Day 20: Shower in a River

June 25, 2022 in Eminence, Missouri

With temperatures reaching 111 degrees and an incredibly hilly day, I was super grateful to be in the van.

Our drive was mostly uneventful, besides gawking at the hills! We set up two lunches to give riders a break from the heat, and because we had very poor service we did frequent laps to make sure everyone was okay.

My favorite part of today was our showers, weirdly enough. The whole team shuttled to Eminence High School, which looked like something out of Grease. It was equal parts eery and fascinating.

Anyways, we searched everywhere but couldn't find the showers we had been promised! As a quick solution, a group of us went down to a local river to rinse off. It was completely different from any river I've ever seen. The water was a deep teal, and it was incredibly refreshing.

We stayed at the river for a few hours talking, playing catch, skipping rocks, and people-watching. My favorite character was a hippie-looking guy who was biking the Trans-Am trail and paddling down the river on a tube using his flip flops.

After we got out of the river, we went through a car wash (see picture) to get all the sand off.

Our evening was rounded out with leftovers for dinner and a team meeting. I'm getting up at 4:30 tomorrow, so I'll keep it short and sweet!

Pictures to come tomorrow when wifi is better!