Saturday, October 16, 2010

Ninth Day - Horses and Hills

After spending the night in Leonard's front yard, we woke up early and shared stories and coffee with Leonard and his brother. They were a couple of fun guys, telling old stories about their family and farm life. Oatmeal and coffee, then on to the road.

Our goal today was Shawneetown, on the edge of the Shawnee National Forest. The winds were blowing our way again, so we made incredible time and covered 30 miles before noon. Easy riding and as we get closer to the border, the hills keep getting larger. We stopped for a quick break and continued on into Shawneetown to look for supplies.

Surprisingly, there is little to nothing in Shawneetown. Very small, no grocer, and only one restaurant that we saw. Thankfully this restaurant also serves the best burgers in town, and we happily ate a few while oogling the cute local girls. Research at the local library and some supplies from the Dollar General.....we are ready to hit the woods.




The forest had a lot more fields and cattle pastures than we had anticipated, so guerilla camping seemed out of the question. Michael had been riding with a sore leg, so the few miles to the next legit campsite were grueling and uphill. We made it to Double M Horsecamp, a RV site catering to equestrians, a little after 5.

The campsite only accepted cash, which we have very little of. We offered to work for a campsite, but since there was no work to be done, we had little room to bargain. An awesome lady named Dina overheard our story, and offered to pay our fees for the night. THANK YOU DINA.

We unpacked our stuff, set up camp, and rushed to the warmth of the shower. After a relaxing wash, we wondered over to Dina's site to mingle and show our gratitude. We were met with even more hospitality. Dina fed us crock-pot pizza (it's really more like spaghetti) with a side of beer, and we were more than happy. After dinner we headed back to our campsite, started a big warm fire, and did our best to sleep through the coldest night yet. We survived.

2 comments:

  1. You guys need to sign your posts so I know who's talking. Regardless, I am really enjoying the information you guys are posting. Take care of my baby, and each other.

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  2. That was my mom!

    ReplyDelete