bran: creighton to petersburg

dinner in creighton was unremarkable. at least the food we encountered was. creighton is a relatively larger community and had numerous food options. we picked the wrong one. i was impressed though with the diorama above the bar at jerry's lanes.

the girls softball team spaghetti dinner may have been disappointing, but the french toast breakfast at the country club made up for it. i thought this clock was funny because it said 1987 until cara pointed out that it said that because it's the current legal age to drink. i had no idea i was that old. i think cara and alex look appalled in this picture because we'd just rode over the bumpiest road ever on the way to the country club. our hands went numb in a mere half mile.

we rode about 70 miles on thursday. the actual route was a few miles shorter but we took an accidental detour in royal after visiting the defunct zoo. it was depressing. we walked around the perimeter and a woman who seemed to have the zookeeper role joined us and offered many apologies and excuses for the state of the grounds. we couldn't figure out who in royal can afford to feed all of these leftover animals but we didn't feel it was necessary to ask uncomfortable questions. despite the zoo, royal was a sweet town and of course there was a variety of baked goods for sale at the schoolhouse for us to sample and the coolest old dog to greet us at the door.

we often met the same people over and over at the aid stations. long haul trucker and his son were some of the people we looked forward to seeing. cara and long haul trucker had a connection because of their bikes, and long haul trucker and i had a connection because we both had water bottles from a bike shop in denver where he lives. aron, the son, is a grad student in northern california. he studies mathematic ecology and wants to work in fisheries (another connection). he's also a pretty fast rider and we raced through the ash falls hills. i can't help being a little smug because i was faster. i loved long haul trucker because he stopped frequently to photograph vegetation.

cara got faster every day as she learned to use her bike. i had a good time riding with her on the way out of creighton before the wind picked up. this 67 mile day ended up feeling like a hundred! by the time we arrived at petersburg i was spent. mostly because the last 10 miles of the ride was on a hilly highway with no shoulder and heavy truck traffic. the wind kept pushing us into the road and it was a little terrifying. petersburg was a relief when we finally made it into town and off the road. the encouraging signs along the highway helped lift my spirits and the whole town was decorated with bikes, even the top of the grain elevator!