Day 41 - Today could only be described as an adventure as we were diverted from our planned route by flooding and seemed to find ourselves on the set for 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'. Indiana Jones didn't turn up but the scenery did, as we were forced on to tracks which only the very brave would consider tackling. Remarkably, everyone eventually made it the Shenandoah and there were plenty of stories and smiles coming out over the evening meal!
Once again we saw scenes of flooding over many parts of our route as we crossed the Missouri River as we moved from Nebraska into Iowa. We saw flooded property, flooded fields and flooded livelihood as crops and stores were submerged and damaged. To be honest the toughness of today's ride was nothing to the devastation to some of the local farmers.
The other major factors to our ride were the rising temperatures and the hilly nature of the gravel tracks we needed to negotiate to find our way back on to our planned route. To call today a tough ride is an understatement.
Day 42 - Our 'Build Day' in Shenandoah was the cause of some frustration as one property did not proceed and the one that did required relatively little in the way of work. Initially, we postponed our start time due to another torrential downpour and then we made our way to the home. Yes, we did do some minor yard work and fitted two new doors but, for the majority of the team, there was not a great deal to do. By lunchtime, most of the team were filtering back to the church buildings, however, at least we all contributed in some way to improve things for one family. Nevertheless, there was the feeling that today was something of a missed opportunity to impact the local community and reduce poverty housing.