Day 22: Bastrop, TX to Sealy, TX

Our mom sent us an exciting email today. The Daily Herald did an article on us! Click here to check it out.

I got some good pictures of Matt's new bike. He looks like a hardcore biker now.

It was raining all day today so Matt got drenched! He had to change clothes once because he was getting so cold in his wet ones. He said it was pretty crazy getting sprayed by huge semi trucks when they'd pass by. Matt's worst for the day was that he got a flat tire on his new bike so the last bit of his ride he had to switch bikes. Despite the bad weather, Matt pumped out 91 miles today! And we think we're finally out of the hill country (there is even a city near Austin called Hills).

Matt's best for the day was that Grandma Gina and Matt went to a pizza buffet for lunch. He definitely got his money's worth! Just like every other guy out there, he loves buffets.

Good news: I was able to put some weight on my ankle today, so I'll probably give it one more day and then try biking again!

The scenery was beautiful again today, so I had to put up some pictures I took.

Day 21: Johnson City, TX to Bastrop, TX

Another unfortunate morning landed me in the hospital again for another x-ray. A sprained wrist from my previous accident has been manageable because I still have my good right hand to steer and grip the handlebar even though my left hand can't do much except for push and lightly grip. This morning's sprain, however, has left me riding in the truck again for a few days...

I've always had weak ankles, and this morning when we were packing up our bags and loading up the truck, I landed on my ankle wrong, rolled it, heard a loud popping sound, and collapsed on the ground. My first thought was, "No, not my ankle! I need that to bike!" Luckily the hospital was just across the street from our motel room so after an x-ray to be safe the doctor affirmed that, indeed, it was just a sprain. After a few days of elevation and ice to hurry along the healing process, I will see if the pain isn't too bad so I can bike again.

Matt was a trooper today! It took us a while to figure out a way to maneuver around Austin, but he rode 89 miles (with a lot of hills). And since he was sick of riding the Bianci, Matt got a new bike as an investment! He looked pretty legit riding it because it has the nifty handlebars like a racing bike does. He said his back is going to be a little sore because you have to lean over a lot more on this bike, but when he gets used to it this bike will be a better ride for him.

And of course we can barely keep up with Matt's facial hair...

Day 20: Rest day (Sunday) & Grandma Gina's birthday!

Thank you everyone who donated to JDRF (the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) since we last posted about it. We really appreciate your thoughtful donations!:

Val Gene Ogles, Andersen Studios, Alishia Sullivan, Curt and Angi Cummings, Katie Liljenquist, Rhett Weller, Margita Clark, Dominic Anderson, The Sheranian Family, and Mette Petersen

Alisha Sullivan wrote to us and said, "My 4-year old son has type 1 [diabetes], and he is an inspiration to me every day." If you would like to make a donation, click here or on the button that says "MAKE A DONATION!" on the right of our blog under the thermometer. All donations go straight to JDRF; Matt and I don't see any of it. (All of our expenses like lodging, food, biking gear, etc. come from our own savings.) Every donation makes a difference!

Today is not only mother's day, but it is Grandma Gina's birthday! Matt snuck out late last night after Grandma went to sleep to get birthday supplies. This morning Matt and I surprised Grandma Gina with balloons, a happy birthday sign, little happy birthday crowns, a "cake" with candles, and a Payday candy bar. We also took her out to one of her favorite Mexican restaurants, Serrano's, for dinner yesterday. We love you Grandma Gina!

Church today was great! We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and we found a student ward by the University of Texas campus. All of the talks were on mothers and the sanctity of motherhood and they were wonderful. And what a coincidence... We ran into one of Grandma Gina's good family friends, the Bloomfields, at church because they came to hear a soon-to-be daughter-in-law give a talk. They were the nicest people and even invited us to their home for dinner which, sadly, we had to turn down because we needed to prepare for another week of biking (e.g., doing laundry, catching up on emails, talking to family, organizing our bags and the car, and resting up).

After church we drove to the house that Matt and I lived in for a couple years when we were little. I only remembered a little bit about it because I was really young, but Matt recognized a lot of it because he was in kindergarten and first grade during that time. We took pictures by our old house, the playground we used to play on, and the elementary school Matt went to. It was a fun walk down memory lane.

Happy Mother's Day to our amazing mom! She is an amazing mother of five, just earned her Masters of Business Administration degree, and is in the Relief Society presidency in our church back home. She truly is an anchor in our family!

Day 19: Junction, TX to Johnson City, TX

We believe that we have reached the halfway mark in this adventure! And we had another great day of biking... 91 miles today!

Our bests for the day was Fredericksburg. Brother and Sister Robinson recommended we go to the downtown area of Fredericksburg. (Unfortunately, we never could find the restoration memorial that recognizes the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints that you told us to go see.)  It was the cutest city! Fredericksburg was settled by German immigrants in the 1840's and so everything has a German name, and there are little shops and bakeries just like in Germany. We were riding through Fredericksburg around lunchtime, so we decided to stop for lunch. We got some really good pastries from one of the bakeries including some apfelstrudel (apple strudel).

Matt's worst for the day is that his Achilles tendon was hurting him a lot. (He hurt it when he ran the Park City marathon last summer, and it's been bothering him the whole trip, but some days are worse than others.) We had to stop today at 91 miles because it was bothering him too much. My worst for the day is Matt's Achilles tendon and that Texas has so many hills. All day we were biking up and down hills which really slows us down.

