Today was a really good day today. The sun was out, there was hardly any wind and no rain! I was feeling pretty punchy today too, as the miles were fairly short today, and the route was pretty easy (that is, not a lot of climbing)! We started out early loading up the van and heading off to breakfast, again at Bob Evan's Restaurant. This was not the first time during this trip that the one waitress assigned to serve the group of anywhere from 23- 35 of us, gets flustered, and I am sure it won't be the last. Remind me to tell you all more about that later.
Let me just start, that I have corn coming out of my ears! That is the scene we all have seen for many many weeks now...is corn, corn, and more corn. I want to know where do they grow the green peas and the green beans? It certainly is not in Kansas, Illinois, or Indiana!!! This morning a bunch of us were riding together and decided to take a "corny" picture. From left to right is Bruce, Chuck, Alex, Norb, Me, Carol, Leigh, Hans and Chris. The next photo is of the bikes being engulfed by the corn! 
I could continue to post more corn fields, but I think you get the idea!!! There are plenty of soybean fields out here too, so those will be posted (with the rest of the corn fields) on flickr in a few days! They had fresh peaches at the sag stop this morning-- an unbelievably delicious snack on a hot riding day! This gave us the energy to continue on as we crossed over the Indiana state line!!! Birthplace of Meiri McClelland!!! (That is what the sign is suppose to say underneath anyway!)
We continued on, passing more corn fields and farm houses, when we came across a fair. Norb and I decided to check it out. It was a countwide 4-H fair. They had kids trotting their horses for judging, had sheep, cows, and pigs all about. Now, I know they had 4-H out in Colorado, but I was never involved in it, and never really knew what it was all about, so I had a lot of questions re: this fair. Norb and I spoke to one lady who let me take a picture with one of her steer. There were two of them that were up for show...this photo was one of them.......
After this pic was taken, Norb laughed saying that he wished everyone could have seen my face when the lady who was answering all my questions told me that this steer would be in her freezer next month!!! :( I asked why this one and not the other, she said the other gained more weight so was worth more! :( The poor steer! She also taught me the difference between a steer, a bull, and a heffer! I learned a lot today at the fair. I also took a few pics of pigs and sheep that were there as well. I asked a few ladies if they would let me milk either their cow or their goat. I had explained to them that I was from the city and had never done this before. They all had the same generic answer.. "I don't think it is milking time yet!" I guess I will have to go visit a farm in upstate NY to fulfill that dream!!! We continued on with only 20 or so miles left, and we entered the town of Hillsboro, IN. Here is a photo of their welcome sign...
I found that to be funny!!! In this same town there was an ice-cream shop--ready to open next week so we didn't get to eat there... but I liked how they had the old bikes hanging off the side of the building! 
We finally arrived to our hotel, today it is at the Quality Inn. I was able to do my laundry finally, after four days without a facility! We ate at a local restaurant called Joey's Main Street Cafe. Now typically over the past 36 days, we've been eating at all you can eat buffets for dinner. Today, they served you regular portions of a protein, vegetable, and starch followed by a regular size scoop of ice-cream. Everyone at our table was laughing over how weird it was to be eating "normal" portions... and how we'll all be running into each at the McDonalds by midnight because we are so hungry! We all realize that this extreme amount of exercise is coming to a close, and that we will all have to dramatically cut our portions when we return home in a few weeks.
Well tomorrow should be another really great ride. I haven't yet checked the weather report but, we have a short 62 mile ride tomorrow with only a 700 foot climb throughout the whole route. Our destination is Indianapolis, IN-- and once there, we have a rest day! I have decided that I am going to skip any massage on this rest day, and just sleep to my heart's content!
Hope allis well with you all! Talk to you later! Meiri.
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