Although we already knew we were incredibly lucky to have been invited to sleep indoors, at the time we just didn't know how lucky we really were. Around midnight, it started to pour rain and it continued right straight through to morning. Everything would have been soaked had we been out in our tent. There was also a good chance our sleeping bags might have gotten a little wet on the outside too since our tent is getting old. As we sat there this morning staring out the window, we just couldn't believe that we were inside and that things worked out this well. We knew it was supposed to rain, but the weather forecast didn't predict it would be here until Jan. 1st last time we checked. Despite waking up to the sound of rain last night, we went back to sleep very happily knowing we were indoors. We slept SO much better last night than we have the past two nights and it was much needed as we were pooped. Since we had such a big meal yesterday and had snacked a little last night, we were not super starving this morning for breakfast. We just had a few snacks and the last of our mini bagels and ham that Beth gave us. Those really did help keep us going for a few days. We dreaded going outside, since the rain would not let up, but knew that we had to at some point. Since we slept in and really took our time this morning (since we didn't have to rush to get riding so we would be a little warmer like we have to do when we are in our tent), it ended up being after 10 before we left this morning. Once we had everything, we left the wonderful warmth of the fellowship hall, locked the door behind us, and were out ready to face the cold and rain. The parking lot was a bit flooded from the relentless rain and so were some sections of the sidewalk, which we opted to take for a little bit to avoid riding on the busier road with the cars and all of the spray they threw up. We rode on some narrow country roads before getting to the next little suburb of Tulsa, Jenks. By that time, even though we had only gone 7 miles, we were frozen to the bone. It didn't take long for the rain to soak us and the cold upper 30's weather was brutal since we were soaked. Toes were numb and legs were colder than they normally are. As we were waiting at a stoplight about to cross a bridge over a river, a nice guy got out of his car in the pouring rain to see if we wanted a cup of hot tea and a place to take a little break and warm up. He owns a nutrition store that has all kinds of wonderful hot teas and shakes. We were only a couple blocks from his store, and a cup of hot tea sounded wonderful. So, we turned around and followed him to his shop. When we got there, the ladies that were working there made each of us a nice cup of hot tea. Joey had strawberry kiwi and I had raspberry lemonade. They were awesome! One of the best things about them is that they are designed to raise your core temperature up by 1 degree, in doing so burning about 200 calories too. With cold weather like this, that helped us warm up nice and quickly. Not to mention they were just so tasty. One of the ladies that was there also wrapped me up in her nice long winter coat, so I warmed up even quicker! We had such a great time chit chatting with them as we enjoyed our tea! Before leaving, they even gave us a few pointers on safer roads to take to get to where we were headed, which was nice. Not only was it a great break filled with wonderful conversation and tea, but because we took that break, we escaped the rain quite a bit. When we were ready to leave, we noticed that the rain had stopped! Now we were starting off nice and warm with no rain! What more could we ask for!? We rode over some rolling hills for a little bit before the road flattened out. At that point, there was also quite a lot of traffic, so we took to the sidewalk for as long as we could. Like the roads near Dallas, there was no room for cyclists, and they have misfit sidewalks that end in random places and vary in widths and quality throughout. Either way, we were much safer on the sidewalk away from all these crazy drivers! I'm pretty sure they don't see a ton of cyclists out here because they don't seem to know how to react to them as they are driving quite as well as other areas we've been in. And I forgot to mention that yesterday on the way into Glenpool, someone thought it would be funny to throw a McDonald's McFlurry cup at Joey. Luckily they missed because had it been full, that would have been quite the mess and would have made him even colder than he already was. I don't really understand some of these drivers; it's a little depressing that people could be so ignorant. This is another place that we are pretty sure we would never want to move. After a couple hours of cycling, we made it to our destination! We were both just SO excited at that point because this is something we've been planning for quite a while now. Our room at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites was waiting for us. The best part is that it was only about 1:30 when we got there, so we still have almost all day to relax and enjoy the hotel. We had early check- in set up and were able to head to our room right when we got there. The girl at the front desk was very accommodating with our bikes as she put us right on the first floor so we didn't have to try to squeeze in the elevator. When we opened the door to our room, we were amazed- it was HUGE. We had just got a normal single bed room with nothing fancy, but ended up with a huge room! It was extra spacious to accomodate a wheel chair, but in our case, was perfect because then we didn't have to feel cramped with our bikes in there. Both of us agreed that we've never seen such a spacious "normal" hotel room!! As if we weren't already excited enough! The first thing we wanted was a hot shower since we were frozen. After that, we just laid there and relaxed for a while before deciding that we were starving from having eaten hardly anything today. All of the restaurants and Target were about a mile and a half away, so that's where we headed. This time- by foot. It felt like a long walk, but anytime you are going somewhere that you've never been before, it always ends up feeling long on the way there for some reason. Our first stop was Applebee's for a NYE/birthday dinner. Since we were so hungry and knew this meal was going to last us the rest of the day too, we ordered the appetizer sampler. Oh how I love Applebee's appetizers. Boneless wings, mozzerella sticks, quesadillas and spinach artichoke dip with tortilla chips! For our entrees, Joey got his usual burger- this time a "Cowboy Burger" and I ordered a fettecini pasta/steak dish that was heavenly. Of course we couldn't leave Applebee's without getting my favorite dessert- a Triple chocolate melt down! Our waitress brought me a cup of ice cream with whipped cream on it for my birthday, too. Although I didn't get the traditional "Happy happy birthday, for Applebee's to you, we wish it was our birthday, so we could party too" song they usually sing, I was totally happy with my ice cream. Maybe the singing thing is just in NY, or maybe they didn't sing because it was a slow part of the day and hardly anyone was there. After our awesome dinner, we made a quick stop at Target to get a couple snacks for New Years Eve since we knew we would get a little hungry by the time midnight rolled around. The walk back to the hotel seemed so fast compared to the way from there. We were back to the room by 5:30, so we had plenty of time to relax, go in the hot tub, and just be vegetables and watch some TV. We looked up the 2012 "year in review" videos online and watched the 2013 "rockin' new years eve celebration in times square" just like we would have done at home. We had a little chance to Skype Joey's family and talk to some family at home to wish them a Happy New Year. At 10 pm central time, the channel with the NYE show on it changed over to the local news. We had to try to find the show on another channel. We found a show in NYC, but it wasn't quite the same. Instead of showing all the music and excitement, there was just a couple people standing their blabbing on about nothing important. But, the most important part- the ball drop, was shown, so that's all that mattered! It is so weird to be an hour difference- that is definitely a first, and probably one of the few times in our lives that we will be in a different time zone for New Years. At one point this evening, we got to talk to Joey's brother Andy in China, and it's been 2013 for 12 hours already. It wasn't as fun as New Years Eve is normally when we are home, but it was still fun since we took the hotel tonight. We had a nice lighter day of 20.08 miles today. Another great day~ I am so glad that they rain came last night and today instead of when it was originally predicted to come. It would have made it REALLY hard to leave the hotel tomorrow if it had happened then instead. Also- having it happen today gave us plenty of time to get our clothes and shoes all dried out over the heater in our room; we will start dry and warm tomorrow! Goodbye to such a fantastic memory filled 2012 and Hello to a continuation of memories and a new start back in Buffalo for 2013!!! Happy New Year Everyone!!