Day 1: "And on the first day, Aaron rested"
My mom and I arrived at NCHS before anyone else, and for awhile we were
worried we had come to the wrong place.  As the other riders started to show
up, i gave a quick sigh of relief and started putting my bags in the van...
quickly realizing I had forgotten to bring a pillow.  Mrs. Whall came through
huge, lending a Michigan State pillow she randomly had stored in her minivan,
proving once again that Whalls are good for something besides just holding
ceilings up.  I rode with Mrs. Jandrain, Matt, and PJ into downtown, where we
began our trip just outside the rubble of a deconstructed Soldier Field.
Riding along the lakefront made for nice scenery, except when I decided we
should ride a bit closer to the lake... i tried to go down some stairs, and
while I made it, my water bottles took a tumble, and I don't think they ever
forgave me.  I complimented Kristin for wearing a Notre Dame shirt, which in
my completely biased opinion showed that she knows a good school when she
sees one.  For lunch we stopped at a park where some biking afficionado told
Karl how great a biking country Ireland is.  Me personally, I think a bike
works just about the same way no matter which country you're in.  Anyways, we
spent the last half of our lunch hour on the beach, where a lifeguard
informed us that "The rocks are off limits. Please evacuate them
IMMEDIATELY."  I obeyed, but later on I wondered whether the guy would have
actually left his chair if I had stayed... I don't think he would have.  I
slept on the dock for a little while, but pretty soon Brian woke me up
because we had to ride some more.  10 miles later we stopped in a Hispanic
neighborhood where PJ ran up and down the streets like a giddy child,
rounding up the little ones to play soccer.  They played... I slept.  We
finally arrived in Zion, our first campsite.  We all rushed to Lake Michigan
hoping to swim, but it was real cold, which mostly thwarted our swimming
plans.  Karl, Brian, and I passed time by throwing rocks at passing sea
gulls... we made two of them poop!  Dinner that night was simply spectacular,
but afterwards I wasn't feeling very sleepy (I had already taken the two
naps) so I went for a walk on the beach with Shawn and Brian.  I sat by
myself for much of the time, because the peaceful water just made me want to
reflect on things.  After over an hour of thinking and talking, we quietly
retreated to the tents.

Day 2: My posterior is so sore
The second day was a hot one, so I decided to go shirtless.  In the morning I
trusted Ali to apply sunblock to my back, which clearly was too big a
responsibility for her, as she missed several important spots (namely, the
entire spinal cord), resulting in an oddly shaped sunburn by day's end.  The
riding that day was difficult as well; the heat, the hills, and our
exhaustion from the first day made it the toughest day of all in my opinion.
And this from the "Too Much Info" Department: my butt reached an unspecified
degree of soreness, which to date still hasn't completely gone away.  At
midday, we visited some Alzheimers patients in Wisconsin, which was quite an
experience.  We sang songs, played fill-in-the-blank games, and then had
individual discussions with each of the patients.  I met a woman named Pat,
who was quite the character.  Even though I could barely tell what she was
saying at times, she did her best to stay with me in our conversation, and
she ever made sarcastic jokes about how old the guy sitting next to her was.
She was a hip gal.  That night we had a tight campsite, packed with a pool,
clean showers, a huge area, a convenience store... and a lot of bugs.  PJ
explained the "Herbie" story, which ended up being very applicable to our
trip, and then we piled into the girls' tent to sing songs and play family
feud.  Mr. Sladkey's team won the game, and he wouldn't let anybody forget it
either!  Shawn, Brian, and I tried to keep up our nightly walk trend, but we
ended up walking in circles and getting bored, so we slept.

