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Friday, September 5, 2008, behind The Hair Loft, Ashland, Kentucky
Today marks three months since we left Castroville, California, on June 5th. The ride was hilly and cold. Near Owingsville, Willie got a flat tire. Not wanting to wait, Gloria loaded his bike in the van and deposited him 10 miles up the road, giving him enough time to repair it and rejoin the riders without slowing the group down. We got soaked once from a cloudburst; luckily we were close to an antique store that we ducked in for cover. Later in the day, Willie stopped again to fix his flat tire. Apparently there wasn't enough glue on the patch the first time, so it came off. He had to wait for Mom again, and this time had to buy some more rubber cement before he could fix it. By the time we got to Ashland, it was dusk and there were no campgrounds, so we used our lights and began looking for possible places to ask permission for an emergency tenting site for the night. At last we came to a hair salon and the nice lady who owned it, Sheri McCormick, gave us permission to camp behind the shop. Also, a generous patron gave us $20 dollars to buy the family McDonald's hamburgers across the street. Rick Reed, one of the stylists who worked there, drove across the street and returned with a large box of McDonald's burgers, fries, sundaes, and drinks (He must have contributed a lot himself) that we thoroughly enjoyed as we were all hungry after today's long ride. One message, one lesson, we have been learning and should be clear: God takes care of His children one way or the other and usually in unexpected ways. 103 miles.