days 15-17

15th diawell win we lift ryder's house it was to meet ourselves up with 50 miles of hills, gee golly gee. the highest point we reached was called the tuscarora summit at about 2100 feet, but the whole day was just endless ups and downs with 1 or 2,000 feet or elevation change not being very uncommon! the fun has only just begun according to the rumors on the street too, and wen we look west all we see are hills.2nite we're sleeping under the stars in a Mennonite family's yard. They are incredibly nice and respectful, and they love to meet strangers and wish the world was still a place where being hospitable to strangers was perfectly common and acceptable. the kids were really shy but excited that we were there so they kept kind of half secretly spying on what we were doing. the dad is elijah, the mom is brenda, "the boy" (that's how they refer to him) is daniel, and he was out hunting groundhogs when we got to their house, and the girls are marinda and melody. sleeping under the stars for the first time in awhile feels beautiful.16 16 16today we were back on the bikes by 8:30.... which previous to this point was absolutely unthinkable! our goal was 100 miles across endless hills and mountains to a connection we made with someone in greensburg, pa. however, it was not to be.we started out really strong, climbin the hills like it was our job. worked up a hefty appetite and got footlong subs at subway at 10am. the lady making sandwiches told phil he was not allowed to get vegetables on his sandwich and he believed her. then, not 2 minutes later, she told him he could actually only pick out 2 vegetables, and again he fell for it. pretty hilarious.we had to climb multiple 2,000 ft. + peaks today, with zero flat stretches! at one of the summits we stopped to check out the view and talk with some members of a military convoy who were stopped there for a break. we could see 3 states- pa, md and wv. the military convoy had left D.C. the day before and it is taking a 26-day journey across the country to San Francisco. lots of people were lined up along us Route 30, the road we've been on for a large portion of PA, to wave to the convoy as it traveled by. we neglected to ask them what exactly the purpose of their journey is, tho, oops.so yea, route 30 thru western PA = masochism on a bike. at the top of a 3,000 foot summit phil's chain snapped, but with no prior experience and very little outside help (but thanks Pa!!!!) he was able to rehabilitate it and get his bike back in working order. however, the delay forced us to give up our initial plan and instead pitch a tent behind a closed store in Jennerstown, PA, still 30 miles outside Greensburg (our original destination) and 60 outside Pittsburgh. it was across the street from a burger king so needless to say we did some damage there. i told phil to write about it on his blog about our search for a green america hhahaha. his blog's url is www.agreenamerica.wordpress.com if you guys wanna check it out.day 17 aka monday aka yesterdayThe hills are alive with the sound of music! And tons of eating! and sweat and grime and burning quads! 60 miles into pittsburgh and we made it!!! our first stop was an ice cream shop called Oh Yeah! and we just sat there for awhile celebrating our arrival in a semi-delirious state. one of the highlights of the day's ride was a 3-mile downhill with a 9% grade the whole way. we were cruisin' at like 40-50mph the whole way and i was just laughing to myself while tears streamed down my face cuz of the wind.now we're couchsurfing with a girl named michelle, who just got into the phD program for chemical engineering at the university of pittsburgh and has a huge exam in a couple of weeks so she's just studying studying studying. we're just hangin' out in pittsburgh on tuesday, takin' the day off woohoo! while phil is getting his bike checked out at a bike shop im baking a cake for his birthday on wednesday... pretty sneaky if i do say so myself.