Day 32

It has been a while since I last blogged because internet has been hard to come by these past 10 days or so and will continue to be less and less available as we get into Canada. We had our first experience camping and have crossed 2 more states! We are now 3 days away from crossing the Canadian border and being halfway to Anchorage! I can't believe the summer is going by so quickly. 

On our rest day in Boulder, CO we went to a host family's lake house and were able to relax and canoe for the whole day. The view was incredible and it was exactly the rest we needed.  

In Boulder, we also toured the Fat Tire Brewery. One of the managers was very interested in our ride and gave a toast to our team. He also made my day by giving me a free Fat Tire cycling jersey for being the 2010 team's top fundraiser!

Riding into the mountains in northern Colorado...

Crossing the Wyoming border!

Laramie, WY was one of my favorite towns. We had amazing hosts and this was the view from her front porch. I fell in love with the Wyoming sky. The sunsets were incredible.

The Grand Teton mountain range. The scenery on this ride was unreal...

We spent our first two nights of camping in Grand Teton National Park. There are definitely more responsibilities that go along with camping than our nights with host families, but the team had a lot of fun spending time together around the campfire and cooking breakfast and dinner. On the morning of our rest day we went into Jackson. We all really liked the feel of the town. We went back to the park in the afternoon and found this lake to swim in. The water was freezing!

The morning we rode into Yellowstone was our first really cold morning. It was also our 3rd day in a row to camp and we were pretty ready for showers and a roof over our heads at that point. Thankfully we had great hosts the next night in Bozeman, MT. Bozeman was another one of my favorite towns we have passed through. This has been the most incredible way to experience our country.

Leaving Yellowstone we crossed the Continental Divide twice in an hour. It was one of the most rewarding climbing days--and the downhills were really fun!

Old Faithful

As many of you already know, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time the week that I left for Alaska. Now more than ever I realize why I felt the desire to be a part of this ride. My mom is recovering from surgery and excited to meet me in Anchorage! I'm thankful everyday that I am able to do something to contribute to fighting cancer. Thank you for all the cards, cookies, and support! I think about you all constantly.

Please visit http://www.texas4000.org/give/give to find out how you can help.