Day Twenty-four (59.3 miles, 1024.0 total): Lizards and Shakes!

My eyes slowly open, still groggy and not ready to get up. Bill is walking around the room and I practically flip out of bed. My watch read 8:00AM and Bill said he just woke up too. We had planned on getting up at 6:00AM but that didn't happen. Even Ella was perfectly content rolled up in a sheet by the edge of the bed. She sees me flip out of the bed and pops out of the sheets like a Jack-in-the-Box. I check out the door to make sure the manager is not on this side of the building and I let Ella bolt out of the room to the field across the parking lot. While she is running around, I load my bags on to my bike and look it over to make sure everything is all good. Bill brings his bike out and walks to the front office to turn in our room key. Celia isn't quite ready to go, so she tells us to go ahead and she would catch up. We eat some breakfast and then hop back onto the ol' saddle.

Clouds are set low across the sky like a misty grey veil. The winds are to our back and we are sailing down the blacktop sea. The early morning mist slowly turns to a sprinkle and then the sky opened up into a hard rain. It continues to rain throughout the morning as we pedal on. It's a cool rain and we don't need our rain jackets at all. Miles of straight roads lie before us, a desert of corn, wheat and asphalt.

We push on through the gloomy morning, four wheels, no car, and an empty road. As we pedal on, the road turns north, directly into a headwind. We grind against the invisible wall, barely making a dent in our mileage. Wind tearing at our gear, trying to pull us back down the road, we drop into our lowest gears and cut away at the unseen beast. It's the first time we have had to use our granny gears for a long period of time in a few days. The air assault continues for miles, bashing in waves. You can feel the wind swirl around you just before it tries to drag you back again. After fending off the whirlwinds, we reach a tree line leading into an old neighborhood. With the wind momentarily broken, we cruise into what is supposed to be the town of Toronto. Apparently we took a wrong turn somewhere because we definitely shouldn't be in Canada!

It's a little one horse town with a single strip of stores right at the very center of town. Bill mentions food and I realized I was pretty hungry too. Passing through the main street, we notice every single store is boarded up or has been closed for quite awhile. The only store open, is the liquor store. Bill walks in to see if they have any snacks, of course they don't. The woman at the front does tell us of a small cafe just up the road though. After another quarter mile, we are out of what was left of rundown Toronto.

Past there, you can really start to see the flood damage from all the rain we have had. Ponds are overflowing, skirting around the bases of trees, smothering small bushes and plants. The waters have turned murky with runoff, a collection of deep, hazy pools. The asphalt serpent carries us out of the forest and back into the hilly farmlands. Hungry enough to eat all the cattle we pass, we start wondering where this little cafe is. A big building appears in the distance and we both think that might be it. Turns out to be some kind of cowboy rodeo church, whatever that is! Lucky for us, the cafe is just up ahead of the odd church thing. The Lizard Lips Cafe.

A green lizard shows through the worn wooden sign. Inside we are warmly greeted and given menus to order from. One side is the little cafe, the other side is a convenient store. When we sit down, our waitress brings us a little bucket full of plastic lizards to chose and keep one. This is now the second lizard I have received on my trip! Apparently they do this for all the passing cyclists. Looking through the cyclist log book, there are quite a few people we recognize!

I order a hearty meal of a bacon cheeseburger and some tots. Get your own. It was definitely better than snacking on a power bar for lunch! The locals decide to get cozy and sit right next to us at our table and chatter on and on and on and on. Finally we escaped the clutter of conversation and zoomed on down the highway. We started right on a pretty good downhill to warm us back up. The roads continue to follow up and down the hills like a sad roller coaster. We start making good time now, a tailwind pushing us along. With the wind to our backs, we start cruising around 20 mph.

The sun finally comes out and knocks the light chill of the day. A good day and a good ride. The sun shining down on us and the wind pushing us along, we reach Eureka in good spirits. The girls sent Bill a message with a place to stay, but it looked like someone's house so we elected to go to the park. The park ends up being pretty nice with a pool, free to cyclists, and a couple of pavilions to stay under. Randy is already at the park when we arrive and Celia turns up a little while later. Taking turns watching the gear, we all head over to Sonic to take advantage of those half priced shakes! Chocolate banana shake was definitely worth it! Who doesn't love shakes? Especially when they're cheap! Well it's starting to get late here and I still have to set up my tent, so I'll stop where I am and leave you with the thought of frosty delicious shakes! Ella and I hope you enjoy our adventures and keep following us as we make our way for Colorado!