....and our super host family called us with the weather report about 38 miles out of town: " Big hail (he reported the size of ice pieces falling from the sky, but it escaped my memory) in the Matanuska Valley, temperatures are dropping. "How about we pick you up and you pick another day for your departure on your adventure" was pretty much the message.
Right, the weather is part of the adventure, but kind concerns like that make my heart swell!! We denied, with a big thank you!
Onward! And the hail never came until the next day and then it caught us while climbing and descending on slippery (but paved), often busy roads - "it is probably beautiful if we could see it" as one of my friends said while on a "bad weather ride" through King's Ridge in CA. There were some glimpses of the beauty around us - yes, probably, but we got cold and hailed on ...after 75miles it was time to stop and there was nothing...for another while and then a couple of houses and a barn. We haven't even reached the door to knock before a weathered man on crutches came out to greet us, taking the words out of my mouth: Do you need shelter?
Just a roof to set up the tent, please...
Jeff led us to a room under construction and a fine room it was! There was a bed and a table and plenty of room to explode our stuff (once it comes out of our panniers). He and his lovely wife had a plan 6 years ago before he lost his leg in a motorcycle accident in Arizona. It was supposed to be a Lodge, but the accident changed their life goal.
When I first met Jen, I was filling up some water bottles and she held a big plate of something delicious. "Where did you come from, I said shivering, looking up at her,.....you must be an angel?"
We were served the most tasty steak and pasta salat I have ever had in my life!