Day 3: There is a bed at the end of the tunnel
Overnight, it had rained... a lot.  I woke up just a bit damp, but Brian had
definitely gotten soaked.  I was responsible for the devotion that morning,
and instead of quoting the Bible or some intelligent historical figure, I
quoted the movie Joy Ride, when Rusty Nail said something about "the storm
giving everyone a new beginning."  I was proud of coming up with that,
because as of the night before, I had planned on saying something entirely
different, and the Joy Ride idea came to me spontaneously as I woke up.  Day
3 was easily the most eventful day of the trip. We left that morning with a
vision in our heads: a comfy night's rest ahead of us.  First we got through
about 30 miles of tough hills; Liz, Michelle, and Ali trash-talked the hills
as they went up, and motivated the rest of us to keep going.  Halfway through
the day we came to a stop near a trail entrance and had to wait for Mrs.
Hilger.  As everyone began to leave, David and I got held up for some reason,
and we were about 2 minutes behind everyone else.  We decided to go as fast
as we could and see how quickly we could catch the others.  Within 10 minutes
we passed a large percentage (probably about 75-80%) of the riders.  Instead
of stopping there, David and I kept going, and soon we spotted Brian, Karl,
and Matt ahead of us.  Kicking it into high gear, we caught those three, and
the 5 of us continued to move totally fast, averaging about 19 mph.
Eventually, the 5 of us caught PJ, and slowed to a nicer pace.  PJ told us a
story about a man with a passion for art and a son who died in Vietnam... I
had heard the story once before from the pastor at my church, but I enjoyed
hearing it again from PJ.  At our lunch stop, there was another group of
three bikers from Wisconsin.  They were teenagers too, and they were biking
for God just like we were... it was nice to know that others were out there
doing the same thing we were doing.  Further down the Drumlin path, we
arrived in Deerfield, where parishoners were having an ice cream social, and
awaiting our one-night stay in their houses.  They applauded as we arrived...
and Matt was so excited he fell down.  The food there was great.  I had a
sloppy joe (first ever!), a hot dog, apple pie a la mode, angelfood cake, and
a glass of lemonade.  I'm not gonna lie, it was quite filling.  After a quick
shower, we went to their church for a great service.  We played the Family
Feud game again, only this time Mr. Sladkey's team didn't win.  He shook
hands with the victors, but I'm pretty sure that inside he was bummin'.
After the game we sang some songs, which went pretty well except for one or
two that the parishoners had never heard.  Then Ali and I each had to give a
testimonial... I was glad that Ali went first, because hers was not only
good, but it served as kind of a tension easer for me.  I shared my
testimonial about a cross country race where I almost faked an injury and
quit.  I got the audience to laugh a few times, which I like to do, and in
the end I think I got a message across to the audience (or if not, they still
applauded kindly).  Afterwards we went to the Rec Center, where among other
things, I played an intense game of Yahtzee with some bikers and some
Deerfieldians - we did a good job of mixing together.  That night, David and
I stayed with Joanne, Jeff, and Jordan Polk, and they were completely awesome
hosts.  David and I got to sleep on a comfy couch, and we watched
Sportscenter and Cosby Show reruns with Jeff, the oldest son.  The couch
eased our buttock pain, and once the t.v. was off we quickly fell asleep.

Day 4: Beautiful navigational errors
We met at the church again in the morning and enjoyed a splendid breakfast
there.  We said goodbye not only to Deerfield Lutheran, but also to Mrs.
Hilger, as the Chandlers took over the reins of the Budget van.  We thought
it was going to be a difficult day (75 miles), but along the way we made not
one, but TWO incorrect turns that both somehow cut mileage off the trip (way
to go, Meredith!).  Early on in the day, a particularly grumpy old lady
stormed out of a convenience store and stiff-armed Meredith on the way to her
car, cursing the whole way.  I wanted to go give her a card, but I was scared
of the old lady.  Other than that, the part about this day that stands out
the most for me was charging up one humongous hill, and then flying down the
other side at over 30 mph, coasting for a good half mile without pedaling.
The scenery was great, and somehow I kept on getting isolated with only one
person at a time- I enjoyed good individual conversations with PJ, Mr. Krema,
Mr. S, Meredith, David, Liz and Karl within just a few hours of each other.
