Day 53 (7/24): Terra Haute, IN; 80 Miles

Woke up at 6 am to the smells of a hot breakfast being brought in by the catering company…good stuff. Got all packed up then enjoyed some a meal with the Rotary Club once more…had to be sure we were out by 7 though before their meeting started! Sat once again with Vicki…who was nice enough to mail off some postcards for me.

Ridin through the rest of Illinois wasn’t half bad…enjoyed some great scenes of the heartland of America…classic middle America farm action. Before long we were pulling into the stomping grounds of our very own Ezra McCalment: Indiana State University. Did a small arrival right in the middle of campus where some chapter brothers and university representatives were waiting for us…had some snacks and drinks while Ezra did a little introduction for the team. Nearby was a ground level fountain you could run through (apparently a favorite spot of drunk passers-by at night) so obviously I had to run through it (even scored me some media pics and an interview for being the “fun” guy on the team - no one else wanted to get wet, wusses). Pretty high on myself there for a hot second until realizing we had to get back on the bikes to ride over to lodging (not fun with a soaking wet chamois under your butt).

Zipped over to lodging at Dr. Steve Pontius’s house - a professor at the school and Pi Kapp alum. Super nice house, actually converted from an old Lamda Chi chapter house that got disbanded. Apparently last year there was a little snafoo when the team left a wet towel on the banister, so Steve advised us to be on our best behavior (this house was waaay too nice for us to be staying there). I lodged up in one of the guest rooms, and after a shower in the bathroom with a window looking into the other room (somewhat awkward) I snagged a quick nap.

Dinner was a friendship visit at the awesomely-named “Happiness Bag” organization…a day programs and education/work assistance service provider. Talk about a huge party: there must have been over 50 friends there…which was awesome because we danced up a storm!! I sat with Dorris to eat dinner, who told me she had just finished up her associates degree and was going to start taking classes at Indiana State in Information Technology, total sweetheart. Brought Dorris out to the dance floor for a little bit, but also snuck in some hip hop dancing with the shy Brittany, and a lovely slowly dance (with the number 3 move!) with Kelly. Awesome awesome visit…everyone really gets out of their comfort zones at these dances and lets loose.

Back at lodging we had the rest of the night off and got changed up to experience a night in the life of EZ E. His chapter bros threw a little shindig at one of their houses, which was a lot of fun. Ez and I dominated at the pong table…after Chad tried to kick it into high gear Over the Top style (“when I turn my hat around…it’s like a switch”). Made a late-night food run over to Rally’s which hit the spot, then quietly tip-toed our way back into the house to grab some shut-eye. Pretty good town ya got here, E!