Rescued

We left the Buckhorn campground and were grinding up a climb within the first mile. Nice to get them out of the way though. We are on our way to rolling farmland soon. Our first stop of the day was in a place called Booneville where we were hoping to stock up on groceries. It was the only town for the day listed with full services. We pulled into what you might call the shopping district and it was a ghost town. The grocery store is not open on Sundays in Kentucky. Great. We started to contemplate using the stove throughout the day to eat what we had originally planned for dinners in the days ahead. Luckily we were just on the outskirts of town. We pushed a little farther and there was a gas station open. I was pretty low on food so I had to buy a bunch of granola bars at inflated prices. Bogus. But we did snatch internet from them and managed to get a blog post up.

Feeling a bit sluggish, and now firmly weighted with the always-nutritious gas mart food, we went on. We're starting to meet more touring cyclists now. Today it was two guys, one older and one younger. They were both headed East. The older gentleman had ridden as far as Kentucky and then had his wife drive SAG wagon for him. We were told you cannot bring enough water on the Western Express portion of the ride. (Colorado, Utah, Nevada)

There weren't many services along the route today so it was a treat to be offered some water by a guy hanging out in his front yard with his wife and daughter. He had just gotten out of jail and wasn't shy about discussing his house arrest, ankle bracelet and all. Strangely enough, he had an Iphone. Technology is wild. Anyway, he gave us the word on a few landmarks and a bridge that we might watch out for. We started down a descent and were stopped on the flats by two girls who offered us bottled water and some brief conversation. Awesome. I like to believe it's because we're so handsome and not because we look so pathetic and mangy.

So we found that bridge and jumped off it into the water below. We checked the depth before the first jump, of course. Although we had to pretty strenuously tell Adam that he was not jumping before somebody checked for tree stumps to be impaled upon. We took some photos and declared it a real Mark Twain kind of deal. We spent a while there but the whole thing was energizing. We pushed on. Then the rain came. It always comes in the late afternoons around here. At first it was light and we thought we might escape unscathed, untrue. It got bad. Real bad. Blow you off the road bad. Couldn't see in front of you bad. Despair, big time. We were about ten miles out from Berea, Kentucky and a stay at a bike co-op with some dude named Eagle. Who was apparently moving out the same day we were supposed to arrive, but that information was not public at the time.

We got to a junction in the highway and were trying to decide what to do when a guy drove up in his car and invited us to back to his house down the road to dry out. We turned around and accepted the invitation and were essentially rescued by David and Sarah. They offered us tea, and pizza, and towels and we were trying to sort out the last few miles when they invited us to stay the evening at their home. It was so tremendously generous. Sarah cooked us a spaghetti dinner and was accommodating as well for the dietary choices in the group. We talked about travel and the places we had both been and the backpacking trips David and Sarah had gone on together. Their first real date was a backpacking trip. Righteous. We took showers and did laundry and were so grateful to be inside and dry. The hospitality was unreal. Thank you David and Sarah. And let's not forget their two-year-old daughter Ava. She was a real crackup. She brought us all of her toys, and we played peek-a-boo, and slapped high fives and had a fantastic time.

We took some group photos and then went off to bed. And when I say bed I mean a real bed. Unreal. Thanks so much to the Mashburns. We owe you a lot.

Buckhorn campground.

Not the real bridge.

The real bridge.

The water is fine.

Jeremy takes flight.

Thank you so much to the Mashburns.