Today I got up at 6:20. I went to the bathroom and changed into my riding clothes. The weather called for rain. I think if I was by myself I would have taken another day off. The hostel was a really nice place to recuperate and rest up. It felt amazing to sleep in a real bed for two days. Today we had to do a big push to make up for taking yesterday off. We planned for 86 miles and if we felt good another 20 to get to Summerville. Then I remembered that Marks wife was going to meet us at the end of the day. She offered to carry our panniers in the camper. For the last couple of days I toyed with the idea that this was cheating and I should carry my bags the whole way. However one glance at the elevation profile and I immediately changed my mind. The Ozarks were in full swing and it really did look like a roller coaster ride. I reluctantly put my panniers with everyone else’s: in the camper. We rode about 3 miles and the stopped at yet another McDonald’s. I had cracked and order a breakfast sandwich. I downloaded the McDonald’s app and since I ordered a sandwich I got a free McCafe. I’ve never had one before so I got a caramel mocha. I couldn’t taste any coffee in it but I thought it was pretty good. Good enough that I would probably order it again. After 5 minutes of finishing it my heart started beating faster than normal. Boy was I wired! It probably didn’t help that before we left I also ate an awake granola bar which has enough caffeine equivalent to 1/2 cup of coffee. I couldn’t sit down and began to pace around McDonald’s. Finally we left. The first 17 miles were easy. Probably cuz I didn’t have any gear. We stopped at a gas station and decided to regroup 30 miles down the road in centerville. We stopped at a shack that sold food. We ordered milkshakes and took a break. Soon it started to rain. It wasn’t down pouring but it didn’t look like it would stop anytime soon so we headed out in rain. I kinda like riding in the rain because it means the sun isn’t out and it’s probably not that hot. I pulled ahead and stayed close to Brent. Soon the others faded away. After a while something happened. For a time I felt as if nothing existed. Just me and my bike. The rain didn’t phase me. The bumpy road didn’t matter. I’ve sometimes felt this way when doing geology work but today was more than that. I felt so at peace. It finally hit me that I was biking across The United States. One of my dreams was being fulfilled in that very moment. Even though we biked 86 miles through the Ozarks and the rain I truly enjoyed being out here. From there I rode 44 miles without stopping. I only stopped to take a picture when crossing over the Current River bridge. We could see people canoeing below and waved. From there it was only 12 miles to Eminence Mo. It was pretty easy to get enough speed to coast over the uphills. Suddenly something hit me just below my left ear. A sharp pain blossomed under my ear and I shrieked and jammed on my breaks. I reached up to discover a bee was stuck in my helmet strap. I pulled it free and flung it away. My ear felt like it was on fire but there was nothing I could do I continued. During last 5 miles the sun came out and it turned muggy. Everytime I stopped to take a break gnats would swarm around me. Soon I just powered through and busted out the last few miles so I could be done. Brent and I arrived first so we walked over to a mart and got icies. Mine turned my mouth blue. Soon everyone else arrived and we debated to push on to Summerville which was another 20 miles. No one could decide what to do so we headed over to the dairy bar to get some ice cream. I got a hot fudge sundae that was more whipped cream than ice cream. No one wanted to be that person that said they didn’t want to do another 20 miles. We couldn’t come to a decision and it started getting late so we called it quits for the day. Since we didn’t look up anywhere to stay we all got on our phones to search a place. I found a campground but they only had RV rentals left. It was too expensive so the search continued. Evan found a motel down the road so everyone (except Marks family since they were staying in their motorhome) went down the road. The motel had showers and laundry so it was nice to clean off after getting drenched all day. I called my parents while Evan and newcomer Nelson showered. There was only one bed so we drew straws on who would sleep on the floor. I got lucky and got the longest straw! I felt kinda guilty as we split the cost evenly. Oh well. 
After showering and putting in our laundry Marks family invited us to dinner. They had a cookout with hotdogs, chips, cantaloupe, Blue Moon, and donuts. It was really nice of them to cook us dinner. Soon it got dark and started to rain. We headed back down the road to the motel because Mark’s family was staying in the town park. As we were riding back someone started shooting off fireworks. They didn’t last long though. When we got back I wanted to finish writing but we ended up talking about awkward icebreakers and aliens. We decided to meet at the coffee shop next to the motel at 7:45.

Today’s musical selections:

Top 200 hits of the 2000s