Today started out just like the last ones - uphill! That's the problem with staying near lakes and rivers. You almost always are down in a valley and have to climb out. It took us two good climbs anf 8 miles to get out of camp. When we got to the top, the Hilltop Gas & Grocery was there with a convenience store and grill. That was just the ticket - they made a good cheeseburger!
I've talked some about all the climbing, but it seems like so much more during the day. Especially as the days and miles pile up in your legs. We have had more hike-a-bike than we would like, but it hasn't been anything we couldn't do. Once the grades get above about 9% it is very diffucult to peddle uphill, even with the low gears we have.
We rerouted ourselves again today. When planning a route, you only know what you can see on Google satellite view. But when you actually get there and see the road conditions, many times you can find a better option for the route. As we go each day we look at what our options are and then make a change if it seems better.
It turned out that US Highway 65 was a better option than some of the backroads. The backroads were very curvy and steep, and sometimes had limited sight lines. US 65 still had plenty of climbs, but the grades were lower (5 - 6%, instead of 9%+). The climbs were longer on US 65 but with the lower grades there was no hike-a-bike. Win-win!
We are staying at a very nice KOA campground and had the luxury of laundry available tonight. Normally, I wash my riding clothes in the shower and hang them to dry. It has been so dewy at night that nothing has dried and I've had to tie them on top of my tent bag to dry while riding each day. Since there are only 3 more riding days, now everything is clean and I don't have to do any shower laundry the rest of the trip!
I again forgot to take a picture of camp - it's just one of those trips!
We have had amazing weather so far. We wake up to clear blue skies. We haven't even seen any clouds these first four days. It is still warm during the day - somewhere in the mid-80's - and cools down to the low 50's overnight.
We decided to order dinner from the local Italian restaurant tonight and have it delivered through DoorDash. It took over an hour to get our food because DoorDash's website was screwing up. Even though it was only warm when it got to us, we were so hungry it didn't matter! It was gone in minutes.
We'll see what tomorrow brings. For now, it's time for bed!
Shady break area on the side of a church. Only thing we'd seen for miles.
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