Day 41: Arlington, VA

**FLASH**

Check out the GIANT photo album update...

My apologies for the quantity and confusion - I thought it better to get it all out there.

And now for the news... We made it to Arlington, VA! We've had a few days off so far to let the legs rest and minds recuperate...

Day 32 was Marshfield. We stayed at YET another city pool, and rocked the local Chinesefood All-You-Can-Eat-Buffet. A truck almost ran over Johnny's head on the way there - his gears gave out climbing a hill and he almost fell into the other lane. Very uncool. We slept in a horse pavilion. We knew this because there were a lot of flies. I slept in the area designated for ponies I think.

We spent Day 33 in Ash Grove, MO at the city park. Another pool, but we didn't rock this one as hard. I think we were tired. We caught a lot of rays and made a GIANT BBQ dinner including but not limited to chicken, corn and Boston Creme Cake. Johnny and Daveyray were kept awake the better part of the night by a barking dog and wild parties thrown by the local youth. The funny part was that Jonathan and I didn't hear a thing.

Day 34 was Pittsburg, KS. It was a BIG relief to see some flat stretches of land after the Ozarks. We stopped at Cooky's to get some lunch and eat some pie. The pie was very good. We ate a lot of pie. The bike shop was also really cool, and agreed to hang onto our bikes while we goofed off in the DC metro area. Bike Adventures in Pittsburg if you ever cross the country on one of the contraptions. Ask for Joe.

My friend Ed came and picked us up in Pittsburg. We treated him to Chicken Annie's Chicken Annex, family style. It was a little scary watching us eat.

Day 35-38 was Tulsa, where the Banas family spoiled us rotten and caused us to secretly agree to stop the bike trip and stay at their house forever. Just kidding. Thanks to the Banas family for treating us like KINGS for four days!

Day 38-41 we've been in Falls Church/Arlington, VA. Lots of wedding stuff for our friend Reade, trying to acclimate to the hustle and bustle going on around us. I love my friends, but I gotta say I miss the peace and quiet and simplicity of being on the bike. I was surprised how much I missed it actually. In an hour I need to put on a tuxedo which will be the most clothing I've worn in an entire month. Not looking forward to it.

Day 42 (tomorrow) - Back to Pittsburg, and then Monday it's back to the road!

Just a note: we've been reading the comments on the web site, and enjoying them IMMENSELY! Thanks again for the encouragement, the cajoling, the emails, the laughs and thoughts. They are great, we read them every chance we get and talk about them amongst ourselves. We feel more supported and loved than we ever thought we would, and it's all thanks to YOU!

Also coming soon... A Day in the Life...

Day 32: Hartville, MO

A short update:  we received EIGHT (8) packages in Graff, MO!  Patsy the post office lady was a little overwhelmed but enjoyed our enthusiasm as we cracked open package after package and tried to figure out how to strap them to our bikes.  We ate a lot stuff there at the post office to save weight - smart, huh? 

Thank you SO much for all the letters, power bars, toilet paper, encouragement and reading materials.  We were really touched, thanks for sharing in our adventure.  It means a lot.

If you feel left out, you can STILL be a part of the fun!

The next pickup will be Guffey, Colorado on August 14, 2004.

Address should look like this -

General Delivery
c/o Ryan Hartford
Guffey Post Office, Colorado  80820

Looking forward to seeing some of you soon in Virginia!

Day 31: Houston, MO

We've crossed the Mississippi, we're more than 1/3 done with our trip, and our facial hair is longer than ever.  This is a memorable post... let me take you back...

FIRST A NOTE:  There will be more mail pick-ups posted after we get back from Northern Virginia.  The Guys on Bikes will be taking a temporary hiatus from Jul 29-Aug 1, but we'll resume Aug 2 and the shenanigans will resume.  Keep an eye out for a boatload of pictures to tide you over for those four days.  Favorite power bar/clif bar flavors are chocolate chip, carrot cake, and cookies and cream.

Back to the action...

We had a great night in CarbonVILLE.  We ate at an outdoor bar and grill called Booby's (yes) and tried to order some sandwiches.  Wouldn't you know it, the cash register wasn't working... so the obvious solution is that everything is free.  It was a little bit unbelievable, but the people who worked there said that because we were on a bike trip everything was free.  We went back and got more food and drinks later and those were free too.  They even tried to refund us for the one meal we actually HAD paid for before the cash register broke.

