After a quick and easy 61 mile ride from Prince George (easy because we were all well rested and fed after our day off), John, Laura, Brandon and I stoppped in at the Chamber of Commerce to find the most helpful person ever, Sonya. Brandon told Sonya about our organization and why we were riding across this great continent, and she immediately began networking to find us a place to stay for the night. When she called Ken, the pastor of the Good Tidings Tabernacle, he was more than willing to open his congregations doors to us. While Bredt and Abram were frequenting the local coop, the manager decided to give them $50 worth of food, so they gathered up all kinds of veggies, tofu, and chicken, then returned to the church and proceeded to chop. cut, and cook for hours on end. Everyone had at least 3 helpings of stir-fry.

Later, Tess and I walked down to a cafe where I got a coffee. On the way back we discussed an issue that has been on everyones mind lately: the sierra team is going to meet up with us in Whitehorse and ride with us through the Yukon and Alaska. That is less than 10 days away. I am excited about their change in plans. I think that many team members have mixed feelings about it not because they don't want to reunite with the other half of Texas 4000, but because meeting them in ten days will be kind of a like the end of a phase of the trip. We have alllearned to live together over teh course of the past 50 days, and when we start to count down the days, we realize that this trip will come to an end. We have learned to love this life and the experiences we gain along the way. I think that Meg said it best when she said that all we have to do is be really good sports about the rest of the trip. If we welcome the sierra team with open arms and work to minimize any competitive tendencies between the teams, things will work like clockwork. Personally, I can't wait to meet back up with my good friends Kartik and Dan, our T4T Zen Committee, and I hope to spend many long evenings fishing in the Yukon Wilderness with everyone on the new T4T route and my new telescoping fishing pole.

For now, I am finishing my coffee and plan on staying up till the wee hours of the morning reading "On the Road" by Jack Kerouak. The main character in the book, Sal Paradise has completely different experiences than me, but I can relate to many the feelings he goes through as he travels all around the USA.

~~MZW