Mileage: 55 miles, 83 miles
Terrain: Rolling Hills to Hilly
Temperature: 80 ish degrees
So we finally left Sebree at about 1:30 pm when the rain subsided and the sun began to shine! It turned out to be a beautiful ride with many rolling hills and lots of horses along the way. We had our first rest stop at about 20ish miles had a snack and moved on. Then we came to a little town in Marion, KY and saw the trailer pulled over at a gas station which was our second rest stop. One of the locals that own a café in this restaurant offered to treat us all to dinner since it was about 5:00 by this time. He thought what we were doing was really neat. The food was great!! Probably some of the best food that we have had on the trip so far. So we had dinner there and knowing that we only had 12 miles to the ferry and Cave in Rock we ate up!! We then left Marion to make the last leg of the trip and it was very fast rolling and mostly downhill due to going down the river bank of the Ohio River. Took the ferry to the other side and camped at Cave in Rock National Park in Illinois. The ferry ride was rather short about 5 minutes or so but still a fun experience. By the time we got to camp it was about 8:00ish and we still had to set up our tents and it was getting dark and the bugs were eating me alive! So I hurried to set my tent up as it was past my bed time, went to the shower house, got a shower which was warm however, it was rather dark in the shower house but I made it work. I then crawled in my tent and went to sleep rather quickly as I was very tired. However, it was a very long night as I must have not set up my tent on very flat ground so my sleeping mat kept sliding to the side of my tent. I think my entire tent etc was slowly sliding down the small hill. I then woke up at about 5:00 am when it started to thunder and become very windy and my tent started really blowing. At this time I went in the trailer and decided it was time to stake my tent down. The wind really started blowing and my stakes shortly were pulled out of the ground. I decided that at this time to just get everything packed up and sit in the restroom. So packed everything in my tent up brought it to the trailer and put it away and then when I went back to tear down my tent, it was gone!! It had blown down the hill and it was still dark out!! So with my head lamp on I headed down the hill and soon found it rather far away. By this time it was pouring down rain, so I grabbed my tent and sailed it back to the trailer, tore it down and went to the restroom. Some of the other riders where there as well, however, none of them had the tent blowing away experience that I did. Waited out the storm and then took off around 8:30 am knowing that we had a fairly long day with 83 miles and hills. It was in my book one of the toughest days as I had not gotten much sleep the night before and it was very hot out. We had some sprinkles of rain throughout the day and we even stopped at a restaurant about 25 miles from Carbondale, IL to get something to eat. They were offering cyclist a free desert. So I took them up and had a piece of coconut cream pie…mmmmmm. We finally arrived at Carbondale, IL after passing two beautiful lakes and are staying at one of the riders from last year, house. They had a small pool set up for us and it was cold water, it felt amazing to jump in. They had lots of food for everyone and everyone just chilled out and had a good time. Everyone chose to sleep inside in the air conditioning and throw their mats on the floor. I slept very well as I was exhausted!! Slept until about 8:30 am had a bite to eat and we are all now just chilling out. We have to be ready at 11:00 am to do our service project of a yard makeover for someone with MS. It is a very hot day thus far!
OMG, your tent story is so scary! I would have been scared to go into the trees to get it :/ Good thing we spent so much time shopping for head lamps (and I thought you would never use it)! At least you get two nights of air conditioning - enjoy it! And just think, in less than a week, you'll be in Kansas!! Love ya.
ReplyDeleteOmg, head lamp is a life saver!! I even used it in the shower it was soo dark!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you found your tent back. Sounds like the place you stayed (with AC)was just at the right time so that you were able to catch up on some sleep. It is so neat that people along the way (complete strangers) offer you meals, etc. Lots of good people in this world. As Renee said, you will be in Kansas in less than a week. That ought to be interesting out in the middle of the prairie lands. At least there shouldn't be a lot of traffic or too many big hills. Take it all in. Such a great experience! Helene
ReplyDeletewow, Julie, I feel your pain. I hope the tent survived the tumbling, no snags or breaks. Sounds as if you recovered good, sleep-wise, as well.
ReplyDeleteAt this time, GOBA is going on, and they are staying 2 days in Delaware, where I work out of. This is their 2nd day. From there, the riders go to London. I wish I were, but I am not riding this event.
Keep those blogs coming!! Very enjoyable reads!