the golden arches

Again, we packed up our camping gear in the rain today, and the rain stuck with us throughout most of the day. After a brief respite from the rain, the winds picked up, lightning flashed around us, and the air took on an eerie feel. The winds were blowing so hard that it was difficult to ride -- they were pushing us around like we were little toys. I was riding with Kim and Charlie, and we made a plan to stop at the next house or barn (though these were few and far between) and ask for shelter. Before we could find somewhere, the bottom fell out of the sky and the rain started coming down in sheets. It was difficult to see the road ahead of us and it felt like the wind was going to pick us up and carry us away. We knew we had to get off the road, but couldn't see anywhere to go. Just as we crested the next hill, we could see gleaming gold in the distance. It was the arches of McDonald's that rose out of nowhere as a shining beacon of hope in the distance. Never have I been so excited to see those Golden Arches! We quickly covered the ground between us and McDonald's, nearly slipping on a bridge expansion joint on a rain-covered bridge, but making it safely to shelter in one piece.

It seems we were not the only ones who had that idea. About ten other riders were already in McDonald's, and the other riders trickled in after us over the next minutes. In a team effort, we managed to transform the tidy restaurant into a swampland as drops of water trickled off of our soaked clothing. The rain didn't let up, so we made ourselves right at home, much to the chagrin of the McDonald's staff, and settled in to a second breakfast and kept the lattes coming over the next hours. Someone produced a set of cards, and once we got into a good game of gin rummy, we were more or less glued to our seats. I think we were at McDonald's for at least two hours.

At last the rain did slow (though didn't stop), and we managed to pry ourselves away from our leisurely breakfast and card game. Sarah and I rode together until lunch. Most days we have sandwich-y stuff for lunch -- my recent favorite has been nutella and almond butter on a graham cracker. However, sometimes we have dinner left overs that are put out as well, and any variety is a treat, so doing things like eating a potato out of your hand like an apple starts to become not only a reasonable, but an excellent idea. Today my lunch consisted of a potato, corn on the cob, and string cheese. Now I know that may not sound like much to be excited about to you, but after your body has been working so hard, all food seems glorious. Throughout the trip, I was really pleased with all the food -- it's hard to tell if that's because I was so tired and ravenous that roasted frog liver would seem amazing, or if the food was actually amazing. Either way, I was always quite happy with it.

I know we were staying at the dorms of Valparaiso University that evening and was excited about the time indoors, so I sped through the afternoon alone to get there and maximize the luxury time indoors. Somewhere along the way today, we crossed into our 9^th state -- Indiana. Our time in Illinois was short, and we had rain every day, so I ended up with very few pictures from the Land of Lincoln. We travelled only through the Northeast corner of the state and saw mostly flat farmland with corn and soy beans.

And speaking of, the vast amount of soy beans we've seen growing across America makes me think they must be in everything! I expected to see lots of corn, but I wasn't expecting all the soy beans. It got me curious as to what they could all be used for, so I looked it up (thanks wikipedia), and it turns out they are used in most everything -- well, in most processed (animal and) people food products. In addition to tofu and soy milk, soy beans used as a cheap source of protein in animal food and pre-packaged meals. The U.S. is the world's largest producer of soy beans, and judging by the amount we've seen this summer, I believe it!

A bit more information on soy beans taken from Daria's blog:
We rode through more beautiful farm country and saw more corn and more soybeans. I expected to see a lot of corn fields on the BIG RIDE, but was not expecting to see so many soybean fields. Surprisingly, there are over 350,000 farms in the US producing soybeans, accounting for over half of the world’s soybean production. Soybeans are grown on almost 73 million acres of cropland. Roughly the same acreage is dedicated to corn.

I arrived at Valparaiso University to find that there was some sort of youth conference going on there as well, so I had to wade through this massive sea of boisterous teenagers to get anywhere. I guess I don't come into contact with too many teenagers these days, and I spent a little time just observing the hustle and bustle. It was an interesting reminder of the bizarre time in life known as the teenage years where you wear the most ridiculous things just because everyone else does, you wear braces, your body grows in odd, bursting spasms, you feel like an adult but generally behave and are treated like a kid, you feel uncomfortable in your own skin, you have to go to dances and pretend like you know how to dance, and cliques reign. I'm so glad those years are over. :o) In the evening, I got to do laundry, spend a bit of time cleaning my bicycle, and even catch the last bit of the Tour on the television.