Day 67-Going Up High

This morning there were some clouds, so the sunrise was a little different than in past days. 

Still kinda pretty though. 

Today’s ups and downs were much more mild than yesterday’s, with the exception of a few 10% grades. There seemed to be much more plateau riding. Long vistas. 

In Hartville, we stopped at a cafe for second breakfast. I had my usual French toast and sausage along with a huge glass of chocolate milk (fortunately the chocolate milk didn’t seem to give me the dairy farts…it’s a risk sometimes…).

Back at it, it was still mostly reasonable ups and downs. There was one downhill that even had a sign (the picture of the truck going down)! That one was awesome! I hit 38.4mph!

Of course, as you can see in the distance, there was the uphill “cost” of the massive downhill (but it wasn’t as steep).

Our next refreshment stop was a convenience store in Bendavis. That, unfortunately, was a bust. I had carried an extra half liter of water, which I ended up using. 

As we were riding along, up ahead I could see this. 

That looks like a fire tower. 

Soon, we were upon it. We pulled off to have a look. 

There was nothing saying one couldn’t go up, so I did. Well, I only went half way (4 flights). I just wanted to get above the trees. 

The view was quite nice. Doug did not climb up. He’s not a fan of heights. 

From there, we had about 10 or so more miles to Houston, Texas (County that is).

Kinda funny that there is a Houston in Texas County. 

At the intersection of Hwy 17 and 63 there were all kinds of services (like the freeway interchange in Marshfield). We stopped at a Casey’s to get our bearings (and those refreshments that Bendavis was supposed to have). We asked a gentleman where Westside Park was. He gave us directions. It’s a good thing, because I would have thought the town proper was the opposite direction of what it is. And, the park itself is not on Google maps (it’s part of the Swimming Pool, which we probably would have figured out).

The pool was closed when we got here, but there are separate showers. Now the pool is open, but we’ve already showered. Now we are waiting for the sun to get low enough  so we can set up our tents in some shade. 

Today was 65 miles with 3400 feet of elevation. Since the beginning of this, our third month on the road, we are averaging 61.9 miles per day! 

Parting shot of one of the many old barns we see daily.