Texas is beautiful! There were several occasions when I gave an audible gasp because of the beautiful surroundings. It's really green here right now, and there are a lot of purple and yellow flowers everywhere. America is such an amazing country, and I feel so blessed to live here.

Day 18: Ozona, TX to Junction, TX

Hey everyone, this is Matt writing today; Amber said she is too tired to write tonight, so I'm going to fill in :)

Today we discovered the best weather for biking: partly cloudy. Although the weather channel kept threatening us with possible flash floods and thunderstorms, today’s weather couldn’t have been better! We were able to get 106 miles in today!

We also became more familiar with some of the Texas wildlife (most of it was roadkill, but we're still going to count it). We saw deer, sheep, cows, horses, goats (we loved making bleating noises because the goats would look at us and bleat back), a dead armadillo, a lizard (I almost stepped on it--you can see it pretty easily in the picture, but in real life it's got amazing camouflage ability), lots of swallows (they like to build nests in freeway overpasses, and they go crazy when we bike right under them), vultures, black beetles, and grasshoppers. Did you know that some grasshoppers down here are cannibals? We found that out today as we passed hundreds of grasshoppers out on the road eating each other.

Speaking of food, we stopped at Pizza Hut for lunch! Of course we chose to get the buffet. I think I ate 1.5 pizzas by myself; Grandma and Amber ate a lot too. Biking all day every day makes you really hungry and really thirsty! We stop for a water/food break about every hour, and when we're done we eat a lot for dinner. I've stopped trying to drink out of water bottles because I have to keep filling them up so often; now I just drink straight from the gallon jugs that we buy. Oh and by the way, if you ever want a weird look from a grocery store clerk, go to the supermarket and buy 10 gallons of water.

Day 17: Fort Stockton, TX to Ozona, TX

Great news: We passed the 1,000 mile mark today, ending with a total of 1,082 miles so far!

We woke up to a lot of rain this morning. After checking the weather report, we decided to wait it out until the flash flood warnings went away. The good part was that we got to sleep a little longer. The bad part was that we got started a few hours late (9:30).

When we started biking, it was still raining pretty hard. We rode through some really big puddles (and I walked around one especially deep one), but, luckily, there was a frontage road next to the highway so we didn't get splashed by any traffic. After the first couple hours, when the rain subsided, we were completely drenched!

Gratefully, the sun was out for most of the day and we covered some good ground. The last 30 miles of our ride today we were going up and down some mountains. I love what Matt told me he thinks of when he climbs a big hill; he said that he pictures he is on a roller coaster and the hill is the part where it's taking you up slowly for the fun and fast ride down :) Now, getting up hills aren't as hard for me because I'm just gearing up for the ride down!

I loved that most of our ride today was on a frontage road because Matt and I get to ride side-by-side and talk with each other. We started brainstorming ideas for our next big adventure; Matt suggested climbing Mt. Everest... I think that's a little too cold for me. Matt and Grandma Gina's bests for the day were the frontage roads. My best for the day was that my boyfriend got back from his three week trip to China so I got to talk to him on the phone. I miss him a lot!

We have a new record: 9 friendly honkers :)

We decided that being on a piece of metal in a lightning storm isn't the best idea, so we called it quits 15 miles outside of Ozona. Despite the late start to the day, the rain, and the mountains, we biked 92 miles today! It felt great after having some unexpected opposition for the past week that has set us back a bit.

Day 16: The-Middle-of-Nowhere, TX to Fort Stockton, TX

First off, we would like to thank those who donated to JDRF (the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) since last Sunday. Thank you all so much for your thoughtful donations!:

Laura LeBaron (our grandma), Spencer Ray, Trevor Evans, Kimball Hansen, Marcus Shaw, Ron Purvis, and Todd Castagna

If you would like to make a donation, click here or on the button that says "MAKE A DONATION!" on the right of our blog under the thermometer. All donations go straight to JDRF; Matt and I don't see any of it. (All of our expenses like lodging, food, biking gear, etc. come from our own savings.) Every donation makes a difference!

Today was full of blessings! I biked the whole way today and didn't have a headache at all from my concussion last week. I really appreciate those who prayed and fasted for me! Thank you so very much.

The whole time we were biking the weather was great too. There were some headwinds but they weren't too bad.

Matt and I biked 71 miles to Fort Stockton where we talked to two really nice newspaper reporters. (We'll put up a link when it comes out.) The next town is 100 miles away, so we decided to grab a motel room, take our bags in, and then get some dinner before we started off again until it got dark. We were having some Mexican food across the street from the motel when out of nowhere it started raining like nuts! The drops were the size of marbles and the streets were totally flooded within a couple minutes. (The pictures do not do it justice.) Because conditions were too dangerous for biking, we called it a day and went back to the motel. I was screaming the whole time we were taking the bikes from the bed of the truck into the motel room with us, and our clothes and shoes are all hanging up to dry now :) Thankfully we had already carried in all of our bags and such before it started raining.

Weirdest moment of the day: I was biking down the road and thought I saw a tree in the distance walking! I was worrying that my headaches from yesterday was being replaced by hallucinations! Haha when we got about a minute closer, however, I realized it was just a hitch hiker walking down the side of the road :) It made me feel better that Matt thought it was a sign walking.

We found another website that mentions our trip, even though the picture they put in is definitely not us :)
http://besuretotest.com/news-a-blog/parents-and-family-blog/191-siblings-bike-across-the-country-for-diabetes-research