Howdy! I've been thinking a lot about what I could share with the website, perhaps too much because it's taken me just about 2500 miles to put one of these entries together.

For me the most profound experiences have come from the people we meet along the way. The generosity and kindness of people throughout this journey is beyond touching. I don't know how many times a day we turn to each other, bewildered, and ask, "Why are people so kind to us?" I suppose the only way to express how moved I have been by everyone is to introduce some of the people we have met along the way.

In Battle Mountain, NV we met Rhinestone Cowboy who sat at the entrance to the church we stayed in to greet each one of us individually as we arrived and give us a dollar. He then returned the following morning to give US a thank you card and each a souvenir penny.

The Simonssons in Oberlin, KS piled several of us into their pickup and brought us to their home just so we could see and play with the beautiful horses that they raise. They then drove us all the way back to town where the community pool reopened for us latecomers so that we could shower.

Danny Bailey, father of 11, stopped Ross and me outside of Minneapolis, KS to find out about our trip and was so supportive of us he pulled a bill out of his wallet and told us to buy ourselves a pop in the next town. He then met up with us there and chatted with us for quite some time.

Vern Stevens approached us in the Salina, KS library and asked if we were with some peace group. He sat down with several of us and told us about how he became a veteran for peace, weeping as he remembered his war experiences. He met up with us back at our host site for a vegan dinner and drove four of us back into town to his home to show us two powerful videos about very relevant issues (see Ross' web journal). He drove us back at midnight and encouraged us to have Bike-Aid contact him in the future.

Ed Chasteen in Kansas City, MO, founder of Hate-busters and guest rider until St. Louis brought a few of us to tears when he presented each of us with a Don Quijote award and told us to never lose our idealism. I don't have words right now to describe how fortunate I feel to have had Ed with us for an entire week.

The firefighters in Warrensburg, MO took the time out of their demanding job to cook us up two meals, wash fresh towels and sheets, clean the bathrooms for us, give us free t-shirts and chat with us before setting us up in their bunk room for the night.

I could go on and on.

It's these people to people connections that continue to make this trip so meaningful for me. They have not only renewed my faith in the kindness of strangers but have given me an entirely new perspective on the United States.

Why are people so kind to us? It has nothing to do with us, it's because people are kind.

peace and pedals, Cat