Yes, that's right - there was a bit of a miscommunication and the six of us did a 16 mile detour...ugh, so much for it being s short day! It wasn't until we had all stopped and wondered why no one had passed us (we were riding at a leisurely pace that morning) that we realized we had missed a turn. The good news is, the "scenic" route we took in our adventure, was breathtaking. I would totally do it again, if for nothing else other than the views.
Unbelievable...
Riding into Green River you were hit with the sense that not too much is going on here. Most of the buildings were vacant and dilapidated, there were not any stores, a lot of the road was dirt. Let's just say, not exactly what your next vacation destination...When we arrived at the host, we were greeted by a few Americorps fellows who were incredibly enthusiastic and awesome.
The Americorps fellows work for the community center here in Green River, which is appropriately called "The EpiCenter." I kid you not, this place is the epicenter. At the center, the Americorps volunteers host after school programs, are actively rehab-ing and rebuilding buildings downtown, run an affordable housing program, are implementing community programs to help spur on the local economy, have a free food and delivery program for the elderly, the list is seemingly never-ending. There are about 8 (or so) of them that are doing all of this, and I am pretty sure they are all younger than 30. Almost single handedly, they are seemingly saving Green River.
They gave us a walking tour of Green River and provided us with some information of the history and where the town stands as of today.
An interesting point that was noted on the tour is the fact that Green River is one of four Amtrak stops in Utah. Now, if you were traveling through Utah and stopped to get a night's sleep or something, you would assume that there would be maybe a hotel, restaurant, maybe a place to rent a car, right? I would. However, this is not the case. When you get off the train there, you are essentially staring at what looks like to be an old ghost town from the mid 1800's. It is really crazy.
And that is where Americorps kids have stepped in. There is so much potential here for economic growth and development, and yet no one is really doing anything about it. The building of the new EpiCenter downtown will help the community with their own projects, but will also serve as a kind of information center for people getting off of the Amtrak in GR.
I was sparked by a sense of re-inspiration in Moab, and our experiences here in Green River have just doubled that. Again, real people, young people, getting things done and truly changing the world. The impact these people are having on this community is immeasurable. It is not an experience I will ever forget.
So in other news, to fight our soon to be boredom and frustration while riding in Nevada (think highway 50 "loneliest highway in America" for 6 days) we have decided that we will have a Bike & Build prom. Joel has headed up the prom committee, and truly has a vision as how this will all go down. It is not to be missed...
The first prom related event took place while we were in Green River...A series of personal challenges to determine who would be on the prom committee. The event was short lived as Drew unfortunately had quite a crash trying to our granny gear everyone else. He is fine, but his front wheel is not...haha
Later that evening we had some Granny Gear races to determine who would be on prom committee. The things you do after 50+ days on the road...
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