August 1st for about 5 more min. then August 2nd

We ended up leaving Danville, KY after only about 2 hrs. The bike shop was great and so helpful in fixing up Matt's bike. We ended up going to that Cafe' I mentioned in my previous post. Despite it being called Kentucky Karibbean (Sasha, this was our first exception to your rule)it was fantastic. We had great soup and salads, passion fruit smoothie, milkshake, quiches (asparagus/mushroom & broccoli cheddar), sandwiches, etc. It really was just like eating at the Co-op. Yonah really wanted to get back on the road and take a day off in Barea instead of just staying in Danville. It ended up being a good call because Barea turned out to be closer than we thought and a really nice ride. The quote of the day was again from Solomon as he was holding out his hand in eager anticipation of three of Matt's Sport Beans (like jelly beans but with a bit more potassium) "you know they are going to be sweet when your tongue starts doing funny things even before you get them into your mouth".
We went through a few little towns but the one with the best name was Paint Lick, KY.
I took some pictures of Paint Lick Elementary School. I didn't see any kids but I imagined them all to have rainbow colored tongues. I was trying to think of all the fun I could have if I lived in a town called Paint Lick.
We met another father/son duo. This time from Sweden. The trip was the sons idea. He just graduated from High School and convinced his Dad to ride across America with him. I took pictures of them. They look just like you would imagine...blond hair, blue eyes, little tiny noses that you can't even imagine how they are able to pick. The son looked more like a soccer player than a cyclist. Until he started training for this trip he didn't really do much biking. And the really incredible thing....he is a Type 1, insulin-dependent, diabetic!!!!! Just when you think you are tough, you meet someone like this kid. He did say that the food thing was difficult because sometimes the only food around is pizza and it is so fatty that his sugars really spike in the middle of the night. Now I'm really done complaining.

I'll describe two scenes from the past two days that I didn't have my camera around for but wished I did. I'll paint you a picture with words. The first is from one of those yucky Mexican restaurants. We walked in and right near the door, where you wait to be seated, was two booths, side by side and separated by a shoulder height, wooden partition. There was a mother/daughter couple in one booth and 4 middle-aged couples in the other. Each booth had a sign above it. The mother/daughter one said No Fumar, and the other one said Fumar. As you can imagine, the fumars were doing just that, and the whole area was thick with smoke. It was so ridiculous, I just had to laugh.
The second scene was out riding. We rode past this farm house with a plain, unpainted, 2x4 railing around the porch area. Perched on the railing, facing the house, with his long tail hanging over the side of the railing, almost to the ground, was a male peacock. About 100 yrds. away, lined up on a fence railing, facing the back of the male peacock, were 5 peacock hens. The females are very plain and they were just sitting there in a line like they were about to watch some kind of peacock striptease act. Or, like they were under the hairdryers at the beauty shop watching a show on TV.

Now we are in Barea. We got into town around 7pm and everyone was furious with me because I made them ride to all the different hotels until I found the best one. Usually we don't have a choice and since we are taking a rest day I really wanted one that had as many of the important things as possible. In the end they all apologized because I found the best hotel so far. Fairfield Inn (Marriot). I have become a connoisseur of economy hotels. Hampton Inns have the best pillows and beds. Motel 8's can usually be counted on to stink but have outdoor pools. Comfort Suites usually have microwaves and mini fridges. Best Westerns have everything and a good breakfast but are still sort of stinky...but Marriots....they are the best!

I have all the high-speed DSL I can eat and I get to sleep in tomorrow. I'm feeling so flush I may even splurge on some spell check.

Yonah promisedme he would post something on the blog tomorrow.

And the last cool thing...Barea has this whole art community! So tomorrow I'm going to leave the kids in the hotel room to rot in front of the TV, while I go to the cute and touristy downtown (Boonetown)and check out the QUILT SHOW!!!!!!!!!
(there is also a jacuzzi..which sounds like it wouldn't be so great given that it is about 95 degrees outside...but which is actually great because with all the air conditioning on it is actually FREEZING in here.)
One last funny thing..funny if is wasn't so pitiful. About air conditioning. I have been harping for years about the air conditioning in my office and exam rooms. It is so cold in there in the summer that I have to turn the space heater on just so I don't freeze. So I mentioned to one of my colleagues with influence, that we could save a lot of money by doing an energy audit and turning the air conditioning down..and he said "Djina, in case you haven't noticed, your BMI is much lower than most of the people who work here, maybe you need to get your thyroid checked!" See what I am up against!!!
OK, time for bed.
Love,
Djina