Each year my extended family gets together for a reunion.  This year the reunion would be in a suburb of Tulsa.  My longest tour prior to this was when I rode from Russellville to Tulsa and it was for that year’s reunion.   The idea of showing up grew with each day.  When I finally decided to take a long break to restore the legs it made sense to do so with the family.  

When I left Pierce I started looking for a way to get to Tulsa.  The closest rental car company was in Norfolk, but I had passed it.  The next closest was in North Platte, which was 230 miles southwest.  That would take a minimum of 5 days to reach.  I called the Enterprise there and asked if they would really pick me up.  They said yes, as long as I was within 20 miles.  That was no good.  The Enterprise in Norfolk said they would pick me up within a 5 mile radius.  I then looked for a other rental companies.  I found a U-Haul rental in Valentine, which was a 3 days ride from me.  The bike would easily fit in the back and I would still have room to setup my bed each night.  I once thought about living in a truck like that.  Maybe one day I will.  It was impulsive, but I called and made the reservation.  I had to speak to three people before finding someone that knew anything.  That was not a good sign.  Afterwards, I did the math and it was only $80 for the four days, but it would be another $1300 for mileage.  They did not mention that on the phone.  I quickly called back to cancel.      

After speaking with a friend about my options, it was clear that the only thing to would be to go back to Norfolk.  I had to make it look like I was making forward progress and I would get too bored if I just sat somewhere so I continued West and would loop back.  I had a reasonable explanation for hitting Neligh.  It was not just reasonable, I needed to go there for food and the movie theatre did not hurt.  It put me within 40 miles of Norfolk.  

I got around that morning and went by the RV park to take a shower.  This time it cost me a dollar.  The further North the more expensive showers are.  I went back to Mamas’ & Nanas’ for another round of waffles and fries.  I could tell this was the local hangout for the 60+ crowd.  There were two tables filling up as I waited for my food.  The grandpas all sat at one and the grandmas another.  Of course the grandmas and I talked.  They liked what I was doing, one even took me by the arm to introduce me to her husband.  Before leaving, I asked the group how they would feel if it were their grandkid cycling cross country.  That gave them a little different perspective.  They thought me showing up at the reunion would be a fun surprise.  

The ride to Norfolk was slow.  Usually I try to maintain a constant, high RPM, low crank resistance pace.  This day I pedaled a few strokes, coasted, and repeated.  My legs really did need a long rest.  When I started the day,  my odometer read 974 miles.  Once I hit 1000, I was only 7 miles from Norfolk and lunch. 

After lunch I found a small park and a tree to hang from.  My rental would be ready at 5 pm, so I sat there until then.  I may have dozed off a couple times.  When I stop to rest I change out of my cycling clothes and into my running shorts and sandals.  I do this to let my riding shorts dry and to prevent saddle sores.  

I reserved a compact car from Enterprise.  Actually, I ordered the smallest car they had that would fit a bicycle.  When I got there, the lady waiting said they had a pickup, minivan, and a grand cherokee.  None of these were compact cars, but I could easily sleep in the back of all of them.  The girl helping me turned out to be a bit of an adventurer like me.  She helped me stuff the bike in the car and then we talked a while.  If I end up writing from Europe next summer you can blame her.  She also reminded me that I have been neglecting the rest of my body.  My legs and stabilizing muscles have been getting a good workout, but only in one range of motion.  I had planned to do yoga each day along with some strength exercises.  I had planned to do a lot of things.  This, I will start doing.  I am glad to have met her.  I hope she gets to go on her adventure.  If she reaches out, I may have to go with her.  Oh, and I got the 300!

I’ll skip the boring 8 hour drive.  I finished two audiobooks by the time I pulled into the hotel parking lot at 1:30.  I would have slept in the back of my Dad’s truck had it been unlocked.  I searched around for some trees and decided to just lay the car seat down.  It was only 4 hours until breakfast.  I got little sleep that night.  At 6 I got up and went inside.  I just walked into the breakfast room, grabbed some food and sat down.  I also, freshened up in the bathroom.  It crossed my mind to do this as I am traveling, wander into a hotel for breakfast.  Waiting for my parents to come down gave me time to update the blog.  At 8 I almost gave up and layed down for a nap.  I was all about to lie down when they finally walked in.  I could see their eyes get a bit misty as we sat and talked.  I was afraid my Mom would figure it out from the few clues that I left, but she didn’t.  It was a good surprise.  They said they recognized my jersey immediately.  

Later, my Mom sprung the surpise on my aunt and grandma.  My grandma I think was in disbelief and for a moment she looked like she was going to swat me.  After showering and laundry we went for lunch.  I spotted a Cici’s on the way in the night before.  I may have endulged too much.  I got a veggie pizza and a broccoli buffalo pizza, and ate every piece.

I took the bike to the shop for its 1000 mile check-up and spent the rest of the day napping and watching movies.  I will spend the rest of the weekend resting and working on my gear.  My next update won’t be until after the weekend when I return to Nebraska to continue on.