Week numbered 2

The south is hot. TOday we passed a bank thermometer at 2:09PM and it was 95 degrees. I have had to re define my concept of hot. In Maine it was above 80 degrees. Tomorrow it is supposed to cool off and be 85 degrees. I am so excited. I have also discovered the great thing about riding a bike is that you create your own wind to cool you off. The only problem with this is that this does not really work on the uphills. They are just hot.

In the past week we have conquered some mighty uphill. From Asheville we continued on the Blue Ridge Parkway and then through the Smokie National Park The Smokies do in fact have a hazy smoky look to them and are absolutely beautiful. Although sometimes I was too busy concentrating on the back wheel of the person in front of me to enjoy the view. I had a variation of a song from Finding Nemo running through my head "just keep spinning, just keep spinning..." It was such a rush when we reached the top of a 15 mile climb through the Newfound Gap to leave North Carolina and enter Tennessee. I have been told that i is the second longest state, so we will be in it for a while.

I have also discovered that construction is hot We have had three build days in the past week one in Asheville and two in Maryville TN. Both times we have worked on two separate Habitat for Humanity houses on the same street, because 30 people on the same house would be a bit much. In Asheville I got to polyurethane stained trim boards, and then paint the door jams white. This job came with benefits: we got to have a fan. It was amazing. My nice red Bike and Build tee shirt we wear to the job site how has paints on it. I was quite proud, because it actually shows that I did work on this trip. In Maryville we put the subfloor and stuccoed the foundation of two houses. My hammering skills have improved immensely. Okay actually only as long as no one is watching me. When I have an audience my nails end up looking like flowers, were all the petals are missed hammer marks. Maybe by the end of the trip I will be allowed to hammer something other than studs. The job sites that we work on have been slightly chaotic, but a lot of fun. The Habitat for Humanity staff, and other volunteers are interesting people, and we usually end up joking around quite a bit. So far I have avoided getting a golden screw for biggest mess up (knock on wood), I have a feeling that I will manage it at some point this trip.

People ask me where we are headed next, and I never know. n It is great to just take life each day as it comes. No big deadlines to meet. I just know that in the morning I will get up and either bike or build, and then that night I will curl up on my green thermarest ready for the next day.