Total Distance: 548.05 miles
Average speed: 8.6 miles/ hr
Time on bike: 5 hrs and 52 min
Since we loved the group from Georgia so much we decided to sleep in and stay for breakfast! They probably think we're beasts because we ate so much but it was so delicious! We got on the road around 9:20am and it was already scorching hot! The overall high today was 95 degrees!! Thank God for sunscreen!
Today we cycled through what looked like some rough neighborhoods and very poor areas of the country. I understand why the church group from Georgia was on a missions trip in these areas.
It also seemed like we were chased by every dog in the state of Kentucky! We were warned about wild dogs in this area, we are prepared with dog spray, but it was like we crossed the border and all hell broke loose when it came to the dogs!!
Late in the afternoon we were passing a group of people under a pavilion and they yelled up to us as we passed by "hey do you want a hamburger"! Well... you know we never pass up an offer of food so we cycled down to them and introduced ourselves! They fixed us up with a huge plate of fruit salad, pasta salad, etc. It turns out they were having a family reunion and had a lot of extra food that no one wanted to take home!! We talked with them for a long time and even signed their family reunion book! I've personally never crashed a family reunion before, but it sure was a lot of fun, great company and we got some really great food out of it! Thanks!!!
I did a lot of thinking on my ride today and I honestly can't believe how much my view of life has changed since the start of this trip. I have learned to appreciate so many things such as running water, electricity, air conditioning, friendly dogs, and most importantly friendly people! It's so easy to watch the news, see all the terrible things happening in the world, and just get discouraged. How can you not think badly of the human race when you see the destruction and devastation shown on the news? Cycling through the country has restored my faith in humans as a whole. we have met so many kind, friendly people, something you don't hear about on the news! These people deserve all your prayers and blessings tonight because these are the people that make us hope for a better future. I feel so lucky to have had these experiences so far and I only can hope for more to come!
Mary and Joe
PS Mom, I'm still alive.