David and I took funny pictures outside a "Wisconsin School for the Deaf"
sign.  Rude?  Perhaps.  But fun?  Most certainly.  At lunchtime, we stopped
at a park that just so happened to be across from a restaurant.  So, taking a
break from my usual PBJ lunch, I bought a meatball sub, and enjoyed several
free refills of Diet Coke.  Mr. Sladkey taught me how to throw a frisbee, and
Mr. Chandler showcased his superior frisbee skills by somehow snapping it
football-style, through his legs, and still gliding it perfectly, right to
me.  We took several pictures with a gigantic giraffe statue, and then we
were gone.  After lunch we began playing two games to pass the time.  In one
game, we would guess the colors of cars approaching from behind.  Brian and
Kristin were particularly skilled at that game.  The other game involved one
person whistling a song, and everyone else guessing what it was.  This second
game was my idea, and it ended up being far less popular than the
color-guessing game.  At our final stop before the campsite, Mr. Sladkey
showed me a trailor that was selling fireworks, and I purchased $28 worth of
goods for only $25.  What a deal!  (A big thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Chandler
for smuggling these goods across the state border line.  You're among the few
people who have commited a Class B Misdemeanor on my behalf).  At the
campsite, we played a really fun game of soccer, which David's team won 5 to
4 on his Golden Goal.  We cautiously tossed a frisbee around, but stopped
because we came pretty close to hitting our neighbors' SUV and boat on
successive tosses.  For dinner, we packed into the Budget van and went to a
classy restaurant, which was a nice treat.  We got crayons and drew pictures
of each other on the placemats... I was so proud of mine that I have it
framed on top of my t.v.  The only blemishes are my drawings of Michelle (the
face is messed beyond repair) and Mrs. Chandler (her smile protrudes off of
her actual face).  The drawings of Brian and Mrs. Hilger were particularly
well done.  After a filling pizza dinner, we circled the town looking for an
ice cream place.  Along the way, Liz bumped into David, who bumped into me,
who grabbed David to keep from falling down.  It was one continuous motion,
which I clearly demonstrated later on.  Still looking for ice cream, we
playfully sang "I'm bouncing off the walls again", which became our secondary
theme song for the trip.  After several times singing it, we realized that we
could say "I'm bouncing off the Whall again", and run into Shawn.  I devoured
a double scoop of cookie dough and moose tracks on a waffle cone, and then we
went back to the campsite.  Matt at first tried to sleep outside, but
eventually came in, and when he came in, David was still allowed to occupy
25% of the floorspace, leaving the rest of us with just 18.75% each.  I
explained this injustice to him, and I told him that it needed to be
resolved.  He told me that he often balled up in his sleep; from this, i
decided he only needed 5% of the floor space, which would leave each of the
rest of us with 23.75% each.  However, he mentioned that he might end up
kicking somebody, and since I'm always the one to resolve situations, I
decided I would make things easier by sleeping outside.  As I crawled out I
saw Michelle and Ali but couldn't tell who the third girl on the ground was.
Ali said it was Shawn, and I wondered why you would put a Whall in the middle
of an open prairie.  It's befuddling to the mind.  I at first laid down next
to Michelle, but due to her lack of talkativity I plopped myself right
between Ali and Shawn.  Either Ali or Michelle expressed a difficulty with
breathing, and I explained my alternating inhale-exhale theory to get through
the situation.  Just as we were about to stop talking and go to sleep, Shawn
and I couldn't agree about something (I don't remember what), so I told her
"I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.  I guess there are two sides to
this coin.  I guess there is more than one pea in this pod."  And indeed
there was.

Day 5: Tippie Canoe!
