We got a late start this morning. Given our weary state from the day before and our wonderful hosts, we weren't too eager to get back on the road. We had a great night with the Monahan's (Kate's Aunt & Uncle). Thank you so much Kate for setting this up for us and thank you Diane & Bill for your warm hospitality. Wonderful home cooking and great conversation is far superior to any 5 star hotel!
While at the Monahan's, Marc stepped on the scale to see how much weight, if any, he had lost thus far. Anybody want to take a guess? Nope, you are all wrong! He gained 3 lbs! And I gained about 5 lbs! What's up with that? So for all of you that said we better beef up as we'll lose lots of weight, you are wrong! I guess I better choose the diet pie from now on. I hope we are both just gaining muscle weight as I don't see any other possibility. We are burning at least 5000 calories a day and only eating around 3000-4000 calories/day. It's a freak of nature I tell you!
Before leaving town we headed to the local bike shop for some supplies. I despirately needed a new pair of biking shoes. My big toe has been killing me for the past 800 miles or so. I thought for sure that my toe nail would have fallen off by now. So, I finally decided to give in a buy a new pair of biking shoes. I got my original pair of Sidi's on ebay for a great deal- but I swear the right shoe was smaller than the left (it can happen - I've seen it before.) Instead of cutting off my toes, which I was seriously considering, I decided to buy a new pair of touring shoes. My feet are so happy now!
We rolled out of Gillette around 11:15 and had great tailwinds to Moorcroft (about 30 miles East.) We stopped for a bit of lunch and I found a nice homemade blueberry pie at the local diner. The Sheriff recommended it ... so how could I say no. It was delicious! I ate it cold and it was very refreshing.
The weather today is perfect. Its about 70 degrees with perfect bluebird skies (not a cloud to be found.) We pedaled on to Devil's Tower which is about 30 miles Northeast of Moorcraft. It was a windy ride with 20 mile/hour crosswinds and some steep climbs in and out of rock rimed canyons.
About 15 miles out of Moorcraft, we turned a corner and I got my first glimpse of Devil's Tower. Wow, its a big rock! I really wasn't expecting much and was pleasantly surprised. (Originally I asked Marc if we could just get a glimpse of it from far away and then ride back to Sundance.) But after seeing the first glance, I was intrigued and wanted to see the rock close up. Its really amazing how such a large rock tower can have formed out of nowhere. It's really flat all around it with a few canyons but nothing like it nearby.
As we approached Devil's Tower, we stopped to take a few photos and discussed our lodging options. Originally, we were either going to ride 10 miles out of our way (20 total when you back track) to Hulett or go back 30 miles to Sundance. I wasn't too excited about either option. Then we noticed a campground area about 100 ft away. They had a restaurant, beer and tent sites! Everything we needed for the night and the best part - $7 for a tent site! This is our first night camping, hope we fare well. We have a tiny tent and two blow-up rafts to sleep on. Oh did I mention that we only have one sleeping bag! We'll unzip it and use it as a cover. We'll see how it goes, this night may be the one that decides whether we camp again or not.
So here I am typing away on Microsoft Works - I'll copy and paste this tomorrow when we have internet service. It looks like we are going to head down to Newcastle, WY tomorrow. It's about a 80 mile ride. I'm excited to go through Sundance. Supposedly the town's claim to fame is that the Sundance Kid was captured there and did time in the local jail. We are now in the real Old West territory!
Thanks again for checking in with us. Sending our love to all of you back home! Missing my dogs, especially after playing with the Monahan's cute boxers. And yes, I'll get the map back up and running soon.
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Both of you must have gained muscle that will happen at the beginning of long rides if you do not have a lot of miles before you started. The only way Jackie and I lost weight is when we were to lazy to bike out of our campsite and missed dinner.
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