Unfortunately the cold weather propelled these ladies to change their destination to Charleston, WV, where they had planned to live after the trip.
Leilani and Wendy will now be working on the site themselves till they finish it.
if you wanna email the girls:
leilani -- leilanirunnalot [at the yahoo]
wendy -- amantedelarbol [at the gmail]
flickr set: link to all photos
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Subway
A nice young man from the Shamrock gas station that filled the slushy machine for us just so we could have fresh slushy. It was Jone’s soda green apple, the best one ever.
Some more Friendly folks
Funny story
Leilani was worried about our bikes when we were inside Walgreens so she went outside to check on them and these folks were out there checking are bikes which instantly sparked a conversation with Leilani.
This Vicki, a friendly gal from salvation army that gave as some day old bread from H.E.B.
Cutie patutie’s at the H.E.B. grocery store in Kerrville, TX
Guadalupe River
We swam here and and witnessed a young man climb all the up a pine tree almost 60 or 70 feet high and jump into the river. We seriously thought he was going to hurt himself but the lucky sun of gun knew what he was doing. It looked fun but also scariest jump in the world.
Today we are in Kerrville, TX. We just did laundry at a laundry mat, washing our sleeping bags had become a priority after a month of sweat and dirt was mixed in them. We dried them on a fence across the street in less than an hour. It is really hot here and there is a drought warning in effect for a large part of Texas.
Summer Fun on the Dam
At that same ice cream shop, another man named Reuben and his daughter Gabriella with her little dog Angel, wanted to give us money and advice for our trip also. I will send pictures soon. I just wanted to share how Wendy and I are finding love and hospitality across North America and anyone who is feeling lost and lonely need only get out of their comfort zone for a time and let a stranger into their life. Signing up to be a host for CouchSurfing or WarmShowers would be my recommendation for a person who isn’t able to travel at this time.
A Hispanic lady that was running the business, an ice cream shop (of course -grin-) She gave us five dollars for sodas she said and when she found out I was Christian, she asked me to pray for her and her sons. So if anyone reads this and they would also like to pray for Teresa, that would be awesome, because she is praying for us!
The past hundred miles has been the most beautiful so far I feel. Route 39 East from Leakey, TX to Kerrville, TX is made of gradual rolling hills, only a few steep mountains and the small towns like Hunt have some of the nicest people I have ever met. I love the connections we are making along this trip in anticipation of our trip to South America. We met a young man named Jose who left his job and all his belongings to move to South America. There he met a mission group who taught him and his friend how to do simple dental and optical work. They lived there doing this for many months. His friend had never spoken Spanish and was fluent in two months! This is my dream! Now this young man is the youth group pastor and worship leader of the small church in Hunt.
boots on every fence post (things you may have missed in your car)
ceiling fan on a tree
150 up and down and 1,000 more hills to go!!!
We were amazed at the height of this agave
One of our most favorite stops along the way. Just kidding nobody was there when we past by, to early i suppose.
August 3, 2009
a) tucson, az b) safford, az c) glenwood, nm d) silver city, nm e) el paso, tx f) van horn, tx g) del rio, tx
as of 2 days ago. this would make about 900 miles so far. nice job girls!
“We have more pictures and a lot more stories to go with the incredible hospitality of the people here in Texas.
I haven’t been missing Tucson as much now that I have been on the road a while and noticed that people are even nicer in a lot of these places than they were in Tucson. But, I will always have a special place in my heart for Arizona.
We will be leaving Del Rio where we are now, in the morning. We are going to see the Harry Potter movie now at the local theater so we will catch up with you later Kevin.”
The greeters at the church knew we weren’t like them so they gave radio with ear pieces so that we could have an english translator. It was very nice and here she is our english translator.
We pedaled around Del Rio for two hours till we found this Latin church sunday Morning. A congregation of very enthusiastic people for the lord, praising through the love of songs and dance!!
Wendy and Jen
Last night and today we stayed with a super cool CouchSurfer, Rachael, and her roommate Jenn who are both in flight school in the Air Force. Their lives sound so fun, flying planes and inter-tubing down this river they call “The Bean Dip”. Wendy and I still aren’t sure if that is the Devil’s River or some other River. They like to float on the Amistad Reservoir Lakes and catch a tan on the weekends. They have hosted 5 people so far and they love it. Wendy and I are looking forward to being able to host people like this in the future.
yum, my favorite chicken from the trash
just a hop skip and a jump away
We have no picture of a man named John that stopped to give Wendy and I 60$ when we were spanging in Del Rio. I remember him clearly and I think I always will. Thank you wherever you are John, may God bless you beyond measure for caring for us so randomly and generously along our journey.
