Day 43 - Showering At A Splash Pad (July 14th, 2024)

City To City: Walnut Grove - Hartville

Miles: 70

Miles Total: 2,925

Flats: 10

Video: https://youtu.be/HR_p8Cc68ME?si=I-NyEzg2q2btcx_n

Showering At The Splash Pad

    July 14th is Mark's birthday, and we all wished him a happy birthday. We were originally going to celebrate at a cafe about twenty miles down the road for brunch, but that was closed, so we decided on lunch at an all-day cafe about forty miles from where we were staying. We packed everything together, left the winery after breakfast, and headed to Mansfield, where we would eat lunch. 

    We had some road rage, and right before we stopped for lunch, a redneck truck was right behind me, revving his engine, just itching to get past me, and coal-dusted us.  Well, the second he passed us, that's what he did; he coal-dusted us that matched his angry feelings.

    We stopped at a Walmart to get dinner supplies, and Matt and Mark caught up with us. Mark bought some popsicles and shared them with us. Then, together, we biked to the cafe.

While washing my hands in the restroom, three older women were traveling together, and one of them was being slow. The two other women teased her and said I was going faster than her.  They thought my bike jersey was cute and were amused by the back pockets.  When I told them what we were doing, they told us to be careful and said they would pray for us.

    We ordered, and my dad, Henry, and Mark ordered the all-you-can-eat meal. The lunch special had different kinds of meat, like ribs, shrimp, chicken, fish, etc. You could order two of the meats at a time before asking for more. But with the lunch special, you could only be limited to two sides, and that was it. Well, my dad, Henry, and Mark ate and ate!  

After a big lunch, Mark and Matt returned to Walmart for airhorns, and we continued on the roller coaster hills in the Ozarks.

    Once we reached Hartville, we got groceries and headed to the park. Matt and Mark joined us at the park, and Mark showed us how to take a splash pad shower. Also, a birthday party was happening nearby, and we provided quite the entertainment for them. A little boy joined us, asked all these questions, and had kid chatter.  The birthday people tried getting the boy to leave us alone, but we didn't care; that kid was just curious about us.

Mark talked to a local, and it turns out that the local's mom owned a restaurant in the town. That was the place where all bicyclists stopped for a bite to eat. Unlike other small-town restaurants, the restaurant had good business.

    We then ate dinner and went to bed.  Henry decided not to be in a crowded tent and slept under a shelter.  The next morning, he ended up with a bunch of red bites on his arms!