at lunch tomorrow (but I think I'll hog the cherry sours for myself).  Thanks!

Overall, the last few days have been relatively uneventful.  We crossed the Continental Divide for the third and final time on Tuesday over Flesher Pass on our way to Lincoln, MT.  It was only around 6,000 feet, but the climb was a pretty steady one that lasted a few miles.  I was trying to chase down Jake (probably one of our 2-3 best climbers) throughout the climb; I couldn't quite catch him but I sure made it up faster than I thought I would.  I'm getting to the point where I'm relishing the climbs and I'll be pretty sad when we crest the Cascades.  I spent the entire morning riding with Ariela and Lauren, which was a lot of fun.  They'll keep you entertained all day long.  

We camped for the first time on the trip that night, and I took the opportunity to sleep outside under the stars.  I guess it rained on us for about a minute that night, but I never woke up and I found myself dry the next morning.  Had a few bug bites and was a little cold, but still an enjoyable experience.

The ride to Missoula yesterday was a solid downhill; I cranked with Beth, Natalie, Kristie, Kyle, and Erika most of the morning probably around 20 mph as we moved downhill with a slight tailwind.  We were cooking and it was oodles of fun.  At lunch Natalie met up with a full-time ranch-hand that took us up to A Bar L Ranch, where Natalie worked for a summer after she graduated from Cornell in '06.  It was cool to see Natalie so excited and see what a guest ranch looks like.  The ride after lunch started with a long uphill, but once we summitted we had 30 miles of downhill into Missoula.  Now, the quality of a town is directly related to the quality of its ice cream, and I can attest to Missoula's attributes after eating two double scoop cones in one sitting after the ride at The Big Dipper (Vanilla & Reese's on the first and Maple Walnut on the second).  I then went for a solo evening on the town and attended a Missoula Osprey minor league baseball game, which was a treat.  I've been missing live sports this summer.

Anyway, that takes us to our last few days before Washington.  We'll be in Coeur D'Alene on Sunday and do our final build day there.  Then I'll be in Spokane on Tuesday, which I'm looking forward to.  I started my undergrad career at Washington State University in eastern Washington (Pullman, about 80-90 miles south of Spokane), so I still have old roommates in Spokane that I'll hopefully get to see.  From there, it's a straight push to Seattle.  Most of us are starting to realize the end is near, but we are handling it pretty well.  There will certainly be a lot of sadness when we leave, but right now we are all looking forward to making the most of the rest of trip.  

Alright, hope you guys are doing well, and thanks for the comments.  Alison, sounds like your brother did RAGBRAI in Iowa; we heard about that ride from about every other person we talked to when we went across the state.  Very cool that your brother did it.  It's huge there.