as journaled by Brittany

44 miles

09:45

We’ve just had (or are in the process of having, in some cases) an amazing breakfast after a restfulish night’s sleep. (I’m still mad at Daddy for waking me up.)

We have a long day ahead of us, so we’re trying to get going as early as possible. We might have bad luck there, though–everyone is exhausted still. We’re staying at a friends house again tonight, so we don’t have to get there before it gets dark.

My knee is incredibly stiff today. Eve before I fell on day three I was having problems with how stiff my knees would be after a break, but now that I’ve scraped them up it’s a thousand times worse. Plus, yesterday I fell sideways–when getting on my bike, why can’t I every get a break?–and ended up removing part of the scab. It needs to heal all over again. Sigh.

11:05 

Departure

17:00

David and Caleb locked themselves in the bathroom, so now we’re waiting for Joshua and Mommy to get them out. Lunch has been eaten and packed up, and we’re about to get going on this last 20 mile section.

I like the simplicity of the way we do things now. We carry our essentials on us–clothes, the snacks for the day, kitchen supplies, the tent–and whatever we need for lunch or dinner or to refill on snacks we buy on our way. No room for extra weight.

19:58

Arrival

22:20

We’re staying the night in the basement of another friend’s house, whom, like yesterday, didn’t hesitate to make us dinner and house us for the night.

More and ore as we continue on this trip I learn just how generous people can be. I fell yesterday because we’d stopped to chat with an older man who’d pulled over to check and see whether we needed anything–before he left he gave us two gift cards to a restaurant. This morning we pulled into a bike shop (yet again – soon enough we’re going to be experts in all the bike shops around the lake) to try and fix a problem with the girls’ bike. We found out later that his solution didn’t solve the problem completely, but in the meantime he did it for free. Instances like these? I’m so glad to have the opportunity to experience them.

Well, I’m beat. We have a 42 mile trip tomorrow as well, but we’re going to try to leave earlier so we can arrive at the campground before dusk. Daddy actually told us we had a 42 mile trip today, but it was really 48 miles… the liar.