August 4, 2018
Booneville – Hindman
125 km (78 miles)
2167 m (7108 feet) elevation
6:11 moving time
6165 km (3832 miles)

Had the worst night ever!!!!

Yesterday was a wonderful cycling day even though the climb was often steep. The weather was perfect and our legs happy 😁

We had two choices according to Google maps, to stay at a motel just before Breaks or go about 70 km more with a lot of climbing. We had not slept in a proper bed for 5 nights so the thought of one was really appealing. At Elkhorn we had lunch and called the motel. The lady told us that it was a good thing we called because she only had one room left and a big group of people were coming.

We wandered for a while around Elkhorn and then tackled the last climb of the day to the model. The sun was out and quickly it got really hot so we where really glad to be finished for the day. It was time for a shower, rest, cold room and a nice cosy bed 😁

It was not quite the case. The lady was in a hurry signing us in. Said she had so much to finish before the group would show up. We paid and got the key. When we opened the door the smell was absolutely dreadful, the air was filled of mouldy smell and very humid. We turned the fan and AC on and hoped for the best. The shower was fine and we washed our clothes in the bathtub. We went to the store on the other side of the street to buy something for lunch and breakfast. The selection was limited and we ended with bananas, cinnamon rolls, ice cream, cips and dried meat 😁. Back at the motel we found out that the bed was hardly any better than our inflated mattresses 😐 Around midnight Monika really thought about kicking Sæmi out of bed and on the bike because of the smell, noises and the room in general. She had the feeling that everything in there was covered with fungal growth. In the morning she was not feeling well, nauseous, light headed and irritated in her skin. She is never going back to that motel 😠

But getting on the bike always clears your mind and like every biker knows, you can’t be cranky on the bike for long, instead you just start smiling 😁

The weather today was fantastic, a bit foggy and cold in the morning but soon the sun was out. We were mostly riding in the forest so the trees blocked the sun so it did not get to hot, perfect condition 😄

We have never had a day were we have climbed as much as today. One of the first mountain was a killer, very steep and made us worry for the rest but actually they felt easier. We are starting to hope that when we get to Vesuvius we won’t have to walk all the way to the top 🤐

The road we took to day offered us a beautiful landscape. We were in between the trees but still there are more open spaces and more to see. We find that everything is somehow more fresh and clean here compared to Kentucky. Even the houses that need repairment look better and in the air is a nice sweet savour of flowers. Virginia starts better than Kentucky.

We had some nice conversation to locals today so things are back to normal. People have stopped staring and talking about us, now they again talk to us 😄