The First Night

So, eventually the tornado passed and the rain slowed to a light mist.  Thankfully, one of the bike mechanics on the team was nice enough to put my bike back together.  I was still majorly shell-shocked and trying my best to internalize my anxiety. Katie knew a few people on the team from the year before, including her brother, so our tiny group left camp and walked to the downtown expo.

It was really cool, although downtown Glenwood consisted of not much more than a clock, a bank, and a bar.  There were, however, dozens and dozens of local food vendors lining the square.  There was also a stage with a karaoke-sounding (at best) 80's cover band.  Katie and I immediately went for the grilled corn stand which was probably my favorite thing that I ate during the entire trip!  (And we ate some awesome stuff!)  It was sweet, and juicy, and better than any corn I'd eaten in my entire life. Amazing!

We left early, all of us pretty edgy about the start of the ride in the morning (Me, possibly on the verge of fashioning a noose out of my bicycle chain.) so we could get a good night's sleep.  In theory, camping always sounds kinda cool.  Earthy. Outdoorsy. One with nature-y.  But in reality, it always sucks.  The insane heat, questionable wildlife noises, bugs, a constantly damp pillow and sleeping bag, falling asleep in a pool of your own sweat, the slight slant of the hard ground... not to mention, having to pee in the middle of the night.

Our team (70 people) was given use of the host family's basement bathroom, which meant a huge backup of people in line for the potty. This bathroom could have been off the set of 'That 70's Show'.  Brown walls, reddish-brown shag carpeting, and a toilet in an oversized sectioning-off of the basement. I snuck out of my tent and up to the house so many times during the middle of that night, just so I could sit on the bathroom floor, and try and cool off in the air-conditioning.  I was way too nervous and too hot to sleep.

Sitting on the bathroom floor, I wanted to cry.  I was over this shit.  Where the hell was I?  Who's house was this?  (Are they murderers?)  How did I get here?  How is this my life right now?  Why did I think this was a good idea?  I had actually put myself in this position and paid lots of money to get myself to this point - this bathroom - in Bumfuck, Iowa.  I was dumbfounded.  Every minute seemed like an hour.  I missed my babies.  I wanted to go home.