Granite Falls rest day

Hello out there!

I am in Granite Falls, taking a rest day. Yesterday was s tough day, and the lonely factor was getting to me, so I decided to spend aday in town, doing some laundry, hanging at the Hardees, and writing to whoever is reading this.

That first picture on the upper left is from the morning after I left Cosmos. th eland was flat, as you can see. I got to enjoy a decent headwind whenever I was going south and a really fun crosswind whenever I was going west. The hardest part about travelling in that sort of farmland is that my maps don't work. They are too large a scale to deal with half of the roads, both paved and gravel, in podunk central. This, coupled with the fact that the roads and ofeten not labeled at all, or go by different names, makes it rather difficult. Also, my spedometer is out of commission for the time being, so I had no way to know how fast I was going or how many miles I had traversed. I stopped for directions twice, and recieved good directions and smiles, so that was nice. finally the Granite Falls watertower came into sight and I knew I would make it. A day of riding on wet gravel roads into the wind will make appreciate the site of even the littlest towns, and Granite Falls isn't even that small. Apparently, as my phot shows, Granite Falls is a star city. Well, whadya know!

I cruised through town looking for food. I have food with me, mind you, but I carry no donuts. I found a bakery and bought a loaf of bread and a glazed donut. That donut never had a chance.

Continuing my tour of town I spotted a gas station that had a sign on it that said 'Groceries Plus'. I needed to fill up my waterbottles, so I went in and used there bathroom. Teh old women behind the counter had seen my bike as I leaned it up outside and inquired about my destination, wher I started, etc. She recomended the Memorial Park for a place to sleep, because tents can stay for free( RVs and Trailers cost $$). She then gave me two coupons to Hardees, one for a breakafast sandwich and one for biscuits and gravy (hence the hanging out at Hardees). Yeah!!!

That night (last night, the night of the 23) I was feeling pretty low. mornings are easy, and during the day the work is distracting, but at night the loneliness can creep in for a bit. Part of it is the start of the trip I think. You know, an adjustment thing. I know another part of it is that I left someone very important to me back in the city. ( there are a lot of people that are important to me in the city, but right now there is this one person in particular, you know who you are). I have been warned by freinds that have done the solo-travelling thing to give it time, as much as three weeks, for the alone-ness to become normal, so I'm ready to give it all I've got.

Aside from the bit of morale trouble, the trip is going well. I am considering dumping most of my food to lighten the load because I have the money and the resources to buy as

i go. Plus, the act of buying food from stores means human contact! I'm only half joking. In all seriousness though, dropping the food would make riding more enjoyable, as I would either be able to do more miles, or the same amount of miles in greater comfort. We'll see.

A couple people have expressed an interest to join me at some point. Anyone is welcome.

I almost to tell you all about the phone thing! Geez, that would have been rough. Close call. Sometimes I feel like I'm writing on eof those school newsletters, or directing a PTA meeting. "Next in the order of business...." Anyway, my phone will be off for most of each day. I will, however, try to turn it on for about an hour each day to let any voicemails or texts or what-have-you get to me. I will return calls at this time if I can ( if my phone has the battery power), so feel free to leave a message.

Tomorrow I will set out for Canby. I hope to be in Salem S.Dakota in three to four days.

Hope school is going decently for all of you, until later, so long.