Yesterday started out with fears of closed/flooded roads as big storms had passed the night before and locals were passing along news of road closures. After Dan and I headed out before the first group, we soon learned that roads were fine and that we were back in the land of rolling hills.
At our first lunch, the returning pain in my leg convinced me to make and appointment with an orthopedic doc in KC, which turned out to be smart as I had to van just before second lunch. I was not the happiest to have to quit and have been really down on myself the days that I've had to take care of my leg, but Dan cheered me up by playing in a cornfield with me, and Jay cheered me up with some sweet jams in the car and a cup of coffee at second lunch. Speaking if which, at second lunch there was a really cool bike/coffee hybrid shop in a town that looked otherwise dead. 
We got to the host and learned of an alarm that would go off if we came in or left after 9, so we embraced the possibilities of going stir crazy and watched Almost Famous and Space Jam while many played cards. It was a good reenergizing evening.
Today, I woke up 4 times before finally allowing myself to get up at 8:30 (my body really has gotten used to this early schedule. Since I had a doc appt in town, I took up the role of shuttle driver for the day. We checked out a local bike shop and then headed into town to drop off some folks, pick up mail, detour to REI, and suddenly it was time to be at the doc. I was 15 minutes late, but they were super helpful and understanding when I looked really frazzled coming in (I got really lost).
I was calmed down by cheesy/inspiring quotes that Natalie (boss/friend) sent, as well as free coffee at the doc office. The doc took X-rays and pictures and tested my range of motion and asked countless questions. I learned that I have a tear in my calf , close to my knee. It's something that will remain painful throughout the trip, but isn't detrimental to keep biking on. Only forceful injuries could make it worse, so after fatigue-ing it out on a bike I should be more careful walking/limit walk/run related activities and get it re-checked when I return to real life where walking sometimes will matter more than biking. But for now- we ride! 
I finally started my day off after the doc let me go close to 4:30. I picked up some folks and we went to meet the rest of the team at the World War I Memorial Park. It was huge and a tad mind blowing. I fell asleep on the lawn in front of the pillar while awaiting teammates with BBQ. Half the team then went to a baseball game, and many of us returned to host to play pool, ping pong, and watch Toy Story. The security guard was kind enough to offer to disarm the alarm from 11:30-11:45 for those who wanted to stay out late. My nap convinced me that I should probably take the opportunity to sleep.
Tomorrow is our next build day! Woohoo!
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