Day 10 to 14 of 100 Days in India

First of all Jeff, Jacky and I would like to thank  Brian Franzen and Betty and Darrel Branhagen for sponsoring a couple of the last few days.   We use the sponsorship usually to buy a nicer Indian dinner and a few beers.

Total kilometers to date is 983 in 10 days of riding.   We left Tonk and headed for Bundi.  Bundi is a tourist town and we could see that right away. There were many more hostel and guesthouse options and things were cheaper because of the competition to get tourists.   We found toilet paper and so we bought 10 rolls.
Just so everyone knows Jacky has something for animals.   She had a monkey jump on her chest.  She now has dogs barking her.  Camels talking to her and cows running into her.  I am not sure what it is, but it adds a new dimension to protecting her.

My comment about trash control has to be revised.  Jeff and I did find a dumpster.

Also in Bundi we took time to tour the palace and the lake area.    I did make contact with the Rotary Club of Bundi.  I exchanged club flags and we were showered in flowers.  I always like meeting with Rotarians  because they usually can tell me what all of the pictures mean.   I take a lot of photos and I can only conjecture to what I am really seeing. 

Bundi to Bhilwara was a very long day of 140 km.   We also got rained on.   We went through huge areas of mining.   It was primarily sandstone.  They use this for roofs, fences and walls all throughout the region.  We also met with the Rotary Club of Bhilwara.   Then we went from Bhilwara to Rajsamand.

Rajsamand to Udaipur was very hilly and beautiful.  We had many switch backs and some tremendous views.  At times it was hard climbing the steep grades with cows and goats crossing in front of you. 

Udaipur is a much wealthier area.  It is cleaner, has less traffic and  has nicer homes and businesses.  We even found a shopping mall just like the USA.   They had a Walmart!  Marlbe and more valuable stone is mined in the area.  We rode for over 6 miles and had constant marble wholesale establishments.   Even the hotels were nicer to accommodate the influx of foreign buyers.


Just a few photos that catch my interest.   Electrical systems and the combination of cows and cycles.

Thanks for following and encourage others as well.
Namaste

Day 5 - 9 of 100; Delhi to Rahajastan India

Day 5-9 of 100 (Agra to Tonk). KM to date: 571; Average mid day riding temp: 100 - 104 F.

(I apologize that the photo is not next to the paragraph describing it but right now I am just very happy to get this posted as we have been trying for 4 days.)


Before I forget, Marc Folkedahl sponsored our first beers at the O'Hare airport. $8.25/beer has been the most expensive so far but the easiest to get.

From Agra we headed southwest to Tonk, Rahajastan (current location). From here we will head to the coast, Porbandar on the Arabian Sea. After that we will see where the adventure takes us. The terrain is starting to change. It is getting more arid and mountainous. We are now seeing camels instead of oxen. Jacky and Jeff are now dodging not only scooters but also camels. The road quality has also deteriorated. Pot holes, washboards, dirt and sand are constants. Our average speed of 14-15mph drops to 6-10mph at times.

Malcolm Enterprises and Shimeks & Waste Management are badly needed here. In India the waste collection system is very poor, actually nonexistent. Even when asked for a trash can we were instructed to throw it on the ground.

Someone please tell Mike Haluska to put Freidhof back on full pay because he never stops teaching. Here he is teaching Indians about American multi-speed bicycles.

The trucks in India are overwhelming. The number of them on the road, their load size and how they are decorated is quite a sight. Its like a traveling circus. I don't think the Bruening Trucks will look like this anytime soon.

We have also found that the best food is at the truck stops. So, we pick a busy one to eat at. That way we know that the food is good and that there is turnover in food (less chance of us getting sick). You get a lot of great food at a reasonable price. This meal was 205 rupees. Notice Jeff and Jacky have lost their manners; sitting cross legged on the table and eating with their fingers.

Please, please someone email Freidhof and tell him that we don't have to work out all the time! Even when heading to the market we have to help push the vegetable cart loaded with potatoes, onions and garlic.

Jacky has taken the role as our linquistic expert (please, thankyou, food, sorry, good...and other key words that are used in our daily routine). I want to know what she said to the camel, because the camel is surely saying something back to her.

