Chugging Across the Midwest

Rows of GMO corn in the lovely rolling hills of Nebraska.

We crossed the Mississippi! 2,500 miles into this journey already. It’s flying by, albeit ever-so-slowly some days. Every mile still takes effort; each hill is a challenge. Today is Day 62, exactly two months into our bike tour. And where the heck, you ask, are we? Northern Indiana! In the last few weeks, we’ve plowed through Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois, putting the leg power to the cranks and making some great time. Snow in New England waits for no bike tourist, as the experts say, and so we pedal on.

There was little time to write in the last couple weeks - just too many adventures, people to meet and renting our house to take care of. Which is why this is a short “we’re still alive” post with a few pictures. I’ll get a longer one posted after Labor Day, which will find us well into Ohio and on the shores of Lake Erie.

Chelsea flanked by corn on either side on a country road somewhere in central Illinois.

Thanks to all of you for the quick texts, emails and comments on the blog with notes of encouragement or just to say hi. We so appreciate it. Just so you know, I’m taking a hiatus from social media (all apps deleted from my phone) to stay more present, which means the little tidbits and pictures of our trip will not all be relayed. It was a hard call, but one I think is important for me. I’ll still put each blog post up on Facebook since a lot of people follow it that way.

On the banks of the mighty Mississippi at the Iowa-Illinois border!

Why shut off Facebook and Instagram? They were starting to feel like noise, a pull away from the present and an expectation (of myself) to deliver fun and interesting content. As much as I want to share every funny and beautiful moment from the trip, sharing was distracting. The blog is a ton of energy by itself in the midst of this journey and social media was taking away from the experience of traveling. I've taken breaks before (a month off in January earlier this year) and loved it. This stems from that, but the feeling deepened two weeks into a personal challenge to meditate every morning in August.

With that, I bid you adieu! Tomorrow we cross into Eastern Standard Time. We’ve mapped out a timeline for our trip and expect to reach the shores of the Atlantic Ocean in Maine by early October through some gorgeous, fall-colored countryside. New England, here we come! Have a lovely Labor Day y’all.

Dakota

Chelsea rides through fields of soybeans in Illinois. A 70 mile day in 95 degrees and 90% humidity...woo! We won't miss the humidity, that's for sure.