Friday, August 2, 2013

Day 53: Kalamazoo

The trip to Kalamazoo was only 65 miles, and an easy 65 at that. I rode with Jack and Alberto today and the time flew by on the bike. Well, until I got a flat 1 mile outside of lodging and it took 20 minutes to change because, as we found out, my tire is nearly impossible to get on and off... Lunch was really nice today though, and was about 5 miles before lodging. Spencer, our logistics coordinator, had lived in Kalamazoo for a summer with the family whose house we ate at. So, we had a very warm welcome to their home and had some really good sloppy joes, watermelon, cheesy potatoes, and then orange slices sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. The oranges were very good and something I've never seen or heard of before.

After talking for a short while after lunch, we departed for loding at Western Michigan University. We stayed in the dorms and I roomed with Luke. After getting settled in and showered, I still had about 2 hours to kill. So, I got my first haircut of the trip! It was fun riding through Kalamazoo a bit to get there too. It was just over a 2 mile ride through campus and then down a main street with lots of restaurants and other shops. After my haircut, I stopped at a local bakery and cafe. All the cakes and breads looked delicious, but I wanted to hold off because dinner was right when I got back. I did get a latte though and it was very good. It was a cold, windy afternoon too, so it was nice to sit inside the cafe and enjoy a latte. As soon as I left the cafe it started to rain. I went a lot faster on the ride back than I had gone that day at any point, but I was cutting it close with dinner too.

Dinner was at the dorm we were staying at and was a nice meal of chicken, fruit salad, macaroni and cheese, and the best little chocolate eclairs. I probably had about 8 of them too. No regrets... this time at least.

After dinner we were free for the night. Charlie Wiles, a friend and somebody who works with my dad lives in Kalamazoo and offered to take me out to his lake house, get some ice cream, or anything really. So, while a lot of people went to see Monsters U, Jeff and I went to Charlie's house. Charlie and his wife, Joyce, picked us up and we made the 20 minute trip out to his house. Although it was only 63 degrees, Jeff and I still decided to go on the jet ski. I think we were literally the only people on Lake Austin. It was a lot of fun riding around though and actually not that cold because we stayed dry. After that, we had some ice cream, watched some baseball, and just talked for a while. I was glad we had the opportunity to go out to their house. Jeff and I both enjoyed it a lot and it was nice talking to Charlie again and meeting Joyce. By the time we got back it was pretty much time for bed! 

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