May 20, 2023
Dolenjske Toplice to Boršt pri Dvoru
Buienradar lied about the weather and instead of no rain, we had rain all night. Normally I quite like the sound of rain on the tent, but this time I was lying in bed trying to imagine the logistics of packing and getting underway with everything wet and a toddler. Tobias also woke up and took a while to settle. He was warm and dry, probably just a bit confused about the situation. But it was cold out of the sleeping bag and on the ground while I was trying to sort him out.
At least the rain had stopped in the morning, which was about the maximum positivity James and I seemed to be able to muster. Neither of us were feeling any enthusiasm for getting on the bike. We were tired, our legs felt like lead, and our kid was being exceptionally cranky. We also had to do 2 full outfit changes before we even got underway. I didn't mind the reusable nappies when it was dry and they could hang behind the trailer. I'm getting pretty disheartened with it when it takes 4 days for anything to dry.
We had a short day planned today to stay with warm shower host over on the other side of the river. We started late because they were going to be out all day so we couldn't arrive until after 5, rather than at about 3 when we usually end our day. So we biked a few kilometres down the road to the supermarket and stocked up since the next day was sunday and we planned to camp. Then we biked another few kilometres to a castle for lunch and had to do yet another outfit change. The sun came out for a moment, but it was raining again by the time we left. At this point I was starting to wonder if we should even go stay with our hosts. We had to climb about 200m to get their house and we were crawling up every faint incline. I was tired and cranky and finding it very hard to be patient with Tobias - he's almost 2 and doing fun things like throwing your glasses on the ground to get a reaction. I wasn't sure I'd be able to act sane and interact socially.
Tobias woke from his nap when we reached the castle at Žužemberk and was a bit happier, and we had at least a little more sunshine, so after killing an hour at the cafe (we thought we'd go to the castle, but it doesn't open until June) we started on the climb. The funny thing is that the more elevation we gained, the happier I got. So by the time we were 1km from our destination and a big crane was blocking the road and we had to take a detour and gain another 70m on gravel of elevation I just laughed.
Suzana and Renato were already there when we arrived at about 5.30 and they instantly got Tobias' loyalty with icecream, and ours with a beer. They are renovating an awesome house up on the terrace and we spent the evening with them in the summer kitchen overlooking the forest and the valley. They even built a little hut for their warmshowers guests. We had some sausage stew with fresh bread for dinner, the sun was shining, and we finished the day only a few kilometres away from where we started but feeling significantly better and ready to tackle a few more hilly days into Ljubljana. Very glad to have made the choice to stay with them.
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Today's ride: 29 km (18 miles)
Total: 1,017 km (632 miles)
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Beter weer nu hoop ik. En veel plezier in Ljubiliana! Hier ook fijn voorjaarsweer.
11 months ago
11 months ago