Friday, June 28, 2013

Day 23 - June 26, 2013 - Falls of Rough, KY to Utica, KY

Mileage - 48
Total mileage - 708.8

We knew the first part of today was going to be very hilly, and it really was!  We walked up a few of the first hills we couldn't power up, and neither of us were really feeling up to par this morning.  We struggled through though, and I think we may have asked a few times if we had woken up back in Virginia again!

It's hard to read, but it says "Husband".  Wonder where "Wife" has to live?  :)

Just outside of Fordsville, we passed a cyclist going Eastbound who was from Beijing, China!  And we were stopped in the middle of a hill putting on sunscreen (see mom, we do wear it!), we saw three more cyclists pedaling up the hill!  The first was Sam, who we met on our very first day in Yorktown, and he was with two British cyclists, a man and a woman.  We talked for a bit, discussed our plans to stay in Utica for the evening due to approaching storms, and said our temporary goodbyes as they pedaled on.

We got about halfway into our day, and stopped for a cold drink at a grocery store in Whitesville, KY.  We sat in the shade for a bit, enjoying a drink and a banana, and talked about how we were making decent time.  It's always a mistake to do that...  And today was the first time I had experienced my sweat drying into a fine layer of salt on my skin!



We only had 20 miles left.  But of course, those 20 miles were painful!  We walked a few hills, but quite a few less than we would have had to in the beginning.  We finally arrived at the top of the last hill, and were thrilled to see that the volunteer  fire department that doubles as a hostel for cyclists was at the bottom of that hill!we arrived to find the trio we saw before, and one more cyclist already there and showered.  We quickly followed suit, and chatted about our respective trips.  We had some laughs, and it was good to spend some time with people experiencing the same things we are everyday!



Later that evening, as we were all preparing for bed, the tornado alarm went off, and it wasn't long before about 8 members of the local community were piling in to the fire station, as it is their storm shelter!  It was a bit before 9 when that happened, and some of us tried to sleep, while Andy and Alex from the UK enjoyed a rarely seen lightning storm!



About 20 minutes later, the warning was canceled and everyone left.  But...about 15 minutes after that, the alarm was back on, and even more people piled into the fire station!  Mel was feeling pretty horrible all evening, so she was trying to rest, and this wasn't helping!

Later on, around 1am, I was finally dozing off, when I felt something on my collarbone through my shirt.  I pulled it off, and it was a tick!  Gross!  I had to get up again and find a paper towel so I could smash the little bugger...ugh.  A tick bite is second only to a snake bite on my list of horrible occurrences, so it totally grossed me out that the damn thing had bitten me.  So of course, the rest of the night was spent feeling like I was covered in ticks, dreaming about being covered in ticks, and generally sleeping horribly.  Mel was up sick most of the night (food poisoning), so it was a rough one, to say the least!


Here's Badtz hanging out on a fire truck! Having a fantastic adventure!  (And I haven't lost him yet! :) )

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