Day 37

Muddy uphill
Again, something most definitely visited me last night. Around 4:30am, I heard the cracking of twigs. I assumed this meant it was something big. It made really strange noises- something like a purr but not quite, along with a wining sound. I guessed later that it was a wild pig, but now I'm pretty sure it was a raccoon.
Today was the ultimate lesson in why you shouldn't waste time. Since I only had 60 some miles to go today, I woke up late. I didn't want to go back up what crazy mud hill, so I walked my bike the other way, hoping to find a road or something. Nope, just a river preventing me from continuing and a fence blocking me from the road. I would have to go up the muddy hill. I don't regret checking this way first though, because I saw a fairly large snake that was too clever for me to catch, a smaller one that I did catch, and a praying mantis! If I'm not mistaken, it's the first one I've ever seen. I could have spent all day there, but there were also some pretty gnarly spiders, so I decided against it. To get up the hill, I had to take the easy stuff off my bike (everything in the front) and walk it up, then push my bike up with the back paniers still on. It was rough, but I finally got it. My chain had been making terrible sounds for a day or two now, so I decided to seek out a bike shop. About 75 bucks and an hour and a half later, my bike felt good as new. It had a new chain and back tire. While I was waiting, I bought root beer float flavored Oreo cookies- which taste freaking amazing. I probably should have blogged during this time, but I was also charging my phone, which was pretty important, considering I had no charge left in any of my backup batteries. When I finally left, going through the city streets was kinda confusing at first, but I quickly got away from the traffic. A large part of the day was spent on frontage road, but eventually it turned to dirt. I decided to just deal with it when I saw a bike sign across the street, but I couldn't read what it said underneath. The side I was on had a different sign that said no bicycles, so I assumed that other sign said the same thing. I eventually saw the same sign when I was on the same side and it said that you can bike on the freeway, just stay on the far right. Yay! The dirt road was really getting to me. When I reached Wyoming, there were two guys at the border who asked my about my trip. They seemed excited for me and wanted a picture with me- awesome, I have fans! I kept thinking all day about how I needed to go fast in order to get to the home I was staying at that night before it got really dark, and I did pretty good- I averaged above 9mph. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. When I finally reached Cheyenne, the sun had already set. I contemplated just continuing on the freeway. It would be faster, but there were 6 exits, so I decided that I didn't want a repeat of what happened near Reno. I got off the freeway and minutes later my phone died. No bog deal, I have a backup charger that works with double A's. Unfortunately, what I didn't know is that all the double A's I had didn't have enough charge. So I was stranded, not sure f where to go. Now that I think about it, I should have just taken a few pictures of the route with my other phone. Instead, I started looking for a place to plug in my phone. I lucked out- not far was a building with a plugin on the outside. I waited impatiently was my phone to turn back on. It finally did, and I tried to figure out the route and how long it would take. Once it was 8 percent and the sky was filled with stars, I headed out again for the 10 mile journey. I went by a bunch of places that I bet are pretty during the daytime, but that I could barley see in the limited light. I saw a lot of couples, which makes sense, considering it was a Friday night. When it came time to cross the freeway, I was really stoked- I got to ride up a spiral path, peddle above the traffic, and then ride down another spiral. Definitely a highlight of the day. After a few more miles and holding up a flashlight to several street signs, I finally made it to the right house. I figured I should call, but my phone died before the first ring. I knew this was the right house though, so I just went up and rang the doorbell. I was instantly greeted by their dog and then soon after welcomed into their home. Jolene was kind enough to save and heat up some sloppy joes for me- it was delicious. She showed me my room- I had a gigantic bed to sleep in. After sharing a few stories, it was pretty late. I showered and then quickly fell asleep in the giant, super soft and comfortable bed.