We had fun swimming in the Amistad reservoir and basking in the sun!
Aug. 1, 2009 - Del Rio
Del Rio American Federation of Teachers and Support Personnel keeping our highways clean by the Amistad Reservoir. Good job and thanks for the bottled water!
Baby birdies
Jeannette, (Jonathon’s sister), a pretty cool chick who told us that Micheal Jackson was her favorite singer.
the owner of Holly’s Place ( a sweet little cafe in the middle of nowhere), Julie Holly and Jonathon
David Marco and Ashely, two friendly bikers that
Some homey decorations
Sandstone road gorge
(July 31)
We met this cyclist Lauren Desimone and found out she was traveling with a whole group across North America. They were called “Below 40” and were being paid 3,000 dollars each to go to specific cites and promote vodka. They were an awesome group of people ranging in age and personality. It was generous of them to share food and sports drinks with us…esp. my favorite drink ever called “boost.” It is not the taste that makes it the best, but the good feeling it packs is incredible. I don’t drink caffeine and since it has some green tea extract I did make a slight exception, but it is worth trying if you haven’t.
Another day another flat ( fortunately Leilani didn’t have the same luck)
After a morning of cycling through strong head winds, we took cover under the road in a tunnel to take a nap and snack. this dog here was very upset at us for getting close to his sheep. a couple of the sheep actually crossed over the fence and ran up the road.
We were very tempted to buy a puppy from Sandy for $50 if we could have afforded it and were not on the bike journey of our lives.
Sandy Pierce, John, and Rosy (the miniature horse). An especially sweet family who welcomed us as family that night, giving us a place to sleep and lots of love from their animals.
(July 30) - Sanderson, TX
Calvary Baptist Chapel - Pastor Paul Ray, Glenda Ray, and granddaughter Mikayla!
just a pretty ranch sign with a not so cool name
(July 27th - 29)
Guil Jones is a pilot and a genius! Check out his commune and stay tuned for a picture of the hot and creative Stephanie, aka. Peppercorn, who treated me and Wendy like her best friends when we were visiting the tiny town of Marathon, TX.
Leilani’s bike in front of a pretty mural in Alpine TX
July 27th
This is Doug Gail. i kind fella that made chit chat with Leilani. he told us about local places to find arrow heads and even gave us a piece of one that he had found.
pronghorn antelope running by
Leilani and the congregation of Church of Chirst. The Pastor and his wife took us to the caboose again for more ice cream after church. It was the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 26th
This is Shelby Lara. She works in a caboose that sells ice cream and treats. She served us yummy treats all day while we rested in Ft.Davis for a day. A must stop if you visit this area.
cutie doggies at the thrift shop grocery in Ft. Davis
a weird grasshopper hopping across the road
Wendy’s favorite picture of herself from the whole trip
This is Rosemary Shields a sweetheart of a ranger dressed as a pioneer for an educational show at Fort Davis State Park. She was very excited about our trip and was very encouraging to us. Thank You Rosemary.
Fortunately we made it to Ft.Davis state park just in time to learn about native herbs and their uses by Donna Smith a ranger at the park. I guess we traded one event for another.
The McDonald Observatory in Ft. Davis TX.
Two minutes to short
Leilani waited for Wendy by a picnic table before continuing on to the observatory. When wendy got there they decided to eat lucnh which made them two minutes to short to make it inside the visitor center of the observatory. no fresh cold water and fun for us that that time. :(
Saturday, July 25th 2009
a much happier sign, yay!!!
the centipede our friend
A restless night behind huge gas tanks with the train tracks on the other side. Not a good nights sleep for a big climb up to Ft. Davis TX.
eye ya yei yah
This is Mark and Ross, they had stopped at dollar general in Van Horn for last minute groceries at the same time that we did. They traveling in a busted smoky pick up truck all the way from Boston to the grand canyon.They also stopped in the Florida keys. Mark was getting ready to say good bye to freedom before commencing engineering school.
Mmmooooooooooooooooooo
This man made pond outside of el paso was heaven sent after various days with out bathing. even though the water was warm and murky it still felt good.
We had a car rearend a big truck while we were spanging (spare - changing) in the middle of a major intersection in El Paso. It did not hurt anyone, but then we had to run really fast like fugitives before the police got to the scene of the accident. We might have gotten in trouble. Who knows, but we were out of there fast and hid in a dollar movie theatre through two movies before we found our way in the dark at midnight behind a law firm building that had overhang parking. The rain poured hard that night, so even though we were sleeping on a paved parking lot which is hard on the back, everything stayed dry and that is important to us.
