Last night I stayed at the Cedarville High School football field.  This morning I woke up to the grounds creew standing on the hill discussing the guy that slept on the football field, so I packed up and got on my way as quickly as possible. 

I went to a nearby park and contemplated the day.  Should I keep riding north? How far should I ride? Should I take a day off?  I mapped out all the different routes trying to find the one with the least amount of climbing.  I did not set off until nearly 10. The only real reason I chose to go north out of Fort Smith was to see the waterfall at Natural Dam.  More accurately, to shower in it.  

It did not take long to get to the site.  I stripped off the riding gear and into my modest shorts (for when I am with people that don’t like spandex).  As soon as I chose which waterfall to shower under, these 5 teenage girls come bopping down the trail.  I couldn’t very well shower with them watching, so I pretended to play in it until they were upstream.  

The shower and rest did my legs good.  On the way out I filled up the water bottles at a nearby diner and got to talking to an older fella.  He informed me that there was only one hill between there and the next town.  This lifted my spirits, but I did not completely trust what he had said.

There was a hill, and I climbed it!  It felt great going down the other side knowing that I beat the only hill on the ride.  That wasn’t the hill… It was a hill, but to him it must only have been a speed bump.  The next hill seemed more like a mountain. 

It was an eventful day. At the bottom of this hill is Evansville. I stopped at the diner there for a lat lunch. My nurse tells me that I should hydrate and eat more, so this was for you Stuart!

I asked a couple nearby for route advice and they strongly suggested going west then north. So, that is what i will do. I didn’t catch their names, but thank you. They were nice enough to buy my lunch.

Heading west means crossing the Oklahoma border! I almost missed my photo-op because I was going down hill and was not stopping. Now I am in Stillwell. And this is the first thing I did.

And, my dad met me with my beard trimmer! I think I will keep going for a while. My brother said that if Forrest Gump did it then I should too. I left my Specialized bib and Eddie Bauer shorts with my dad. He got me dinner and a hotel, so I’m living easy tonight. Thanks!