Ann: So my name is Ann, and together with Feline, we are cycling the TransAmerica Trail. We started in Yorktown, Virginia, and we're cycling to Astoria, Oregon. We're planning to take four months in total to do the entire trip.

Misty: Wow. Four months?

Feline: Yes! Sometimes people do it a lot faster, but we really like to take our time and explore and see everything that America has to offer.

Misty: Are you camping along the way or staying in hotels? Or a little of both?

Ann: Both. We're camping and staying at churches quite a lot. They open their doors for cyclists, so that's really nice.

Misty: Do you know them on the route already?

Feline: Yeah. We bought a map where the route is already set—next year will actually be the 50th anniversary of the trail for cyclists. On the map, you can see things along the way like hot springs or other spots to visit. It also marks churches, motels, and places where you can stay. Everything is kind of mapped out, but you can still choose where to go and where to stay.

Misty: How interesting.

Abdalrahim: Is this your first time in the U.S.?

Feline: For me, it's the first time.

Ann: I came here last year for work—that was the only time I had been here. But traveling for so long is super different than working.

Misty: For sure. When did you guys start this trip?

Ann: Second of May.

Misty: Oh, so you’ve been going for a while. How many miles per day do you cycle, usually?

Ann: The plan was an average of 50, but we do more.

Misty: Fifty miles a day?

Ann: Yes.

Misty: Wow. Does it go quickly? How long does it take?

Ann: Like a work day, a whole day. We start at 7:30 in the morning mostly, and then we arrive in the afternoon, maybe around 3. It depends—if we have to climb, if the wind is good or bad, if there are nice cafés or things we want to see along the way.

Abdalrahim: When did you arrive in Wyoming?

Misty: At which point did you enter?

Feline: We arrived yesterday in Wyoming. We came from Walden to Saratoga.

Misty: So, Colorado?

Feline: Yes. Walden, Colorado to Saratoga. It’s our first day in Wyoming.

Misty: Oh, welcome.

Feline: Thank you.

Misty: What were your impressions from along that route? It’s quite pretty, I would imagine.

Ann: It’s very beautiful. What we both really love is that you’re cycling through these big, prairie-like fields with the mountains in the background. When you look around, you see a lot of animals—deer, coyotes. We actually saw some coyotes yesterday. I didn’t fall on my whole trip until yesterday. I was looking around so much that I didn’t pay attention and fell off the road—like nine feet down.

Misty: Oh no!

Ann: I went over the handlebar. It was pretty scary.

Misty: That’s a great Wyoming story.

Ann: Yeah. Luckily nothing happened. Just some scratches. That’s how beautiful Wyoming is—we were only looking around, not at the road!

Misty: That’s great. Did you have any ideas about what Wyoming would be like? Even in America, people have stereotypes about Wyoming—cowboys and all that. Did you have any ideas before coming?

Feline: Mostly Grand Teton.

Misty: Oh, you want to see the Tetons?

Feline: Yeah. My boyfriend loves them. He’s super jealous. That’s what I knew about Wyoming.

Misty: That mountain range. For sure.

Ann: I think when we started this trip, we were both really looking forward to the West. Once you hit Colorado and the Rockies—we just couldn’t wait to get there. It feels so weird to be here because we’ve crossed five or six states already to get to Wyoming. We've seen quite a lot, and now we're here—it feels amazing.

Misty: Why were you looking forward to seeing the West?

Feline: Because the landscape is more spectacular than the East, I think.

Ann: And it’s just a thing that’s in your head—you think, “Yeah, that area should be pretty.” The Rockies are so well known.

Feline: Also, it feels like a big accomplishment that we made it all the way here. We went through the Appalachian Mountains, the Ozarks...

Ann: Kansas, even—with all the winds!

Feline: So it feels like a big achievement to have made it this far.

Misty: Where do you go next?

Feline: Montana.

Misty: Are you going to the Tetons?

Feline: Yeah. Oh sorry, I was thinking in states.

Ann: Tetons and Yellowstone National Park are probably our two big highlights from now on. Then we go to Montana, all the way up to Missoula, then back down to Idaho, Oregon, and finally to Astoria on the West Coast.

Misty: Astoria is very pretty.

Feline: Yeah, we’ve heard!

Misty: Where will you be in Idaho? Coeur d’Alene maybe?

Feline: No clue yet. We take it five days at a time—five days ahead and that’s it.

Misty: What’s your next town in Wyoming?

Feline: Rawlins.

Ann: So for us, that’s now a short day—like 45 miles. Then we go to Jeffrey City, and then to Lander.

Misty: Celebrate the 4th of July?

Feline: Yeah, we’re thinking about it.

Misty: There are some nice art galleries in Lander. There’s a good art scene.

Feline: Oh, nice!

Misty: And from Lander, where do you go?

Feline: Dubois... or, I don’t know how you say it?

Misty: That’s how I would love people to say it—Du Bois. But it’s actually “Dubois.”

Ann: We thought it was French! Du Bois sounds so much nicer.

Feline: Then we kind of hit the lake near Grand Teton. We still have to figure out where we’re going and which hikes we want to do.

Abdalrahim: So when are you leaving Saratoga?

Feline: Tomorrow.

Abdalrahim: Tomorrow. Do you have any plans for the rest of the day?

Ann: We visited the hot springs this morning.

Abdalrahim: That’s cool.

Feline: It was really nice.

Ann: I’ve actually never been to a hot spring—this was my first time.

Misty: Cool timing after your fall.

Ann: That’s why we went! I think my muscles were really enjoying it.

Abdalrahim: I’ve been there once, but couldn’t try the really, really hot one.

Feline: The lobster pool?

Abdalrahim: Yeah, the lobster! Did you try it?

Ann: No, we couldn’t even get in the other ones.

Feline: We did, but it was tough.

Abdalrahim: Especially in the summer—it’s more difficult than in winter. I went there in the winter. It was awesome.

Ann: That was nice. And for the rest of today, it's just nice to stroll around. There are cute little boutiques and shops. We always try to collect stickers from every state we go through—we put them on our bike fenders.

Feline: We were on a mission—trying to find a sticker!

Ann: We found some nice ones. Now we’re just trying to soak it all in. Then we’ll make decisions and buy the stickers.

Note: The transcript above has been condensed from its original audio recording to improve the flow and readability of the story.