03 June 2012

Hindman to Booneville KY 64 miles  (TransAm 704)

Arriving at tonight’s campsite behind the Booneville church, Gina is ecstatic. Her outer voice says to Paul:

“Wow, that is so nice that my tent is already set up!”

Scanning the area around her, her inner voice starts its own conversation:

“Huh, that’s interesting, Ollie’s tent isn’t set up, and today is his 71st birthday so they probably should have pitched his first …”

“Huh, neither is anyone else’s tent … “

“Huh, this is odd …”

The wheels are turning but not yet fully engaged.

Then, in her outer voice:

“Paul, who is that random girl standing next to my tent?”

To which Paul replies:

“Uh, that’s another camper. There are other cyclists camping here.”

Back the truck up, you mean my tent isn’t really set up? Sadly, no, Gina. That REI tent belongs to another touring cyclist from the other Washington … DC that is.

Clearly it’s been a long day in the saddle. Luckily for the other campers with the REI tent, they didn’t come back from the honey bucket and find Gina laid out inside.

Today’s ride? To use Gina’s verbatim description:

Just another day biking in Southeastern Kentucky. More rain (morning), more heat (afternoon 85), more hills (several), more yard sales, more poverty, and more dogs.

I bet there were also more pickup trucks.