Day 33. We left the tiny town of Chapman and journeyed onto Lexington. Today was pretty cool because we went through so many familiar place. However, the morning was a little rocky. I ended up getting a flat tire. Not only did it puncture my tube, but also put a huge hole in my tire. This then meant I was in the van for the rest of the day. I was pretty bummed. One of my teammates, Jen, was super selfless and gave me her tire so I could continue to ride on in Nebraska. She then later joined my group again to finish the ride. It felt so weird to ride through Kearney. Everything is just so much cooler on a bike. No doubt about it. We stopped in Odessa for the lunch break, and I was happy to hear that they got Runzas donated! RUNZA’S are my favorite. Best lunch so far. The day kept on getting better because I was able to see my family that evening. I not only got to see them, but many more familiar faces. A high school friend Aubriel came and I was very excited to see her. She looked awesome like always. My boss from the vineyard back home along with his wife. It was great catching up with the both of them. Chris Sandel and Laurie Polston even made an appearance. I can’t share my gratitude and thanks to my amazing friends, family and community back home in good ol Arapahoe. I am continually getting support messages, cards, and donations. I think my teammates are pretty jealous of my rocking community.
I dedicated this day to Benita Adams. She is a cancer survivor and such a supporter in the Arapahoe community. She doesn’t miss concerts, ball games, and banquets. She is always rooting the Warriors onto the best they can be. Day 33 went out to Benita. Thanks for all you do.
Day 34. We started off our morning with a huge delicious breakfast from the Lexington Church. We were on our way to North Platte. Since the 4K wasn’t biking on the 4th of July we decided to get all decked out in red, white, and blue. I was trying to pull of the tough girl look with my bandana and cute off ‘Merica shirt! Not sure if I am able to pull of the whole tough girl concept though. We had a fun time being silly all day. Once we arrived in North Platte, we went straight to the pool in the rec center. They had a hot tub, a giant slide, 2 diving boards, and a giant pool. It was so great to just relax after a long day in the sun. We ended our Day 34 evening with a night at the Southerland Rodeo. It was so much fun. A lot of my teammates didn’t even know what a rodeo was. I had to do a lot of explaining. Hopefully I was telling them the right explanation.
Day 35. Our morning started off on an early start. There was a little miscommunication and we had to leave the North Platte Rec Center and we ended up going to stay at the Hampton Inn for the next evening. We do not ever argue on the 4K when we get to sleep in a hotel room. Pillows, beds, and hot showers are like the 3 most beautiful words we could ever hear on this trip. My wonderful parents came up to North Platte and took me out to lunch. We went to this cute little diner that my Dad has always had a desire to go to. It was great. I got a chicken salad and it hit the spot. We then were onto the Lake Maloney to do some swimming. It was a tad bit windy for a day at the lake, however we didn’t let that stop us. We were grateful to have Deniese and Johney Koller there at the lake at the same time as the 4K. They offered us rides on their jet skis. I’ve never gone on one of them before and I loved it. It was so much fun. My teammates said the highlight of the 4th of July was definitely the jet ski and I couldn’t agree more. We then went back to the hotel for a clean up and a quick snooze. We then were onto watch some fireworks put on by the city of North Platte. I was a little anxious and worried because the fireworks back in Arapahoe never disappoint me, so I was hoping that these lived up the expectation and they did. I very much enjoyed them. I loved bonding with my teammates that day and evening. It consisted of many laughs and memories upon memories. I love my 4K Family!
Day 36. Hot! Like crazy hot! I think it got to be in the high 90’s today. However, the ride was absolutely beautiful. We started in North Platte this morning and we ended up in Oshkosh, Nebraska. Yes I know, Oshkosh is so much fun to say! J This makes it a first time taking the back roads up to this part of Nebraska. Normally if my family goes north, we would take the interstate. Just saying though, the interstate is so lame to look at. The back roads are where it all is. We are officially entering Sand Hill territory. We went past Lake Mcconaughy and actually had our lunch stop there. My teammates did great with food donations today. They got Subway sandwiches! I was so hungry by the lunch stop, so I think I would have settled for literally any food. As the day pressed on, the temperature kept rising. There was point on the ride that I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I think this was a mixture of dehydration, tiredness, and more of both of those things. Haha I told my teammates and we took a quick 5-minute break and then I turned on some music. This helped me wake up a bit. I had to keep squirting water on my face to cool off. I have a feeling this is just the beginning of many more hot days to come. The bugs are crazy around here. I think we are all constantly getting bit. You also would think that while your riding your bike that the nasty little things wouldn’t get you, you thought wrong because they so do. I made a bite bleed today because I itched it so much. Not cool. We are staying in Oshkosh’s school. Very nice gym they have here. More scenery is to come. I’m excited about the future days on the 4K.
