Day 13 Rest Day Evanston
Miles 0

Last night while we were at dinner (the Mexican Restaurant won because it was getting dark by the time we were ready to eat) Spencer said that he really needed a rest day. It was an easy sale as we all pretty much agreed. This is a nice campground and not a bad place to spend a day laying around. The rodeo ended early and the trains don't honk their horns going through town. Additionally there are a lot of shade trees along the river which seperate us from the tracks and buffer the noise. I must have really been tired because I slept in until 8:00 even with the sun coming into the tent. We must have been starving Spencer. Our normal breakfast when we don't eat in a cafe is two packages of instant oatmeal and a banana. Spencer and I both had leftovers from dinner last night so we asked for a box. We figured that with the temperature in the low 50's to high 40's overnight it would keep just fine if there were no animals about. Our leftovers survived the night in good shape. As soon as Spencer had finished his regular breakfast he asked which box was his. He had most of a Chimichanga and part of a Chalupa left. I broke out the Outback Oven and started the stove back up and we warmed up all the leftovers. I must say that Rhielle and I enjoyed mine as well. The Outback Oven is a nice addition to my cooking kit. It takes little more space than the frying pan I used to carry and can be used for a lot more things including a 10 inch frying pan. We've used it a couple of times on this trip and will probably use it some more before we finish. When Rhielle climbed out of the tent this morning her face was really swollen. About 11:00 we pulled the footprint out from under the tent and laid it in some shade. We grabbed our sleeping mats and laid down for a nap. As Rhielle was laying down she said it felt like she had just had her wisdom teeth out. Its kind of interesting how our bodies react to the strain we are putting them under. I imagine the handcart companies had much the same problem. Even if you were in good shape when leaving England, after ship life for a few months and then riding trains for the next weeks you could get soft. I'm not sure that you can train for a bicycle tour beyond just generally staying in shape. There is no way to train for cranking the pedals for 10 hours a day, every day, without doing just that. If you are riding that much you should be on tour. This has been a good experience. I have learned a lot about myself and Spencer and Rhielle. We may be able to get to Salt Lake City tomorrow and if not early on the next day. This is going to end way to soon. We are just getting used to each other and able to work and play together well. There is no substitute for time spent with your children. After 3 bicycle tours accompanied by my children, I can't think of a better way to get to know each other and build strong relationships.

This afternoon we played Phase 10. I won. Towards the end of the game we started dinner. We mixed reconstituted shoestring potatoes, cream of celery soup, some left over cheese dip together with dried diced onions and other assorted spices from the handy spice kit and baked it in the stove top oven. It turned out very good. Just as we were serving it up it started raining. It had been threatening thunder showers for an hour or so. We had been preparing for it and had everything put away. We climbed in the tent with the doors zipped wide open but the vestibules zipped closed, ate dinner and let it rain. We topped the potatoes caserole off with diced peaches, granola bars, cookies and other things we dug out of the panniers. After dinner we all drifted off to sleep. We awoke about 9:00, washed dishes and put every thing away. After the nap I had a little trouble going to sleep. I probably lay there for at least 10 minutes before nodding off.

On to Day 14

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Copyright © Clarence Whetten 2001