Dear Friends,

It is so great to be writing again. We have had quite the adventure since our last post. With the help Of Brian Levine (Noah's cousin,) we made it up the Sierra Mountains. As it turns out, we both ran out of water climbing the stretch of the Sierras from Pollock Pines to route 88! As it was roughly a 22 mile stretch, Noah made it near to the end before running out out of water, as I myself was less fortunate. As I ran out around mile fifteen, I was forced to salvage half full bottles of water from the roadside and mixed the warm water with snow from the peaks. Incredibly refreshing! Luckily by the time we both reached the end, Brian, who works for the Forest Service in the area, was working an overtime day and was glad to replenish our diminished water supplies and spirits with bottled water, Gatorade, and a friendly face. It was a day that challenged us physically, mentally, and geographically. By the way, make sure you show your love for the Forest Service. They do great work, we know!

By the time we hit the summit of the Sierra's we felt extremely accomplished (Carson Pass is at roughly 8500+). The Sierras provided us with some beautiful vistas and scenic landscapes, which we posed proudly in front of of course. We then made our descent down the mountain and stayed at the Silver lake Campground which, was situated right on a flowing set of river rapids. We took showers in the river, killed as many mosquito's as possible, sucked down some rice, and went to bed with a sense of satisfaction and contentment.

After days of biking, we were finally rewarded with our first State change! We exited the foothills of California's Sierras and entered the foothills of Nevada's rolling hills. We spent our first night in Carson City (the State Capital if you didn't know), and admired the many gas stations and car dealerships that seemed to dominate Nevada cities. Nothing special. We didn't gamble, and haven't been to any strip clubs....yet! (honest) From there we headed East to Fallon with newly purchased camel backs filled to the brim with the worst gas station water you can imagine. It is incredible how good bad water tastes sometimes though. It must have been almost 100 degrees that day with the Nevada heat consuming us and our two wheelers. The majority of our route in Nevada follows route 50-what Life Magazine, nearly 20 years ago dubbed, "The loneliest Road in America". Even well over a hundred miles into the over 400 mile stretch, it is apparent to us how and why the road received such a dubious distinction. In order to attempt to break the monotony we busted out my little radio and jammed to Reno's Soft Rock station while playing geography games to pass the time. Watch out for us on the road, we are a bunch of wild guys. Our next night in Nevada found us at one of the few and far between stops on route 50 called Cold Spring Station. They cooked us a nice dinner and we met an interesting military family as we finished dinner. When we were eating dinner the wife (grandmother) farted at the table loud enough so a high school boy in the locker room would have even gotten a couple of high fives. There was a brief moment of silence as Noah and I exchanged awkward glances as if to ask one another if what had just happened really happened since they both continued conversing like nothing really had happened.

As we write, we are recent (and proud) survivors of our first snow storm (Spring squall) on this trek in Austin, Nevada. Can you believe it? Snow in Nevada? We thought we were going to work on our tans! Anyways, we got caught at about 7,300 feet in a brutal snow storm and for the second time on this trip needed to be "rescued" by local law enforcement! Ah the benefits of a college education. The Sheriff of the town came and got us and brought us down to a motel. It is here in Austin where we are taking our first day off and letting the snow pass us by.

In the coming days, we will venture into Utah and make our way into Colorado to take on the Rockies! More stories to come, much love to all!!

John & Noah---aka SAUl