Today I rode for Jane and Phill. I didn’t get the last name of these two people, but I do know that they met a lot to a little girl back home named Jasmine. She was so sweet and asked me if I could ride for her aunt and uncle. They are currently battling
Over half way done! Wahhhooo!!!!
Day 37. Our journey today started in Oshkosh and I'm currently in Alliance, Nebraska. By far one of my favorite days on the trip. So many random amazing things happenede. My group consisted of Martha, Kyle, and Brett. However, Brett is a Colorado Buffs fan, I try not to hold it against him too much! ;) haha We had a blast chatting and getting to know each other a little more. We first saw a sign on the side of the road that said BEEF and underneath it had America's Best! This sign was barely on and it was attached to a very old wagon. We of course had to stop and take a picture with it. It was inside a barb wire fence however, since I'm from Nebraska, I knew how to unlock the fence. We put it down for a split second to take a picture. They were pretty worried we were going to get in trouble, but I had full confidence that we were going to be okay. Our second adventure today was climbing the top of a sand hill. Let me tell ya, it was soooo worth it. The view was amazing. I had no idea I was even in Nebraska. I feel so grateful to get to see this part of my state. Our third adventure was went went to a local store. The town literally consisted of 120 people. So tiny and that is even coming from me. We got some local jerky and some coffee. Great combo, I know. That is how we do it on the 4K. It was awesome talking to the people in the store. Everyone was so welcoming. I love Nebraska for many reasons, but the top is how generous and nice everyone is here. The day continued on with many laughs and a horrible head wind. We even had a black lab follow us for about 2 miles. It was very cute until the dog cut in front of my teammate and knocked her over. She was okay and was able to get back on the bike, but it was a little scare for all of us. We named our team the Hilltoppers. We thought that was very fitting because we decided to climb today. Tomorrow we are onto Chadron, Nebraska. It will be a little bit shorter day. It will be around 50 ish miles. My birthday is coming up in a few days. I'm excited to be celebrating it with my wonderful team.
Today was dedicated to a Gene Stueven and Brian Holtrop. I have never met either one of these people, but I know the Eichenberger family very well and they are both related to this wonderful family. They both passed away from the wicked cancer disease. I am thinking of their family today and for future days ahead of me.
Peace out Aliance!
~Halle Stephens
I dedicated this day to Benita Adams. She is a cancer survivor and such a supporter in the Arapahoe community. She doesn’t miss concerts, ball games, and banquets. She is always rooting the Warriors onto the best they can be. Day 33 went out to Benita. Thanks for all you do.
Day 34. We started off our morning with a huge delicious breakfast from the Lexington Church. We were on our way to North Platte. Since the 4K wasn’t biking on the 4th of July we decided to get all decked out in red, white, and blue. I was trying to pull of the tough girl look with my bandana and cute off ‘Merica shirt! Not sure if I am able to pull of the whole tough girl concept though. We had a fun time being silly all day. Once we arrived in North Platte, we went straight to the pool in the rec center. They had a hot tub, a giant slide, 2 diving boards, and a giant pool. It was so great to just relax after a long day in the sun. We ended our Day 34 evening with a night at the Southerland Rodeo. It was so much fun. A lot of my teammates didn’t even know what a rodeo was. I had to do a lot of explaining. Hopefully I was telling them the right explanation.
