St. Louis, MO

I never realized how much I love trees and hills until we biked across southern Illinois where there are none. The wind is absolutely out of control. There were a few times when I could barely break 10 mph going downhill. Riding in the wind in heavy traffic is terrifying, so I was really happy when we got off the roads and onto a bike trail along the Mississippi River today. Tornadoes/ridiculous thunderstorms hit around 2:30. I was riding with Will, Kevin, and Emily when we started seeing lightning across the entire sky and heard sirens going off. We immediately tried to camp out under a carport, but some guy came running over to tell us that the man that lives there is crazy and would probably shoot us, so we kept moving. We found a deserted warehouse that felt like a scene from a horror movie to hide out in until the storm passed. We rode through the rain for the rest of the day, which turned into 73 miles instead of the predicted 63. It was a pretty awesome day. We're staying at UMSL tonight and tomorrow. Anne and Tony are from St. Louis, and their parents provided us with a fantastic pasta dinner tonight and are hosting a pool party tomorrow after our build day. I love parents!