Day 10 : A Pretty Lousy Day for Riding...with a Great Lunch in the Middle...

From Dema, KY to Hazard, KY - ~40 miles

Story [in words]:

we awoke at our front yard oasis at 5:30 am. we packed up our gear, ate a couple of our hard-boiled eggs, and were on our bikes by around 6:30 am. as we began riding, it was quite cloudy which left us unsure about what the weather was going to do.

we rode about 17 miles through the towns of pippa passes and mallie, and as we came into hindman, it started to rain. it rained lightly for a couple of minutes, and then it started to pour. luckily, as it started to pour, there was a fairly large fruit and vegetable roadside stand, which had a tent that we were able to ride under as we waited out the rain. we waited under the tent for probably close to an hour, while we tried to decide what we were going to do with the rest of the day (it looked like the type of a day that would be rainy all day).

there was a hostel in the town we were in, but it cost $25/person which is just too steep for us. we began looking ahead on our maps to see if there was a cheap hotel a minimal number of miles ahead. we found a cheap hotel that was about 23 miles ahead. we decided that would be the plan, whether it stopped raining or not, we were going to cover the miles and get to a hotel for the night.

we got back on the road, and it poured for a few minutes, to the point where we were so cold that our teeth were chattering. but before long, the rain subsided and it wasn't too bad for riding. as we were coming into the town of carrie, there was a guy in a truck that passed us unusually slowly. he then pulled into a parking lot of a building just ahead of us on the left...and as we rolled up, he was standing out by the road as if he wanted to say something to us. when we got closer, he said, "there's some good food in here if you want." so we decided to pull in and see what was going on. as we got up to the building, we realized that we were at a community center.

the guy who had invited us in went into the building for just a minute and then he came back out and said, "it's free for you guys...just sign your name and come on in and eat". so we walked in, signed the book, and discovered that we had to be the only people in the place under 65. apparently at this community center, every wednesday they have a home cooked meal for a donation. so we grabbed a huge plate of homecooked food, and sat down with the guy that had invited us in. his name was jimmy slone. awesome guy to say the least...he told joke after joke...and seemed to be very real about his faith as well. man he was a great guy!

we enjoyed our food and conversation, and then got back on the road to get to our motel. as we got back on the road there wasn't rain, but the wind had started picking up, which is also not enjoyable for cycling. then when we were a couple of miles from the motel, the rain started again, and we got poured on one more time.

so, to say the least, we were ready to get inside and dried out by the time that we arrived. it is not a roach motel, but it is certainly nothing fancy. it was low cost, has everything that we need, and even has internet so that we can get caught up on the blog. all in all, not too bad of a deal. and on top of all of that, tonight is so you think you can dance night, and so we will enjoy watching that as we fall asleep! nice change of pace.

i have to be honest...our spirits have not been terribly high lately. we feel like we haven't had the right attitude exactly with the experience and with respect to encountering God and whatnot. we are pretty excited about the fact that being at the motel tonight has allowed us to get our ipods charged up and loaded up with sermons and things and hopefully that will help some.

tomorrow is going to be a big day. the weather looks good. hopefully we can knock out 100 miles which would get us to berea, kentucky...the end of map number 11. another great accomplishment!