Jackie’s avg speed: 8.7 mph
Scott’s avg speed: mph 12.2 mph
Weather: Partly sunny, 50-60 degrees
Wind: north, northeast

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Our twelfth day of riding was supposed to cover 50 miles and end with camping at the Stanley Blaisdell RV Park. We were out in the cool of the morning and under the dramatic sky a few minutes before eight. A review on one of the travel sites described RV and tent sites and a “clubhouse” with showers, toilets, and laundry facility. Sounded good. A few minutes after 11:00 and 30 miles down the road, we stopped at Jimmy’s Pizza in Stanley to order lunch and call to reserve a tent site. We had not called earlier because we didn’t expect competition at this time of year. Neither did we expect some random dude to answer the phone, telling us we had the wrong number. First things first, we consumed the delicious Hawaiian Volcano pizza (pepperoni, Canadian bacon, pineapple, and jalapeños). 

Before bailing after a mere 30 miles, we wanted absolute certainty that the RV park really was defunct so we launched an investigation. The White Pages had no number listed for this RV park. We pedaled over to city hall. Closed for lunch. We pedaled to the courthouse where I watched the bikes while Scott went inside. A security official spoke on the phone with “Dutch” who said the RV park was in fact closed. We could not call this plan that went awry the “best laid” when we clearly had not done enough to arrange our lodging. A valuable lesson learned.

We checked in to the Microtel in Stanley, which was a few months newer than the one in Tioga and in better shape. (Throughout the trip we try to stay in Wyndham motels - Super 8 and Microtel among them - to rack up points that we hope will come in handy during the busy summer months ahead). With the unexpected free afternoon, I washed my bike in the shower and applied myself to administrative tasks. We got a free dinner because the motel offered free hamburgers and potato chips to guests, an incentive to attract clientele from competitor motels. In bed by 22:00.