Mitchell to Dayville

Day 11. 43 miles. No rain, no Maine...er, Virginia.

The appetite is growing, I ate 2 breakfasts today. First breakfast was a big chocolate muffin and coffee, and second breakfast was 2 large ice cream pancakes and 2 eggs with a hot chocolate. Yes, I said ice cream pancakes. Instead of using milk in the batter, they use vanilla ice cream. Yum! That's good biker food.

We battled rain and pockets of  headwinds allllll day. I thought the rain would make me a miserable sob, but it was very bearable, surprisingly. Not that I particularly liked biking in the rain, but I tolerated it very well.

Ross, Bob and I took a 2 mile detour to see the John Day Fossil Beds. On the way up to the visitor center, we were sandwiched between a few thousand feet of striped rock and sandstone-looking walls. The formations were unreal. Our country sure is magical; at times, I felt like I was on another planet.

We watched a 20 minute video about the fossil beds, and my head bobbed for most of it; apparently I was totally wiped out and in need of a nap. I still have no idea who John Day was. 

Dayville is another miniature town with a population of just over 100. There's 2 camping options, a general store/gas station that also makes doughy pizza, and a post office. I am loving these neat little towns with one-stop shops. 

I spoke to Kelly tonight, and she's rather pissed I never gave her a shout out. So, here's your 30 seconds of fame (you asked for it, muah ha ha):

For picture day in the third grade, Kelly's mom wanted her to wear an itchy wool sweater. Kelly has sensitive skin that revolts against wool, but Joyce insisted she wear the sweater. After Kelly protested, Joyce dumped some baby powder down the itch-inducer, put a nice slap mark across her face, and made her go outside to "cool off"; the slap mark is visible in her school photo. This will always be my favorite picture of Kelly, because the story makes me giggle like a third grader.

Sorry Kel :)