We were invited into a boys hostel and very amazed at the learning that was occurring. Their excitement was hard to control. We hope to visit more schools in the future.

Yesterday was our day off. Today we saddle up again. We will blog as often as we can. Internet access is not so easy to find.

Until next time...Namaste!

Ward and Jacky

Home Sweet Home

Here is our new home. The address is 109 N. Mill Street in Decorah, IA. We bought it over the internet so it was unseen until June 30th. It needs some TLC but will work for us. I mean, it has running water, a shower, refrigerator, stove and washer/dryer. What more can we ask for, especially since we have mainly been living in a tent for 3 years?

We didn't keep much in storage but our friends came through and our house is almost fully furnished. We're still lacking a bed and dressers so we are still sleeping on the floor and living out of bins but it will come around.

What are we doing now? We certainly haven't been bored. After going to see our families we have been very busy working on a forclosure house in Cedar Rapids (for pay). I have also been working on my resume and continuing education credits so I can re-instate my Iowa license and work again as a dietitian in Iowa. This week (7/25 - 7/31) is Ragbrai and Ward is providing sag service for a group. I will be joining them on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to getting back on the bike again.

The end of the trip was a bitter sweet. We are both ready to get back to a more routine life and to know what is around the corner. However, it has been a dream for so long that it is sad to see it come to an end. Are there plans in the works? Of course. We will be writing a book after we review our 18,000 photos and numerous tablets of journals. We will also be traveling to India and Thailand in 2012.

We'll keep you informed of any new happenings. Until then, thanks to everyone that has been following us and supporting us through the trip. We couldn't have done it without you.

The 1106th day of our trip, the final day!

June 30th was the final day of our 1106 day bike trip. We did it in style. Fifteen friends from Decorah came to bike the last day with us. It started out with a complimentary breakfast at the Lady Luck Casino for all of us (thank you Lady Luck). It was then followed by many organized stops and a lot of fun! We certainly didn't want to hurry our last day. Ward tried to get rid of his burly. Russ volunteered to drag it but found out he needed a little extra help.

One of our final stops was at Shanna (Putnam) Dibble's house where she had beverages and snacks for us. She also provided us with a package that was mailed to her house. It was intended to be a house warming present for us from an unknown person (I'm sure it was one of my sister's). So meet Lucy Goosey. Ward tied her on the bike and she rode in with us. She now sits on our new porch and people watches.

Once we hit Decorah we were tracked down by the poporatsi (Eric Clement). He took many photos of us as we biked our last miles, including a photo in front of the Decorah sign (photos to be coming). Our first stop, once in town, was at TBocks where many other friends joined us. It was the best homecoming that we could have had. Now its time to see our new house. The gang came to our house with us to see it for the first time. We enjoyed beer and wine and broke it in the right way.



We

Welcome Back Party in Madison, WI

The party continues...the last day of the ride (June 26th), Kay and Harry Lum threw us a welcome back party at their home in Madison, WI. It was really fun to see some of our other friends that weren't on the ride.

Then the next day they organized a bike ride around Madison with re-hydration stops every 5-10 miles. Great strategy. We had a beautiful day and I thank everyone that came out to join us for the ride. A special treat for me was when my sister, brother-in-law, and niece showed up to ride with us. My niece Emily is only 7 and loves to ride. She came decked out in her bike gear.

Monday we rode 60 miles to our friend's (Den and Maggie) cabin. It happened to be on the route and a was a great welcoming as we needed to relax after a full week of fun. Tuesday we rode to Prairie du Chein where we would then meet up with our local friends and bike the final day into Decorah.

Grabaawr, a week of celebration with friends (6/20 - 6/26)

The second part of the week offered more fun and craziness. They decided to have a canoe race across the WI river with a lemond start (running) and ending with a run to the finish line. My team, named Team Bone Dry, consisted of Ward, Dale Putnam and myself. We were surprised that the press showed up for the event. We actually got 4th out of about 15 teams. We could have done better if Dale wouldn't have tipped us over at the end.

Ward and I continued to carry our own gear which made us a lot slower than everyone else. Its quite humbling to be at the back of the pack. We rode hard but allowed time and energy for line dancing and relaxing.

We had to say goodbye to our great friends...until next year.