Day 27 & 28

We finally made it into North Dakota today and it was a beautiful thing.
So, about the plans we've been making...it's kind of a long story, but I'll tell it anyway.
For those of you that have been following our blog, you know about the trouble I've had with my knees for the last few weeks. This last week, we decreased our mileage, took extra rest days and ibuprofen in hopes of curing the problem. As we rested yesterday, we devised a plan to hop on the Amtrak and get enough ahead in our mileage that we could take our average daily riding from 70 to 50 miles for the remainder of the trip. 
However, when we began riding this morning my knees were in complete agony after only 3 miles. The road was flat, there was no wind and I was having trouble just trying to maintain 7 mph. When we took our first break it was clear that decreasing our mileage wasn't going to solve the problem. With heavy hearts, we reluctantly made the decision to end our trip early and go home to let my knees recover.
I cried for the next 10 miles (partly from pain) grieving the loss of this dream. For the rest of the ride I begged the Lord to redeem the situation. We purchased our train tickets and arranged for some really dear friends to pick us up in Winona, MN and we even called my parents to let them know that we weren't going to be able to finish the trip. Definitely a heartbreaking day.
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Day 28
We couldn't sleep last night as thoughts of having to give up plagued our minds. We ate breakfast and as I was in the middle of writing a blog to let everyone know of our regrettable decision, Mark looked at me and said, "I don't think we're making the right choice. I don't feel peace in my heart about it." One thing that both of us have learned over the last few years is that Jesus is the Prince of Peace and if we don't feel His peace in regards to one of our decisions, He most likely has something way better in mind.
My wise husband informed me of his idea and here it is: We'll still take our train to Rochester so that we can get my knees checked out. Then, we're going to drop off my bike and pick up our car. For the rest of the trip I will be Mark's "sagwagon" or support vehicle while he continues our ride. I'll carry his gear and set up our campsites and meet him at 15 mile checkpoints to see if he needs anything. Then, if in a few days or week, my knees have recovered, we will take turns driving and riding Mark's bike (good thing we're similar in height).
This isn't what we originally wanted or had planned, but it's important to us that we stay committed and finish what we started. After a year of planning, preparing and training, we feel that this is a better option than just quitting and giving up the whole dream. 
We hope that we haven't let anyone down or disappointed you. This isn't quite as adventurous or extreme as the original plan, but we feel like it's the wisest option available to us. And trust me, no one is as disappointed as I am that I can't finish the trip as planned.
So, we'll arrive in Rochester tomorrow (Saturday) morning and will make the necessary adjustments and get my knees checked out. Then we'll get back on the road Monday or Tuesday to continue along our journey.
After a stressful week of not knowing how to proceed, we finally feel peace and joy and the Lord's blessing. We're excited that having a car will allow us more opportunity to be flexible and possibly even enjoy some of the more touristy things along the way. We'll most likely finish a little earlier than planned as well.
I'll keep the blog updated once we begin again and will even be able to post some pictures from here on out.
Thanks again for your support. We ask again for your continued prayers as we will still possibly encounter our fair share of difficulties along the way.