June 27, 2023
77.87 mi, 5046 ft
Arnold MO->Council Bluff Lake
If you're astute, you may have noticed our blogs are a bit out of order. This is a combination of not having service when we were at Council Bluff Lake, and also our taking advantage of our website builder's scheduling blog function which malfunctioned. Apologies.
Day 23 was another drive day for me, but it was so eventful, which I've now come to just accept as the reality for whenever I'm the driver. Vin got another flat, and I drove to see if he was OK with Duha and Lucy in the car since they were both feeling a bit under the weather. We found Vin with a Fanta in a McDonald's parking lot, and we let the sealant do its job. Lucy and I went next door to Taco Bell to get burritos because even on drive days, I get hungry at 9 am.
After 30 minutes or so, the hole seemed to be sealed, and Vin even bounced around a bit to simulate potholes. He goes inside McDonald's to use the restroom, Duha is holding onto his bike, and suddenly it starts to leak again. It takes another hour or so, total running time - 2 hours - and Vin gets back on the road. I also get back on the road, but only after I got a nap in - finally a drivers' nap! It was amazing.
We drove down Highway 21, which apparently is nicknamed Bloody Alley- Missouri's deadliest highway. Thankfully, the bikers didn't take my route. The highway was actually not too terrible despite its sinister name and history, but I did get massively carsick since it was so windy. In a parallel universe, I definitely should have been nationally selected out because usually when people drive, it mitigates carsickness, but I get so carsick that even driving cannot save me.
(photo courtesy of @mcinnish1969 on Twitter, since I couldn't snap one while driving)
Once we got to our campgrounds, we realized that no one had service - not even Lucy's Verizon could help us out this time. Duha and I were a bit worried about the bikers, so we first went to pick up Joy since it was a really hot day. Andrew and Audrey were nearby according to "find my" but after an hour, when we arrived back at the campground, they were still not there. I relinquished my driving duties to Duha, shoutout to Duha, since she had better service than I did and I also was about to puke from driving. Shortly after, she rolled in with Andrew and Audrey, and Vin arrived via bike almost immediately after. It turns out that the biking route had taken them to the lake first, and after more than 70 miles under the baking sun, they decided to just wait for the car to loop around and get them from the lake, but at the end of the day, we all made it!
It was definitely a tougher day, but we then had dinner at the lake and a couple of us also took a dip in it which was nice. I'm looking forward to more lakes, especially since I've now acquired a swimsuit - thanks Joy!
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