Our new friend Chris paid for the meal in another way, it seems - he was really sick the next morning when we were heading out to Chester, IL.  He stayed at the motel and we said goodbye.  We hope he's alright if he's out there reading this!  We got a picture of all the Guysonbikes and him in his boxers which we'll probably post up here when we can.  He was groggy and didn't realize what was happening.  Watch out when you run into the Guys!

PS - Don't get a reuben sandwich at Booby's in CarbonVILLE.

What followed was a REALLY REALLY slow start.  We headed the wrong way out of town to find a post office... we put together a "care" package of all the things we didn't care about and wanted to send home - cd players, extra shaving kits, toenail clippers, things that you just don't need on the road.  So Daveyray had a giant box strapped to his BOB.  (See the bob website  if you don't know what a BOB is yet).  Needless to say, we saw Panera on the way to the post office and it was all over.  We sat down to a baker's dozen of bagels and chowed down.  We met a fellow named Curtis and his family at Panera, who I must say reminded me a great deal of Jeff Bridges.  We chatted for a bit about the trip, and passed him and his family on the way out.  He called out "Keep praying" as we walked away, and I hollered back "We pray all day!"  We got to our bikes, said a prayer before we headed out for the day, and just as we were about to leave Curtis walked over to us and asked if he could pray for us.  How could we say no?  It was yet another great blessing, and there were a lot more for the day.

We actually made it to the post office, but almost never left.  Daveyray took about 5 minutes to mail the package, but while he was inside we chatted with Ann and Carolyn about our trip.  Carolyn took pictures of us and Ann explained that she was the president of the local bike club.  I'm not sure exactly how Ann and Carolyn knew each other - let's just say Carbonville is a magical place.  We took some final photos, met a few more people and shook some more hands at the post office, and were on our way again.

We got three miles out of town when Flattyray got another davey tire.  We were sweltering in the heat, angrily putting a new tube in and looking at the clock - 11:30 - when we saw another cross country traveler on the other side of the highway.  Jonathan was the first to recognize that it was Ann from the Post Office!  Her story was that when she didn't pass us on the way home from the post office, she came out looking for us on her bike.  I think we all know that she was an angel sent by God himself to share her pool and cold sodas.  I'm not kidding - we got a flat tire about 500 yards from her house, and we really did go swimming.  It was a good lesson in letting God work.  We were all tempted to get on the road and not get an even later start in the day, but Ann and her husband Ken were such a blessing letting us swim, gave us sodas, offered us lunch, clean towels, the works...  we turned down lunch as it was getting ridiculous, but they suggested a place in the next town to eat.  They sent us on our way refreshed.  The most interesting part of the story is that if Daveyray hadn't gotten a flat tire so close to the turnoff for Ann's house, we would have ridden right past and she would have come out looking for us a few minutes too late - heading the wrong way down the highway.  God can use a flat tire if He wants to.

We had an AWESOME lunch in Murphysboro at the 17th Street Bar and Grill, where we met Roger and Linda.  Though Roger had never done a cross country bike ride, he certainly knew everything there was to know about bike touring.  We shared a couple of booths with them at the restaurant, and they paid for the better part of our meal when we were done.  As if that weren't enough, they sent us on our way with fresh peaches from local orchards. 

Chester welcomed us with the coolest pool we'd ever seen (yes, we swam more on Day 27 than we biked).  Johnny of course had the kids doing double gainers and what-have-you off the high dive.  It was a great time.  We ate all the food in Chester, took pictures with all the Popeye paraphernalia (the founder of Popeye is from Chester and they take it VERY serously- pictures forthcoming), and the next morning crossed the Mississippi into Missouri.  It really sunk in that we've ridden a LONG way from home.

Day 28 started with crossing the Mississississippi and ended in Farmington, where I went to a bike shop to get some work done on my wheel.  They told us to come back later, so we headed over to Cece's Pizza Buffet and got all-you-can-eat for $4.99.  We told three other cross country bike dudes to join us, and between the seven of us probably affected the stock market with the amount of food we ate.  Johnny and Daveyray played a lot of video games.  We were like little kids at Cece's and loved it.

