We saw a lot of horse and buggy signs today and yesterday, and finally got to see some actual horses and Amish people.
They waved back.
Our bike tires carefully avoided the horse droppings on the side of the road. Pat even tried catching up with a buggy and managed to catch some of the chase on video.
Aside from the wooden wheeled vehicles, we did spot some Amish beards. Out of courtesy, we didn't snap any pictures. We don't think that would've gone over well. Honestly, I was expecting something more impressive- to my BU friends, Sam Chalfin (aka Beard) had all of them beat.
We rode for about 90 miles before meeting up with Pat's Aunt. She made the drive out to visit with us for the rest of today and tomorrow. We stopped to say hi, gorged on some of the snacks she brought from Costco, and let her drive ahead to our destination town 20 miles away. As soon as she left us, the skies opened up. First, the downpour came. Then, hail. We enjoyed the riding for a few minutes (this trip has desensitized us to a lot), but the lightning unleashed its fury and we were forced to pull into the nearest gas station. Kim met us there while we discussed our options, and after a few minutes the rain stopped and the skies cleared up. We decided to push on as far as we could, hoping to make it to our original destination. Little did we know, our next turn presented a nice, steady 3 mile climb to us. We're used to any hill by now, but unexpected hills at the end of the day are never met with excitement. After cresting the top, it was smooth sailing to our destination. Enter bad drivers. To our moms: you can skip the next paragraph.
The skies began to darken again, and within a few minutes, the rain found us again. Thankfully, the hail and lightning sought out some other unsuspecting victims, so we were able to ride on. As we were winding through the PA back roads, a car behind us decided he wanted to pass us, crossing over the double yellow. A car was coming around the corner from the other direction, forcing both cars to stop. Another car behind the oncoming car swerved out of the way, unable to stop, coming over to our side of the road. We both clenched our brakes, and with the wet roads slowing our stoppage time, we skirted off the road into the grass to avoid the danger zone. Luckily, the car stopped in time, and she made sure we were alright. The car that tried to pass us must have been in a real hurry and kept driving on. We were fine, despite being a little shaken, and safely made it to the hotel, which Kim treated us to.
Re-enter moms. Our hotel has free apples in the lobby! And a hot breakfast buffet! We're pretty stoked for that. After a great dinner at a local restaurant, we're now hanging out in the room, resting up for our last 3 riding days.
Seeing you had already called me and told me the harrowing story, I disregarded your warning to not read the paragraph and read it anyways. Your telephone version was much milder!! I should have listened. Stay safe on the last 3 days. :)
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