Message Board Comments |
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Anonymous said... Hi, Regina and Alex! I'm thinking of you...Glad to hear all is well. I'm really enjoying your entries--I feel like I'm there (without the sore butt!). Keep up the good work! Love, Debbie Brett Anonymous said... Way to go Regina! Keep on trucking! Lau Anonymous said... Hi Regina and Alex, I just looked at your photos. So far they are just great. I will be keeping you in my thoughts and prayers and will enjoy your comments and photos too. Love, Lois Anonymous said... Hi! This is Jenni Randall and I really want to know what the lizard looked like. Good Luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anonymous said... Hey, this is Chello and I heard about you and Alex biking across
America to warn people about celiac disease and I think that's great
and I have a lot of questions. So one was...... do you get tired
easily? Chello Anonymous said... Hi Regina and Alex, I like to ride my bike a lot, but I'd never be able to do what you are doing! After you ride you must be really tired! Hope you are having fun! Good Luck! From: Lyman Moore 6th grader Anonymous said... Regina and Alex! Hey Alex, I have the same name as you! What you guys are doing is really cool and helpful. You guys rock! From a future student, Anonymous said... Hope you are having lots of fun. Good luck! From your Stowe House Lyman Moore Friends, Anonymous said... Hello Mrs.Erskine and Alex! I'm Aliseia (or Ally 4 short), your next year student! I was the one who said hi to you a lot in Shaws (if you don't remember me). What is it like in Arizona? Is it fun going and seeing other people? Are they nice? What do the animals look there? Hope you have a safe trip! I'm behind you all the way! Ally DiBiase Anonymous said... Hello Ms. Erskine! This is Mr. Lamoureux's C Class. We think you are doing a great job. We hope your butt is not really sore (we read Mrs. Brett's comment). :) We hope you enjoy the places you want to visit. Watch out for the Grand Canyon so you don't fall in! We don't want to have to call you Evil Kinevil! Good Luck on the rest of your journey! Mr. Lamoureux's C Class Anonymous said... Hi Ms. Erskine! Good luck on the bike trek! Griffin Miller Anonymous said... Right now I am in Mr.Lamoureux's class and we are checking out your site. It is really cool! Samantha P.S. Keep up the good work!!!! Anonymous said... Hey Regina and Alex! I'm going to be one of your students next year and I'm really looking forward to it. See ya next year! Bye!!!! Anonymous said... Hi Ms. Erskine, I think it's so cool how your biking across America to spread awareness about celiac disease. Keep up the good work! Mackinleigh I. -Stowe House Anonymous said... Hi, your doing a great job! I will have you next year for health in 7th grade! I cant wait to see you when you come back to Maine! Stacey Libby Anonymous said... Hey Ms. Erskine! You're doing a really good job on keeping up
with your biking each day! I think it's nice of you to help spread
Sincerely, Anonymous said... Hi, you're doing great! It's soo awesome that you're doing this to spread awarness.I can't believe you can bike that much. I don't think I could ever be able to do that.You're doing a great job of keeping up with your list of places to be. I'll be reading your entries. Best of luck. Keep up the awesome work :) Adrienne Broadwater Anonymous said... Hey! I'm so excited for next year. I lke riding my bike, but I like riding my skateboard more. BYE!!!!!! Anonymous said... Hi I think it's really cool that you're biking across America. I could never do that. My asthma would get the best of my and I have a hard time sleeping away from home. I can't wait to be in your class next year (I go to Lyman Moore). Bring lots of pictures back. I want to see them all. Your soon to be student, Anonymous said... Hello Ms.Erskine, I think it's so cool that you are doing the celiac desease trip. Wish you good luck with your trip. Love, Irina Goroshkevich |
Greetings From Phoenix Tuesday, May 03, 2005 |
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Well, we've made it to Phoenix! It's another rest-day for us, officially Day 8 of our journey, 400+ miles down and 3700 more to go. Sounds kind of daunting when I put it like that, doesn't it? But so far, so good. To recap: On Day 5, we left Twenty Nine Palms under sunny skies, bound for Rice, CA. We knew we were headed out into the middle of nowhere when a sign just outside town said "No Services Next 100 Miles." Did that stop us? No sir! It was a bit warm out (we put a thermometer out during one of stops, and it got up to 107 in the sun), but when you're riding it doesn't seem so bad. It was quintessential desert: lizards scurry away as you ride past them, tumbleweeds bounce across the road in front of you, and there's not a soul in sight for miles. Every once in a great while, a car would pass, but otherwise it was just us and the road and the bikes. For mile, after mile, after mile. We were planning to stop for the night in Rice, but we had a sneaking suspicion that there wasn't much in Rice for amenities. Make that no amenities at all. Rice may be a town on the map, but it turns out no one lives in Rice anymore. I mean, population: zero. So rather than park in front of the abandoned gas station for the night, we decided to push on to Vidal Junction, which we did as the sun slowly set behind us. We logged 90 miles that day, but it wan't that bad, and now we know we can do it again in the future. Day 6 came and we got on our bikes again and headed for Arizona. We crossed the Colorado River at Parker and entered into our second state on this seventeen-state journey. Turns out the Arizona desert looks a lot like the California desert. But there was a little bit more in the way of people, so it didn't seem as desolate. We made it to the town of Salome, AZ at the end of the day and stayed at RV park that had a pool, which was very nice, and a golf course, which seemed a little bizarre. Twice during the day we had crossed over canals that were diverting water from the Colorado River to Los Angeles and southern Arizona, and when you see these green golf courses out in the middle of the desert, you wonder just what exactly we are diverting all this water for. And besides, after 75 miles of biking, we were too tired to play golf! Day 7 and we were on our way to Congress, AZ. We wanted to get there fairly early, because we were heading down to Phoenix that afternoon to catch the Diamondbacks game. We were slowly climbing through most of the day, and the scenery was starting to change as we rode. It was noticeably greener, though still definitely desert, but there was more vegetation, more flowers, and our first sighting of saguarro cactus. Not to mention a coyote, which crossed the road about 100 feet in front of us. We made it to Congress by about 2:00pm, and were resting in the RV when another bicyclist came up and introduced himself. "Joe" was also riding cross-country, but he was doing it all by himself, just him and whatever he could carry on his bike. He had wrenches and spare tires duct-taped to his bike, and a disposable camera tucked under his bike shorts, and a back pack for his gear. He was logging some big miles, and hoped to make it to Washington DC in 30 days! Hats off to Joe, I hope he makes it. Meanwhile, we drove down to Phoenix in time for the game (won by the Giants, 9-8 in 10 innings), then headed for the hotel for some sleep. On Day 8, we drove over to the Wild Oats Market in Scottsdale to spread some more awareness of celiac disease. After several days being out away from population, it was good to be somewhere where we could make more of an impact. We talked to lots of people, and also discovered that we were on one of the local news stations about a week ago - we will try to get the videotape from them so we can see it! Having put in a good days work, we stocked up on some supplies and now are ready to hit the road again. We now start heading north up to the Grand Canyon, with a few stops along the way. Hopefully we'll be able to update you again when we get there. Thanks for all your messages! Cheers, Regina |