We stayed in Farmington with the biggest group of Transamers we've seen yet.  There were three OTHER dudes heading west, Brad and DeeDee and John, and another gal named Heidi.  We all hung out in the pavilion and were about to go to bed when the local kids showed up and started playing semi professional soccer under the lights.  Apparently that's the thing to do in Missouri.  We still had no trouble falling asleep.

Day 29 was a LONG ride to Eminence.  We got up really early (early enough to impress the other bikers in Farmington, which was a good feeling) and were 45 miles into our day's ride by lunchtime.  Around mile 70 of 88, Johnny said "Ozarks, Schmozarks!"  A crack of lightning came from the sky, and mountains rose up all around us.  At least that's what it felt like - the last 18 miles into Eminence were really tough.  I would tell you how tough but I blacked out.  I came to at a dairy bar in Eminence, the guys were force feeding me a swirled medium sized soft ice cream cone.

We were a little ragged around the edges when we finally around at Harvey's Circle B Campground/Canoe Rental/Tubing palace.  The road was a piece of work - after 88 miles of mountains, we had to navigate up the steepest climb of the day and basically walk our bikes over a half mile of gravel.  Luckily we had decided at lunch to take the next day off and go tubing.   Dinner that night was a little crazy - we hitched a ride into town (yes mom, hitching is cool in Missouri) and TRIED to eat at a place called Winfields.  Unfortunately, the food truck wasn't due in until the next morning so they were out of EVERYTHING.  This was surprising, as this was before the Guys On Bikes had gotten there and not after.  We tried to order about 3 different entrees, and when they told us they were completely out of appetizers we politely had to leave.  I mean, COME ON!

We went to the orchard and waited two solid hours on the best pork chops we've had in a long time.  It was almost 10:30 by the time we left, but we had a good time chilling afterwards.  I will say that it was a little tense sitting with three other HUNGRY dudes who were on their second restaurant after the longest ride of the trip.  I thought they were going to kill me and eat me.  I admit, the same thought passed through my mind about them.

Day 30 was as awesome as the previous day was tough.  We lounged for most of the morning, did some laundry, gambled with the quarter machine at the laundromat, ate a GIGANTIC lunch - they had super everything burgers - and then got a ride out to the river.  The ride was absolutely perfect, from the crazy start to the fun canoers passing us to the cliff jumping to the lounging for hours when the river slowed down.  It was just what we needed to revitalize, and the river was fed by a spring so it was COLD and refreshing.  After we got out it was probably slightly... polluted.  We bumped into our friend George again in Eminence, and he camped out with us in Dan's Pavilion at Circle B.  Johnny made the best sloppy joe's I've ever had in my life.  Sorry ma, camp food is good.  I promise I will never say anything like that about your spaghetti sauce.

Day 31 was today.  A short ride from Eminence to Houston, finishing off the last of the Schmozarks.  We actually made it into town for lunch, which was a second.  I would say first, but we did it in Sebree.  We arrived in town around 12:30 and were swimming in the public pool shortly after.  The Guys on Bikes are gaining quite a repertoire of diving feats - double front flips, can openers, flying squirrels and half gainers are the big crowd pleasers.  Johnny gained enough time on us on the ride to climb a fire tower and take some pictures of us from not-so-far-away.  Ok, we're really far on the horizon and you can barely see us, but they should look really cool.  He also got the speed record on the downhill from Farmington to Eminence.  I've also learned not to ask Johnny about other stuff we should put in the weblog...

We ate at a really cool Pine Inn Cafe in Houston this afternoon (service is TOP NOTCH, second only to Jordan from the Soda Fountain on Day 10), and more swimming is on the schedule.  See you at the pool!

Day 26: CarbonVILLE, IL

Greetings from CarbonVILLE, Illinoise!  It's supposed to be Carbondale, but Johnny started calling it Carbonville and now we all call it that.  The people here are very nice and don't even try to correct us.
 
As usual, something has happened since our last entry.  Also as usual, the mean librarians of Carbondale won't let me post pictures.  I promised I would edit them... no go.
 
So we left off with Day 23 in Sebree, KY.  After our update, we hung out with probably all of the local kids in Sebree.  We hung out in STYLE.  They brought over a big screen projector and video games, we ordered pizza and swam in the pool at midnight and watched DVDs on the big screen.  That goes to show those naysayers that we really are acclimating to the outdoor life.
 
