Day Four

We made it to Avebury today and enjoyed its henge, museum, and storybook village very much. It was fun to park the bikes and do a little exploring.

There were some very curious and friendly cows in the henge, which was a special treat. 

The hills were pretty darn challenging, but we managed. This was supposed to be a recovery day after yesterday’s significant push, but the climbs made today’s 27-odd miles almost as hard. 

Breakfast was oatmeal, dried apricots, and peanut butter in the campground, followed by a stop at a bakery in town for apple turnovers. Lunch was sandwiches,yogurt, apple, chips, and more peanut butter at a picnic table in Avebury, and supper was pasta and sauce at the Little Owl Campground, where we are currently staying. We borrowed a fire pit and had fun with a campfire after supper. Ruby used a charred stick to paint her eyebrows black. She also lost a tooth!

Around 2 pm, Lyle pronounced today’s cycling not fun due to the endless hills. But just as he was settling into a dreary mood at the base of another long climb, he became entranced by a field of prancing lambs and all was well. Ruby found ways of coping as well...

Tomorrow we are headed to Stonehenge, and then on toward Plymouth. Hoping to do laundry at the Stonehenge campground so that we don’t arrive at Martina and Giorgio’s absolutely filthy on Thursday.

We have five more nights to grapple with the lack of UK campgrounds before we get to Plymouth. Also interesting: According to a fellow camper we met this evening, farmers and landowners are reluctant to welcome campers these days because of a few high-profile, nasty incidents (theft, attacks). I can see why we look threatening - it would be a pretty quick get-away with two kids and two huge bikes...

Meanwhile, every encounter we have — in bakeries, grocery stores, pubs — continues to be friendly and warm. There’s nothing like cycling through the countryside to remind you that people are a lot of fun. — Liv