We woke up at 12:30AM to the sound of our Airstream trailer’s smoke alarm. After confirming there was no smoke and that it wasn’t a CO detector, we put it in a drawer and went back to sleep, hoping it wouldn’t go off again. It didn’t… The owner replaced it as soon as we checked out.

The Airstream trailer didn’t include breakfast, so we ate oatmeal, canned peaches, and hot chocolate. We could’ve gone into town and bought a regular breakfast, but we felt like getting on the trail.

The weather was perfect today. It threatened rain a few times, but never enough to cause Natalie to put on her raincoat. Early on, we had a tree down in the middle of the trail that we had to unload our bike in order to navigate around. In the past, these types of obstacles might have stressed us, but we’re used to them now. The key is to take everything off the bike first. It’s so much easier to move it around when it’s unloaded.

The trail was especially beautiful today. It’s hard to remember how each day looks different, but the tunnel of trees seemed more encompassing today.

The ride was slightly downhill, and the trail was well packed, so even though we rode a little longer than normal today, it felt much easier. We only have one day left. Just as our legs were getting in shape…

I am amazed that Natalie can remember where every bathroom was that we passed a week ago. In a hotel, I can tell her, “Go to the elevator and turn left,” and she will not remember where the elevator was, even if we were just there. But she somehow has a superpower that allows her to remember every bathroom along the trail for the past 2 weeks. Respect.

As we get to the end of the trip, we get increasingly efficient at packing our stuff into our packs and loading the bike. Everything just kind of clicks at this point. I made a short video of where everything fits on our bike.

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Tonight we are staying in a hotel just feet from the trail. Most of our stays have been within a block of the trail. And knowing what we now know, every single one of them could’ve been made to be that close.

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We had a good dinner at Kickstand and are now resting to be ready for tomorrow’s ride.