Day 41: Burton to New Waterford, OH

60.88 mi max 39.0 4:29.03 avg 13.5

Another flat tire today. I ran over some piece of metal on the road and it sliced my tire. Christy stopped and helped me put a boot in it (a folded dollar bill)...and I was back on the road. Debbie and I rode together today. After Warren, I decided I really wanted ice cream...but of course, nothing was open at 10:00 am. We got to Dairy Queen at 10:55, so we waited for it to open. In the meantime, some guy on a bike approached us and told us to visit the largest outdoor dog show in the US (who'd've guessed in Nowhereville, OH???) It was cool - I saw some Airedale Terriers, like Duffy from Maine...and lots of other breeds that I didn't recognize and Bassett Hounds and Great Danes and one yellow lab that Just Wanted To Go Home. Debbie and I watched a part of one show where the dogs basically had to do dressage, and stay and fetch over a fence. I MISS MADISON!!

After, Debbie & I went to Das Dutch Haus, an Amish restaurant. The food was very yummy and home-cooked and cheap. And I had bluberry cream pie, which was a crumb crust with blueberries and then a layer of blueberry-custardy stuff, and then a layer of meringue. One of these days, I'll bike enough to actually lose weight.

The talent show was tonight, so I got to play, and I was a part of some acts, too...including Debbie's Big Ride Blues, and James's and Steve's Harmonica/Jaw Harp duo. Everyone was really good. Ellen wrapped herself in balloons, and inside each of the balloons was a question. Some of them were really funny - one person had to kiss the person sitting next to her...
Charlie also did the Squincher Blues, accompanied by Steve on harmonica, and John did another blues song. Norm was emcee for the night...he even invited his friend, "Minerva". Dave W. was hysterical. His act was split in two, the first being "The Translations of Moon." Moon redefines personality - there are so many things about Moon that make him who he is, which is very cool. I do hope that we get to hike the Appalachian Trail together in 2008. Dave's other skit was even funnier - he would impersonate members of the group, saying something that they might have said. Then, he'd take a sip of "truth serum" and say what they were REALLY thinking. For example, (I'll quote Christy, because she's already written it so well): For example, Dave pretended to be the Event Coordinator on the teleconference with us back in April saying, "Oh...you'll get used to sleeping in your tent. You'll love it! You'll be so tired at the end of riding all day, that you'll fall right to sleep." After the "truth serum" his translation was, "You're going to loathe your tent by the end of this trip. It is going to be miserable sleeping in a wet, humid, sweaty, smelly space. Don't worry about the brown spots that will form on the walls of your tent...that's just mold! You'll want to burn your tent when this is over!!"
Eric K. also did some funny impersonations. His schtick was associating members of our group with movies. Jim, of course, was the Terminator: "I'll be back!" He's made an amazing recovery after his fall just a few days ago. I wish I could remember what he said for Brokeback Mountain. Anyway, it was great entertainment. WAY better than TV :)

This campground is called Terrace Lakes. That describes it pretty well. There are a couple of terraces. The sides of the hills are forested, giving each plateaued area a sense of privacy. As an added bonus, the talent show was on a little pavillion. I guess it doesn't matter so much because it wasn't raining.