That evening was a tornado warning, and we watched some serious thunderheads build up and winds blow everywhere.  It was exciting to watch the townspeople show up at the church - apparently the safest place in town in a storm (aren't you glad, moms?).
 
Matt, Steven and Brandon all slept over the church and stayed over for some now infamous Daveyray Pancakes in the morning.  Thank you Stephanie for supplying all the pancake stuff - about 15 seconds after mentioning pancakes, she brought over mix, syrup, the works.  We reluctantly left Sebree and said goodbye to our new friends.  Thanks to Chelsea for letting us pee in her pool.  I mean swim. 
 
Day 24 we made it to Cave in Rock, IL - our first day in Illinois!  We crossed the ferry for free (they still have free stuff in the US, pretty unbelievable) and said goodbye to Kentucky.  Cave in Rock is a nifty little... town?... with a grand ol' opry that is about to open soon, according to the sign that looks about 50 years old.  The campground there is immaculate - more like a golf course.  The people at the campground were friendly bordering on ridiculous.  Our neighbors were Bear and Melinda, a couple who are full time ministers to the biker community.  NOT the cross country biker community, though they did minister to us with some incredible ribs they shared.  They travel the country attending bike rallies and sharing the gospel.  They are currently #1 in the running for greatest job ever.  Another neighbor whose name we didn't even catch brought over bananas and oranges in the morning for breakfast.  Why did he do that?  Someone out there is overpraying.   Keep it up.
 
The next morning was Day 25, and we started it by checking out the Cave where Cave in Rock gets its name.  We took some great pictures and listened to people make up stories about how it was a pirate cave and how there was a bar in the back and how people were murdered there... let's be honest, it's a big hole in a rock.  Still very cool, but that's all it is.
 
We ended up in Fyrne Clyffe Campground, apparentlye an olde englysh playce.  Of course we got lost in the campground and had to climb up a giant hill to find our campsite - no less than two cars made a point of stopping and telling us how to find our compatriot George, who was lounging in his hammock.  We must have looked pretty miserable, they practically drove beside us and pointed out the way.  More friendly folks at this campground - Neil and Daryl who shared some stories and made fun of us for a while.  It was another fun night, though Daveyray and Ryan tried to sleep out and ended up getting eaten by mesquitos.  Johnny really wanted us to put that on the website.
 
Today is day 26 and we made it a short day to CarbonVILLE.  We got in early and hit up the bike shop, internet, and plan on exploring Carbonville for the rest of the day.  We met another biker, Chris, who WAS heading the other way towards the East Coast until we convinced him to hang out with us in Carbonville.  Somehow our lethargy is contagious.  It used to be enthusiasm once...
 
Today Johnny tried to take a picture with these crazy bulls with giant horns but he got too close to the fence... he got out of the way just in time.   Thought you might like to know, Johnny's Mom.
 
Until next time...
 
 
 
 

UPDATED: Day 23: Sebree, KY

I'm sitting here with Spencer and Brandon- Spencer was nice enough to let me use his computer to update our web site! So far Sebree has treated us like kings... but let me catch you up first.

Day 19 we rode from Berea, KY to Chimney Rock Campground. The campground had a pool that we made good use of.

Day 20 was from Chimney Rock to Bardstown. We stopped in at the bike shop in Bardstown, KY and got a tune up. We stayed at My Old Kentucky Home State Park Campground and received a shipment of replacement bike tires. Oh the maintenance. We met George Rickard, a fellow biker who has been with us since. This is his second Transamerican Tour.

Day 21 we headed to Hodgenville and stayed in the city park. We saw Lincoln's birthplace, which was surprisingly small.

Day 22 was to Rough River Dam, possibly the smelliest place we've ever stayed. There was something horribly wrong, and we didn't stick around to find out what it was. It stunk. The beach on the lake was GREAT though, and we spent some time swimming around in Rough River Lake. We never found out if it was a river or a lake. It WAS rough.

Day 23 was yesterday, to Utica Fire Station. We stayed in the firehouse which was PLUSH. AC, cable TV, the works. We hung out with a bunch folks in Utica and had a blast. On the way we picked up our packages in Fordsville... 
 
*UPDATE* The folks in Utica, Vicki and Kim and Angel and the whole crew at the Food Mart already sent us an email and wished us luck and how we made their town better.  I made up the last part, but they did send us an email.  Thank you UTICA and all the people there for a KICKING good time!  We'll stop in next time we're in town!  Angel actually said I had a cute butt, but I think it was the spandex that kept it from looking flabby.  Either way, thank you Angel for the compliment.

