< ![CDATA[   We're late... we're late... for a very important date... the date we were to be back at our car and heading for home... which is today. Instead, we are in a two bedroom cottage at the "Sunshine Inn" just the other side of Parrsboro. It is a nice cottage. Not too expensive. The only motel for about forty miles in either direction. When we cycled in, around six thirty this evening, the owner and a lady we'd talked to at the restaurant where we had dinner were standing on the porch waiting for us. "Well, there you are... we've been waiting for ya." "You have..." I said, skeptically. "Yep. Three of our guests saw you riding today and when they got here they told us there were a whole BUNCH of folks cycling. We knew you'd be here." "So... did you reserve us a room?" "How 'bout a cottage?" "Sounds good to me." And so, we came to be here, washed and comfy sipping our tea, watching Jeopardy. The first TV of the trip. The girls are excited. Today was our longest ride of the trip: 42 miles. We left the gorgeous Victorian bed and breakfast we stayed at last night in Great Village, Nova Scotia and hit it hard, all day long. We out-ran a rain storm, met two teachers from Manitoba who were touring as well and talked to any number of people who wanted to know WHAT we were doing on the road with so many kids. The usual. We also climbed our first mountain of the trip: 460 feet of elevation in six tenths of a mile. Needless to say, we pushed our bikes up the whole thing. Ouch. The view was beautiful from the top as we looked down at the clouds and shared Skittles and chocolate covered almonds. The ride down was a sheer joy. We hope to ride at least 35 miles tomorrow as well, which is above our average. That will put us within shooting distance of our car by late afternoon on Wednesday... in time to drive all night to get home, hopefully, in time for Tony to fly out to work Thursday morning... at 6:40 a.m. Yikes.]]>