Spring 1997 - Cincinnati to Yukon
Journals - 18 June 1997
Day 79 - Grand Prarie, Alberta
18 June 1997 (light rain; head wind!! cloudy afternoon; berserk rain with
big hail; mileage = 71.6) -- X - We woke up to rain, so we slept in a bit
until it died down and finally stopped (~7:30). We left into a head wind,
which was to haunt us all day. The morning was just a lot of riding. We had
some rain and the "towns" were no more than gas stations. In Debolt, we
opted for the home-style restaurant, instead of the truck stop. This meant
an extra km, but it was well worth it. We had the Denver sandwich (special
of the day) which came with fries, roll, salad and coffee. It was supposed
to come with dessert, but we were too full anyway. It was very good; all
for $5.25 each. Then we dropped into a very BIG valley. The descent was a
bummer with the strong head wind. The climb was neat since there were about
1/2 dozen double-long tanker trucks (obviously full) climbing, too. They
aren't much faster than us. I'd say they did 8 mph while we were doing 6
mph. We climbed well considering our average for the day was a grueling 10
mph. Shortly after, we got off onto a parallel side street for the last 17
miles. Tough, but low traffic, nice. As we finally pulled into Grand
Prairie, it started to rain. As we moved through the city, it got worse. It
crescendoed into a full blast huge drop, with hail accompaniment thunder
storm. About a mile from our destination, April hit an uneven pavement spot
(in the storm) and almost fell into traffic. Instead of dying and going to
heaven, we both just skipped the former. At Gerry & Enid's house, we took a
shower, did laundry, ate pizza they ordered for us. We then spent time
talking with these amazingly nice people. We're indoors tonight -- in a
bed! I don't know if I can do that anymore! Wow! These guys just beam with
good karma!
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