THANK YOU! It was quite possibly the most exciting moment of the trip to date, we definitely got a picture with the staff of the post office and some random people who happened to be passing by. We ate most of everything there in the parking lot and strapped the rest to our bikes.

Today we chugged a short two hours to Sebree, where we are staying at the 1st Baptist Church. Even plusher. They have a huge downstairs youth group area with basketball thingies and a big TV and DVD player. Oh this is living.

Sorry to make it short, but I don't want to take up too much time on the "information superhighway". Don't worry, pictures are forthcoming and will be worth the wait.

Day 18: Berea, Kentucky

As Johnny would say, I can't WAIT to eat some Kentucky Fried Mario's Pizza. We made it to Kentucky on Monday morning, and it's been treating us real well... here's the skinny.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you want to send stuff, here are some options:

Power Bars

Clif Bars

Trail Mix

Beef Jerky

Cash (small bills)

Cookies

US Gov't Bonds

Homebaked goods (not spinach dip, too soggy)

Bubble gum

Candy bars (for energy?)

Love notes

Day 14 was another long day - the wheels from Fuji arrived and Ian and his staff took a look at them and trued them up (that's shop talk for adjusting all the spokes). We had a giant birthday celebration at Virginia Heights and they sang to yours truly (Ryan) and brought out a killer birthday cake Johnny and Jody from Treehuggers made. It was THE GREATEST. We headed back to Treehugger's, packed up for hours and finally hit the road at 4:30pm just as the rain just started to fall. It was a short but grueling ride out to Cripple Creek Campground, where there was NOTHING awaiting us but a weekend fishing lodge. Ouch. We headed a long ways back to Rural Retreat and met up with Sara, Jonathan's girlfriend. Rural Retreat seemed like a nice place, but really dark. It was late.

Thanks again to all the friends we made in Wytheville - we especially had a good time on Friday, when Jonathan and I made some friends with the summer daycamp kids and played volleyball for a while. One of the guys who ran the program was Gary - we recognized him from a stoplight earlier in the day. While walking around town, he pulled up next to us and the following conversation ensued -

"Riding cross country?"



"Heading west?"



"Bike trouble?"



"Ian working on 'em?"



"You'll be here three days."



The light turned green and he took off waving, amidst the sound of laughter.

At the day camp he proceeded to name precisely how long our trip had taken, that our problem had to do with our wheels and where we started from. Wytheville is a small town.

Johnny made some of the same friends later on at the pool. He and Eric (the guy from Treehuggers I mentioned earlier) headed out there and met some of the same little kids we played volleyball with (again, smnall town). He taught them some fun games and great dives and was offered the position of pool manager which he firmly but gracefully turned down.

Day 15 Sara drove the support vehicle and we rode unloaded. Even without our trailers, it was a rough ride from Rural Retreat to Elk Garden Hostel, run by the United Methodist Church there. Pastor Paul was the coolest, we had the whole run of the church. Sara cooked up Jess Allen's pasta salad recipe (it's ok if you don't know who Jess Allen is, just know she makes a great pasta salad). We slept in the sanctuary, careful to wake up before the parishioners on Sunday morning.

Day 16 we rode out to the Breaks, a state park on the Virginia/Kentucky border. We met a dude named Ralph who has been traveling the country coast to coast for the last couple years. And we thought we were cool. Ralph, Johnny and I attended the country music show, at which we were the only three people not related to someone else in the audience. The rest of the gang hiked around the Breaks. Sara left the next day, and we missed her terribly for a lot of reasons. Sara - you rock!

Day 17 We rode from the Breaks to Buckhorn Lake and then jumped in it. It was simply fantastic. Then we went and grabbed burgers at the local Dairy Bar (a Kentucky thing?) and played with all the little kids - again all related. They let us ride their quad, and Daveyray popped a sweet side wheelie by accident. He also changed his shorts when we got back to the campground. Johnny told the kids to call Daveyray "Doctor" and Jonathan "Shoobeedoo". I need a nickname. We went to sleep during a fearsome lightning storm, which was made even more scary when sleeping in a plastic bag with holes in it. (aka TENT). I got a new speed record - 52mph. We noticed there is a warning on the trailers not to take them above 25mph, but the sticker was upside-down.

