Day 12

Today we started out and our first rest stop was at a Walmart. The rest of the day was so super hot we took a couple extra breaks for ice cream and water.

There are some cool ways to fall. Like cruising down a mountain and your back wheel slipping out. Clip falls at 1 mph in Walmart parking lot are not cool. Which is how I got this beauty. 

Finally there!!

Our accommodations for the evening. 

Day 11

This is the view where at Break National Park. I took this pic from my friends fb :)

First thing after an ok breakfast at the lodge: get into Kentucky! Land of lose dogs and truckers. 

Rest stop at an ice cream place but it wasn't open. The lady in the red truck came up to and said thanks for doing this because she has MS. So cool!!

When you sit at a rest stop for hours ice cream shops open up!! Delish! 

This is Emily. She is awesome. 

These dogs are in a fence. Most aren't. Terrifying. 

We're staying at a church and the boys are loving playing this game. Street Fighter II. 

Day 10

Waking up in a pavilion to rain isn't the greatest feeling when you're supposed to be out riding in it all day, but it turned out to be another awesome day. I think we had 49 miles today so it was a bit shorter. The mountains looked so cool with the rain and fog and clouds. We biked 22 miles to the rest stop at a gas station where the sun came out for about 2 minutes the crushed all the way up to our campsite. We're staying in Break Virginia and it was a beautiful afternoon of chilling and relaxing. Kurt's family came out to see him and made us a great dinner. I am currently in my hammock in the woods hoping that it doesn't rain too hard tonight. I have my friend's tent rain fly over my hammock so we will see how that works out. Ill post results tomorrow. 

So rainy 

Rest stop!

"do not block drive" 

The campsite. 

Day 9

This is where I sleep every night. Pavilions are great especially when it's raining. 

We rode up Hayters gap today. 80 miles and 5000 feet of climbing. Beautiful and only a little rain towards the end. We also took a dip in a chilly creek. Lunch was awesome pizza after a sweet descent into Damascus Virginia. Were staying at a church tonight in Rosedale VA, and had some tasty pasta. 

Day 8

Well here we are already on day 8!! I can't believe that we have been on the road for a week. It has been the best start to any summer of my life. I have ride my first mountain and have learned so much about bikes. Here are some pictures. 

Here is a picture of the trailer where we keep all our stuff. It gets stanky. 

BorderBorder what?!?

Craziness.. that is the only way to explain the last five days.

I left on Thursday night for this adventure to Kenya with a full belly of chipotle. What better way to start a trip, right?? We got on the 12 hour flight to Turkey and met some really cool people from Cornerstone. We flew to Istanbul and got to walk out onto the ground so I count that as having gone to Turkey (I know... it's not really, but it was pretty cool). That airport was great. Free samples of Turkish Delight and seven dollar tall Starbucks lattes everywhere.

Then we got on the flight to Nairobi. We were advised not to sleep, so I promptly passed right on out as soon as we took off. Woops. I attribute my inability to sleep now to that flight. We arrived at 3:30am Kenya time and met some students from Daystar and Jeff at the airport. After the exchange of money and some words of wisdom, we boarded the bus for our scenic, giraffe filled, thirty minute ride to Daystar University.

We got settled in, and finally asleep by about six. At eleven we woke up and played games all day with some of the students at Daystar. I am so thankful for these people. They are the nicest, and most willing to help with anything people I have ever met. I can tell how much they love God and serve him through helping us Muzungus.

Sunday morning we went to this place called the rocks. This is just a random pile of huge rocks. We could climb all over them and we did some sweet devos with great singing. Then when we came back we had surprise, which was a reserved pool. Sick, right??? It was awesome.

Monday started a whole new adventure which I would have to dedicate a small novel to. Actually I could probably write a long, long book about this Student Teaching. For now let's just say that I officially am the teacher of my own third graders. They only sort of listen because I do not hit them like their other teachers. I taught the whole day on my second day. I ride on the back of some motorbike (called a borderborder) with a guy who flies down bumpy roads. Today I walked home shoeless through the mud because it rained for three hours, my shoes literally were stuck in the mud and I had it halfway to my knees. This is a ridiculous adventure and I am so glad that God knows what is going on because I sure have no clue!!!

With all that being said, I am so glad for this experience. I am glad that I get to figure out how to do really hard things. I am excited that some of the teachers really seem to care about me and want to help me out. I am thankful for the Americans who are here. It is great to come home and be able to be understood and talk about stupid things like ice cream, instagram and other unimportant things. I have met a lot of cool Kenyans, and am thankful that my roommates don't hate me after I got switched into their room at 11 o'clock when they were already sleeping. They are great people and very interested in how life is in America.

I hope all is well back in America! The last thing I am thankful about is the fact that I found pretty solid wifi :) God is good!!

Unique Birds

 How do you catch a unique bird? (Keep reading to find out)

Well, I am in Mahomet once again! I have finished the semester (and passed... woo hoo!!) and have made it back safely and relatively unscathed from the snowboarding adventures in Utah. After six days of riding, I am grateful to say that I have no broken bones nor concussions, just a lot of sore muscles.

KC, myslef, and Amanda in the gondola at SnowBasin

It is amazing to me how beautiful God's creation is. I have never seen anything like these snow covered mountains before. I have been to Utah in the summer, and it is great, but seeing that blue sky and white snow and recognizing the fact that He made our bodies so that we can strap a piece of plastic to our feet and hurdle ourselves down a steep mountain is absolutely ridiculous! It was an excellent week of riding at Powder Mountain, SnowBasin, and Brighton. I think it is safe to say that my skills have improved greatly and that I can successfully dig my self out of almost any 6 foot snow drift (even if it takes a while...)

Day 2: At SnowBasin

Day 4: Long, beautiful drive to Brighton

Pretty gorgeous, eh?!

On the way home to Mahomet, I stopped in Kankakee for family Christmas. It is always an interesting and funny time when you put more than two Schaaps in a room together. My family is funny, strange, and again - just plain funny. My brother told me the joke above. Answer: Unique up on it... yup, gotta love that stuff.

This got me thinking about how much I love the clever, witty, smart, hilarious, and unique birds I know. I am so thankful that I have people who can make me laugh. I am a sucker for a good (or bad) joke.

Classic

In other news, I will be leaving in ONE MONTH for Kenya. My placement was switched to an elementary school and I am quite excited about this! I realize that as things change and come up, I just have to go with the flow and make sure that I keep the most important things first in my mind. I am blessed to have gone to a wonderful school, have great professors, and been well equipped to teach kiddos regardless of age, level or location.

Oh, and 2 days till Christmas!!!! My parents anniversary was yesterday (28 years!) and in just two days all six of us Schaaps will be together to celebrate what an awesome God we have and His birth. Merry Christmas y'all!