Day 35. Our morning started off on an early start. There was a little miscommunication and we had to leave the North Platte Rec Center and we ended up going to stay at the Hampton Inn for the next evening. We do not ever argue on the 4K when we get to sleep in a hotel room. Pillows, beds, and hot showers are like the 3 most beautiful words we could ever hear on this trip. My wonderful parents came up to North Platte and took me out to lunch. We went to this cute little diner that my Dad has always had a desire to go to. It was great. I got a chicken salad and it hit the spot. We then were onto the Lake Maloney to do some swimming. It was a tad bit windy for a day at the lake, however we didn’t let that stop us. We were grateful to have Deniese and Johney Koller there at the lake at the same time as the 4K. They offered us rides on their jet skis. I’ve never gone on one of them before and I loved it. It was so much fun. My teammates said the highlight of the 4th of July was definitely the jet ski and I couldn’t agree more. We then went back to the hotel for a clean up and a quick snooze. We then were onto watch some fireworks put on by the city of North Platte. I was a little anxious and worried because the fireworks back in Arapahoe never disappoint me, so I was hoping that these lived up the expectation and they did. I very much enjoyed them. I loved bonding with my teammates that day and evening. It consisted of many laughs and memories upon memories. I love my 4K Family!
Day 36. Hot! Like crazy hot! I think it got to be in the high 90’s today. However, the ride was absolutely beautiful. We started in North Platte this morning and we ended up in Oshkosh, Nebraska. Yes I know, Oshkosh is so much fun to say! J This makes it a first time taking the back roads up to this part of Nebraska. Normally if my family goes north, we would take the interstate. Just saying though, the interstate is so lame to look at. The back roads are where it all is. We are officially entering Sand Hill territory. We went past Lake Mcconaughy and actually had our lunch stop there. My teammates did great with food donations today. They got Subway sandwiches! I was so hungry by the lunch stop, so I think I would have settled for literally any food. As the day pressed on, the temperature kept rising. There was point on the ride that I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I think this was a mixture of dehydration, tiredness, and more of both of those things. Haha I told my teammates and we took a quick 5-minute break and then I turned on some music. This helped me wake up a bit. I had to keep squirting water on my face to cool off. I have a feeling this is just the beginning of many more hot days to come. The bugs are crazy around here. I think we are all constantly getting bit. You also would think that while your riding your bike that the nasty little things wouldn’t get you, you thought wrong because they so do. I made a bite bleed today because I itched it so much. Not cool. We are staying in Oshkosh’s school. Very nice gym they have here. More scenery is to come. I’m excited about the future days on the 4K.
Today I rode for Jane and Phill. I didn’t get the last name of these two people, but I do know that they met a lot to a little girl back home named Jasmine. She was so sweet and asked me if I could ride for her aunt and uncle. They are currently battling
Over half way done! Wahhhooo!!!!
Day 37. Our journey today started in Oshkosh and I'm currently in Alliance, Nebraska. By far one of my favorite days on the trip. So many random amazing things happenede. My group consisted of Martha, Kyle, and Brett. However, Brett is a Colorado Buffs fan, I try not to hold it against him too much! ;) haha We had a blast chatting and getting to know each other a little more. We first saw a sign on the side of the road that said BEEF and underneath it had America's Best! This sign was barely on and it was attached to a very old wagon. We of course had to stop and take a picture with it. It was inside a barb wire fence however, since I'm from Nebraska, I knew how to unlock the fence. We put it down for a split second to take a picture. They were pretty worried we were going to get in trouble, but I had full confidence that we were going to be okay. Our second adventure today was climbing the top of a sand hill. Let me tell ya, it was soooo worth it. The view was amazing. I had no idea I was even in Nebraska. I feel so grateful to get to see this part of my state. Our third adventure was went went to a local store. The town literally consisted of 120 people. So tiny and that is even coming from me. We got some local jerky and some coffee. Great combo, I know. That is how we do it on the 4K. It was awesome talking to the people in the store. Everyone was so welcoming. I love Nebraska for many reasons, but the top is how generous and nice everyone is here. The day continued on with many laughs and a horrible head wind. We even had a black lab follow us for about 2 miles. It was very cute until the dog cut in front of my teammate and knocked her over. She was okay and was able to get back on the bike, but it was a little scare for all of us. We named our team the Hilltoppers. We thought that was very fitting because we decided to climb today. Tomorrow we are onto Chadron, Nebraska. It will be a little bit shorter day. It will be around 50 ish miles. My birthday is coming up in a few days. I'm excited to be celebrating it with my wonderful team.
Today was dedicated to a Gene Stueven and Brian Holtrop. I have never met either one of these people, but I know the Eichenberger family very well and they are both related to this wonderful family. They both passed away from the wicked cancer disease. I am thinking of their family today and for future days ahead of me.
Peace out Aliance!
~Halle Stephens