July 9, 2009 Prescott, AZ

Ah, finally a change in scenery! We've been biking through pretty desolate areas of Arizona, but today going into Prescott reminded me a lot of Colorado. There was a nice back drop of the mountains behind a small quaint town. The road was also fairly hilly a points rather than what I thought would be pretty much flat. The ride to it was also pretty interesting. We had an amazing down hill for several miles where Timur, Drew, and I pace lined with an average of 30 something mph. Then we hit several miles of all gravel, which was a nice change up in the road conditions, but slippery. Oh, Timur and Drew, please don't close your eyes while biking again because of dust-it's not too advisable. Anyways, Prescott, pronounced Pres-cutt, is a very cozy town with lots of things going on =]. Bennett, Ginger, Amanda, and I went to the town square where they were playing live music. We loosened up our bones by dancing, jumping, and laughing. Me and Bennet were later turned down by two elderly women, but our natural charms could not be resisted for long as we found other dance partners! Afterwards, we were off to karaoke the night away-everybody...yeah yeah...rock your body...



July 10, 2009 Prescott, AZ

Happy Birthday Bennett!



Today, we split up into two groups: dry walling and landscaping/painting. Today, my group, landscaping/painting, is building for Toni. She's a nice lady with two really cute kids and seems to really be motivated to get her life back on track. For us, it's not the most motivated day I've seen out of us, but that's probably because we're all so tired from staying up so late. At night, we all head out to the concert where we shake our bones loose once again. Bennett gets a surprise with some water balloons for his birthday, which he openly welcomed. More crazy dancing, jumping, screaming, and shaking. Then onto the cafe, where they had open mic, and it was so sweet. We huddled around to listen to the local artists croon out their tunes. Gail, one of the Habitat coordinators, had a daughter who worked and played at the cafe-she was awesome. Bennett also went up to read his poem, which was sweet. The artists looked so comfortable. It must feel good to be able to express yourself so well.





On a less happy note, one of our fellow riders, Jackie, won't be able to finish with us because of a spreading infection in her cut. It's sad, but we'll make the best of it. She'll come out and join us in San Diego though =]. Stay strong Jackie/van buddy.

July 11, 2009 Prescott, AZ

Happy Birthday Gabe!

You definitely add a unique spin to this trip, and it wouldn't of been the same without you. Kudos to being a great leader as well as a peer.

So, today's build day was a continuation of yesterday minus the extra tiredness that most of us had the previous day. It turned out pretty awesome and we got everything that was planned done on time. Toni offered us sloppy joes, salads, chocolate milk, and orange juice for lunch. Thank you so much. I hope you and your family make the best of the house =].