Thankfully we were able to secure some lodging last night in Carroll for some air conditioning to cool off and take showers, but we had to tent in the backyard due to lack of space in the house. Let's just say that the couple hours of sleep we got in the tents was not sufficient for any of us. It's a good thing it was our only night in tents, or I'd be hauling all of their behinds home! Close confined spaces with no air movement and loads of humidity, a concert that went on until midnight, the trains that rock and rolled through town two blocks away, the highway right next door, and an air mattress that was losing steam is NOT my idea of a good night's sleep.
Ace and Carter wanted to get an early start to try and beat some of the heat, so they were off by 6:45 am.
That left me to tangle with taking down the tents and getting Austin and I on our merry way as quickly as possible. Confession time: I've never taken a tent down completely by myself. Ladies and gentlemen, it wasn't pretty, but it got done. Thank goodness no one else was around to see the spectacle or hear the words coming out of my mouth! Of course, I couldn't get them rolled all tight and neat and put back in their respective packages, so they just got tossed in the back of the van :)
Austin and I showered quickly and headed to meet up with the other two at the midway point, which was Churdan. Thank goodness for a quick and easy way to get there. We only waited for a short time before my Panther guys showed up!
They had a great first half of the ride, and Carter was all smiles when he saw Austin and I. (side note: doesn't he look like his Uncle Nate here? Except, we know Uncle Nate would be wearing Cardinal and Gold!)
We only hung out in Churdan for a little bit because Aaron wanted to get on the road before the heat got too terribly unbearable. This meant my little blonde one wanted two things: soft serve ice cream and shopping! I was able to make one of those requests happen today :)
He must have been on quite the adrenaline rush for our ride to Boone because he was singing at the top of his lungs and dancing along to the radio the entire way. His facial expressions were absolutely hilarious. All of the other drivers on the road can be thankful I didn't try to capture some of them on camera :) My hubby tells me I have enough issues driving with two hands on the wheel.
Since Aaron had made such good time in the morning, I figured Carter and I shouldn't dilly dally too much before getting to Boone and finding a nice shady spot to watch everyone come into town and be ready to meet the guys with cold Gatorade. Well...I could have come home, done some laundry, taken a nap, and went to the grocery store or taken Carter shopping :) Who knew? We hung out in Boone for many, many hours before they finally arrived. I was actually starting to get a little worried that the heat had gotten the best of them. What took so long you say? Apparently Twister Hill near Pilot Mound got the best of everyone! There was a sign somewhere along the hill that said, "You're almost there. Just 1.3 miles to go to the top."
Aaron tells me the pictures don't do it justice, and he's going to drive Carter and I there personally to see the monstrosity that it is! We were just glad they made it safe and sound. Today was the day for the century loop that could be done to make it a 100 mile day, but Aaron said "no way Jose" to that one! Seventy miles was enough for him in one day.
We noticed Johnny T had on his Drake jersey today, so we had to capture the moment of the two Missouri Valley Schools schools, and we even let our little ISU guy in there :) Aaron was saying that he received no grief when wearing his UNI jersey and even got a lot of "go Panthers", but when the ISU colors come out, the trash talk is on with the riders. I always knew the Harvard of the Midwest would get respect someday :)
My favorite part of the day...coming home to sleep in my own bed, which I'm about to go and do! Home sweet home :) We've got an early morning ahead of us to get the crew back over to Boone for an early start.
I'll leave you with a few sights along the way from today.
This last bike just amazes me. I'm going to capture a picture yet of the unicycle guy yet! He's doing the entire ride on a unicycle that he's installed breaks on. These people are simply crazy! Until tomorrow...
Trevor saw the picture of Carter with his ice cream cone in the van and he said "Dad wouldn't let us do that." :) And we all know he's right!!
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