Wendy looking over at Lelani from across the busy street.
This is robert the owner of Vinci Bikes. He is also very cool and lent us his tools for our bikes.
This is Mike the kind fella that met us at the Vinci bike shop to deliver bike tires ( from the bicycle company) that had durability. He gave us a good deal and those tires are still riding strong on Leilani’s bike. :)
Sleeping outside the dug out of a High School in El Paso. Even though school was out we had to get out of there early because there was a few folks walking on the track ( looking at us weirdly) when we first had awoken.
[ August 2 ]
” We stood on a street corner for three hours with a sign saying we were cycling east and could use some spare change. Would you believe we made 85 dollars? No joke. And this kid named “Raph” gave us an iPod with the entire bible on it and 10 bucks. He downloaded some music too.
The beginning of the great state Texas where everything is bigger.
One of the many Pecan farms surrounding Las Cruces N.M.
It is nice to be in the air conditioning right now. I am peeling for my second time already, my nose for the third. I forgot Wendy’s long sleeve shirt I was using for protection in our warm showers at host Mary Beth’s house in Las Cruces. She was wonderful! When we got to her house she had prepared shrimp shish kabobs and corn on the cob on the grill, with salad and lemonade. It was a four course meal. We got our own bed room and a hot shower. We stayed with her for two nights. Las Cruces was a nice city. We went to a science of the mind church that sunday, which was different. :) But they had fresh melon and blueberries, so we scored there too! Funny how everything has become about good food and shelter these days!”
[ July 24 ]
Pretty horses that came up to greet us beside the road. We dreamed of riding them of into the desert landscape.
The border town of Hatch N.M. We wanted to stay and explore this very mexican city but we were pressed to make it to Mary Beth’s house in Las Cruces before night fall.
Stealth camping at Caballo Lake State Park. We were blessed with a quick dip in the murky waters of the reservoir and then warm showers at the park. That night Wendy was mad at Leilani for setting the alarm for 4:30 am. She almost opted to sleep outside the tent until she could not bear the mosquitoes no more. Funny thing was a short thunder storm woke us up at 4:15 am so we had to stay in the tent longer anyway.
Our first view of Caballo resiovior
Some friendly folks at a cooperative local artist gallery in Hillsboro N.M.
The women in the glasses was very kind and gave Leilani some tiger balm after she had answered there questions about the pains in riding.
We had a very fancy (expensive) lunch in this town too. two burgers fries and a root bear float to share $25. The people in Hillsboro are uptight about letting strangers use their restrooms. We later found out the they have septic tank issues from the women behind the counter here. At first we had thought they were all just rude.
The view from the vista point on the top of Emory Pass. Nestled below the great mountains in the back is the EL Rio grande which we will follow for quite some time till we reach Las Cruces.
Chatting with some fellas at the top of Emory Pass in the Gila Forest. Our hightest climb of the whole trip, 8,828 ft. The man pointing offered us his home to camp out but we declined because we were heading in another direction.
One of Wendy most favorite camp sites of our whole trip. The very lush and green Upper Gallinas in the Gila Forest. We cooked cooked up corn beef and hash on this fire and boiled water for yummy dehydrated corn chowder and ginger tea to help our restless bellies. In the morning we used are water filter for the first time in the shallow stream that saved from dehydration. Its amazing to find running water in place where you never thought it would be.
“I am so glad we stopped in Glenwood and here in Silver city. We may have lost a few travel days, but we made 100 dollars working and bought another Camelpak that we needed to feel safe crossing Texas in the heat.
We are tired from staying up a little too late packing. Procrastinated like usual, but doing well otherwise.”
[ July 15 ]
“This pic is of Wendy and I with Dr. Michael Brown in front of his home/office. He was kind enough to let us stay in his home for 3 nights while we rested, hung out, and worked.”
Dr. Micheal brown is an chiropractor, cranial sacral therapist, acupuncture, and all an all a well rounded medicine man that works out of his him home in silver city. Look him up in Silver if your ever feeling down.
“This pic is of the church we attended that we liked so much. It was mostly young people and pastor Mario who welcomed us Sunday night. Mario is a father of 6 of his own children (he is on the far right, rear row) and teaches guitar lessons to anyone who wants to learn when he is not teaching or leading services. He worked so well with the children and he gave Wendy a guitar that is perfect for traveling! she was thrilled. We went back Wednesday night and they fed us pizza and salad and let us take their pictures after they had a water battle outside of the church.”
