Thursday - June 4th.

Left placerville today (writing the next 3 blogs on June 6th due to no connectivity the last couple days) Let me just say that this trip has just been so amazing and you cannot even imagine the people we have met! The first climbing day and the tough day for James seems ages ago. Our family discussion were along the lines of a survivor episode and consisted of actually voting members off the trip. During the day it 3 for James flying home and me against it (with lots of tears). That night it was 2 to 2. The next day, we had a different kid! He was chatty and full of energy and not one complaint! We had another tough climb but managed 36 to Cooks Station. We had several stops along the way. First was after a very steep downhill and bit of a scare with one of mike's panniers falling off and dragging a bit before it thankfully fell off completely. We stopped and caught our breath and said a prayer! In Fairplay we stopped at a hardware/general store that had been in business for many years. Art was the owner and was very helpful in letting us know what was up ahead. Another gentleman who had lived in the area for a long time was also a big help. The kids rode ahead all day and when we pulled into Indian Diggings school, James held up a business card and announced that we were camping on the school grounds. He spoke with Rusty who was the superintendant/principal/JH teacher of the school. An avid bicyclist himself he offered the grounds, kitchen, bathrooms there and suggestions if we wanted to continue on. It was still early so we said our goodbyes and headed on to Cooks Station. More with next picture...