64 miles from Bowling Green to Avery. The day started out fantastically with a
great breakfast from Waffle House! For anyone familiar with this establishment,
this was by far the cleanest and most homogenized location I've ever seen and
also the furthest north. There's hope that Mpls will have one some day! Jake, I
didn't get the hashbrowns (they have about 8 ways to get them: chopped, chunked,
diced, topped, etc.) - opted for a double waffle, instead.
No rain and moderate winds made for 13-14 mph riding up until Fremont, then the
rain hit us until Clyde, where we blogged at a very cool library and had a bite
to eat while figuring out how far we could make it today. After lunch, the
weather took a turn for the worse (heavier rain and 15-25 mph winds out of the
NE) so we set our sites on Avery, 15 miles short of our original destination.
About 2 miles from town, we crossed some very slick RR tracks and the Badger had
a little mishap, resulting in some minor road rash on her right knee and a mild
jamming of her right shoulder. A nice man stopped to make sure we were OK,
offered a ride into town, and then insisted on following us with his flashers on
to make sure we got to our motel. In classic Badger form, Laura rejected the
offer of a ride, as she didn't want to have to come back and do that section
over again tomorrow! Now that's the kind of determination that's going to get us
to Maine, after all!
In case anyone's keeping track, we've now been rained on for all or parts of 8
straight days and have endured unfavorable winds for 9 straight days.
Morale has been pretty low and it's getting harder to cope with the obstacles
lately. We've passed many historical sights in the past few days, but haven't
stopped to enjoy them due to weather and the need to press on. On the positive
side, we've seen gas prices as low as $2.44/gallon so America's unquenchable
need for its automobiles seems to have won out again.
Priuses seem to be decreasing in number as we head East, but we hold out hope
that the New England states will finish with a flourish!
