down to 12; Joyce decided to drop out. She's been overtly unhappy
about some things for quite a while -- very homesick, and not able to
sleep well in a tent, being two big ones -- and the scrape with the
truck on Wednesday just put her over the edge. So she stayed behind
this morning to wait for her husband while the rest of us took off.
Too bad. Her riding was getting stronger every day, and I'm pretty
sure, after having my doubts at first, that she could have made it all
the way, physically. But her slow pace meant that she spent way more
time on the road than anyone else, much of it by herself, so lonliness
may have been a factor, too.
We started the day by crossing the Mississippi into MO, en masse for
safety, with the van bringing up the rear (long, 2-lane bridge).
Crossing the Mississipi -- somehow that fact, even more than the 1,200
miles, really makes me feel like we've gone a substantial way across
the country.
Spent the night in a pretty cool place --a former jail converted to a
hostel for bikers, with bunk beds (mattress! clean sheets! pillow!
pillowcase!), showers, A/C, a tv (to watch Mexico v France (me), and
the NBA finals (others)), and washer/dryer. Poached salmon for dinner
(again!), strawberries and ice cream for pudding. Sweet.
I had to bail out of the bunks, though, and put down my sleeping pad
on the hallway floor, due to the AMAZINGLY loud snoring of several of
my bunkmates. Really; I could maybe provide a pale demonstration, but
I can't find the words to describe it. I trained for the biking miles,
but I didn't train for the heat, and I certainly didn't train for the
snoring.
(Sent from my iPhone)
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