Day 18 was today, a double day. We put the ride to Irvine together with the ride to Berea and pumped out a heady 77 miles. The ride was GORGEOUS, and we were spurred on by the promise of Mario's allyoucaneat Pizza Buffet. Jonathan had our first spill of the trip - bloody elbow and knee (awesome gory pictures forthcoming) but the bike and the rest of him were fine. We were all very proud to hang out with such a tough dude - people looked with a lot of respect and just a little curiosity at the bloody guy in spandex. Along the way we met a couple, Matt and Laurie, who are running/biking across the country. We thought we were intense - Matt is running 30+ miles every day while his wife bikes alongside. He pushes a baby carriage full of water and pretzels with socks drying on top (a very familiar sight to a TransAmer). We were VERY excited to cheer them on, and talked to them for a bit. We were slightly embarassed about how long it took to catch them once we saw them, and how we pulled into the gas station while still in sight to drink many bottles of Gatorade. I think they understood.

Day 13: Here We Are in Wytheville...

As you can imagine, a lot has happened since Lexington. Most of it in the last couple days. Let me walk you through it...

First, a review. Here's a picture from us arriving in Lexington amidst fireworks and cheers of adulation (we're starting to feel like heros).



Day 9 was a sweet ride out to Troutville, where we were given free reign of the Troutville Park and treated like kings.



We ate steak for the third night in a row, for those moms out there who are worried about undernourished cyclists. We met Cecil and Brianna and Kyle who kept us entertained. We shared a lot of marshmallows.

Day 10 was to Christiansburg, which ended up being a long ride out to the interstate campground. We got a good picture passing under a neat looking bridge on the way.



It lived up to its name - we were tenting very close to a highway and a dumpster. For all the lack of charm, we still had a great time and DaveyRay cooked up some of his mom's now famous Beef and Dumplings. We met Jordan on the way there - the best waiter we've had the whole trip.



Day 11 was where things started to get really interesting. On our way to Wytheville (if you notice that we're still in Wytheville on Day 13, you are very observant - read on) we met Junior, a man for the last 800+ days has been walking the New River Trail and sharing the Gospel. We were very inspired.



DaveyRay also broke a spoke on the way - not too surprising since we'd heard it happened to a lot of riders going cross country. But in the last stages of the ride, as it's starting to rain, three of my (Ryan's) spokes pop-pop-popped about 2 miles from the Wytheville KOA. We asked for a local bike shop and they recommended Tree Huggers a few miles away. The owners, Ian and Jody, came out in their XTerra to check out the damage. They whisked ALL of our rear wheels out to their bike shop, saying that these wheels shouldn't be breaking with only 500 miles on them. The next day was a cacophony of hitching a ride from Jean at the KOA to the bike shop (for four guys, four crippled bikes and trailers), hanging out at the bike shop all day, calling Fuji about warranties, trying to fix the bikes, dogs everywhere, meeting up with the Ponds (my friends from NJ), going to the opening of Chicago here in Wytheville at the end of the day (we didn't watch the show, but we ARE cultured!) and crashing at Ian's, Jody's, and Eric's for the night. Eric works at the bike shop too. It was a big, happy, confusing, mess with a happy ending. Fuji is RIGHT NOW overnighting us three new UPGRADED wheels to replace the ones that started breaking, and a fourth high quality racing wheel just for the heck of it (they couldn't find a fourth wheel so they threw in one that would look cool).



A HUGE thanks to all the people of Wytheville who have helped us - Jean for giving us a ride from the KoA, Ian and Jody for tons of bike help and letting us crash for the night, Holly from the Virginia Heights restaurant for giving us a ride to New River Adventures, Eric who works at Tree Hugger for letting more of us crash for the night and all the other good folks of Wytheville. I think the Guys on Bikes have been a little stunned and grateful for all the incredible hospitality we've experienced.

...And just when you thought there couldn't be any more, here are some follow-up photos we haven't had a chance to post.

Our first day at the Atlantic (Virginia Beach)



Camping with the Bible Study guys in Tye River Gap.



Whitehall with Dick, who let us use the Community Center and was an all around great guy.



PS Today is my (Ryan's) birthday - please see "How To Send Us a Package" for more information.