Day 46

60 miles lots of pointy hills

Today has been an excellent day for us. We left our sanctuary this morning after feeding and stroking our lovely cat. I wanted to take him with us. We cycled about 15 miles to a town called Ash Grove where we ate breakfast. We were set to pay for our food when the waitress told us that a man who left a few minutes earlier already paid for it. What to say, Incredible.

As we left the cafe a man started talking to Tracey and advised us on an alternative route that would cut out some hilly areas and added a section on Route 66. This iconic road has long been know to me and I was keen to cycle on it. The fact that this meant losing some hills was a bonus. (We still did our share as you see above). 

We cycled to a town called Willard where we joined a cycle route along an old railway line. Here we met Ron and his colleague who were out cycling at lunchtime. They kindly helped direct us to a road that set us off in the right direction.

On the periphery of Springfield we found a street fruit stall where we bought peaches. The lovely lady also gave us two nice tomatoes for later. 

So on we went  enjoying the relative flat of our route and making great progress. It was only fitting that we passed a group of old 50’s / 60’s cars outside a house directly on Route 66.

We stopped once more at Common Grounds coffee shop which was fabulous and serves superb, healthy food as well as coffee and smoothies. It made me miss dear Bean & Bud in Harrogate!

We arrived in Marshfield about 1700, we were asking about places to stay at the community centre when’s lady called Pat pulled up in her car. Apparently she had gone past us a while before and shouted at us to stop. Sadly we hadn’t heard. Fortunately she didn’t give up on us and looked around the town until she located us. She immediately offered us a place to stay. 

So here we are staying with Pat and Mark and in a comfy bed again. 

We are two very lucky people. The main thing I guess is that we know we are lucky.