I woke up in a daze, having spent much of the night swatting buzzing
mosquitoes away from my ear.  When we got back to biking, we had about 18
miles to go before reaching the canoe launch.  I rode most of the way with
Meredith... we must have smelled bad or something, because it seemed like
everyone ahead of us went really fast and everyone behind us went ungodly
slow.  As we went up the final road leading to the launch spot, myself and
Miss Decaluwe decided we could taste the canoes, and that they tasted like
chicken.  For canoeing, I paired with Shawn, and I took the back despite my
noticeable lack of experience.  At first I had no clue how to steer, but
after a while I got the hang of things, although admittedly, Shawn was doing
a bit of steering from the front seat, which I guess isn't supposed to
happen.  The strangest sight of the entire trip was coming around a bend in
the river and seeing about 50 cows right in the middle, just wading.
Amazingly, the bovines moved out of our way and up onto the mainland,
although one of the cows saw fit to leave a fresh deposit in the river...
nasty.  On the latter half of the canoeing, Shawn and I lost our chemistry,
and no matter what we did, we kept on getting passed by Mr. Krema and PJ,
despite the fact that they appeared to be putting forth no effort whatsoever.
 On multiple occasions, Shawn and I were held up on a rock or something, and
those two would pass us with their oars COMPLETELY OUT OF THE WATER!!!  That
was a self esteem taker-downer.  When we finally caught Ali and Meredith,
they decided they were tired of working, so they tied onto us.  But then we
were working extra hard, so we tied onto PJ and Mr. Krema.  Then, because
tying onto people had become such a trend, Mr. Krema tied onto Matt and Mr.
S.  Needless to say, all four of our boats came in a significant distance
behind the other three.  When we got back to biking, it was another 17 miles
to PJ's house.  It was nice, because the last 2 miles or so were all
downhill.  At PJ's, the parents clapped for us and we got reacquainted after
not seeing family for almost a week.  We enjoyed a fine feast, and talked
with our parents about the trip.  Talking about the high points and struggles
faced on the trip made me realize how quickly it had gone by, I couldn't
believe it was almost over.  Before the parents left, we held hands for one
last prayer, and although the prayer was well-intentioned, the holding hands
part made us all vulnerable to the multitude of mosquitoes, which definitely
feasted on all of us.  God bless the mosquitoes, in spite of their seeming
uselessness in the world.  We slept on the beach, which was truly one of the
most fun experiences on the trip.  I enjoyed seeing Jenny Krema and Eric
Jandrain, who I hadn't seen much since their graduation.  But more than that,
I enjoyed spending one last night with all 11 of my fellow riders, after an
amazing week together.

Day 6: We ride on four wheels once again
We woke up on the beach, and somehow I was in Meredith's sleeping bag and she
was in mine.  It's strange how things happen when you steal someone's pillow.
 PJ came out and told us he was jealous of us for being able to sleep on the
beach.  As we walked back to PJ's, we saw an older gentleman sitting in his
car, kind of staring at us.  At first we were kind of weirded out by him, but
as we came to his car, he told us the same thing: he used to sleep on the
beach with his friends, and he remembers how fun it was.  I gave a big hug
goodbye to PJ, who I had really taken a liking to during the trip, and I gave
a hug to Grandma Lo too.  Even though I hadn't talked to her much, she seemed
like a sweet lady, and she didn't think twice about opening her house to over
20 complete strangers.  We had 4 more riders join us for the last day,
including Mr. Decaluwe, who took a nasty spill trying to pick up Karl's
walkie talkie.  I told Mr. Decaluwe that he must be a good father because
Meredith turned out so well... I could have said the same thing to anybody's
dad, because by the end of the trip I thought everybody there was just the
coolest kid ever.  At lunch we go-karted, which was pretty sweet, although it
gets pretty hard to pass people when everybody's car goes the same speed.  I
remember when we finally hit the Illinois Prairie Path, I knew it was over,
because we had been on that many times for our practice rides, and as far as
I was concerned, if I knew precisely where we were, I was basically home
already.  we pulled up to matt's house as one big group, and there were hugs
all over the place.

Overall, this was the coolest thing I've done in a long time, and if
everything works out, I'd love to be able to come back and do it again.  You
guys are the best.  Peace be the journey!