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Friday 9th July 2004

Steve N Guy do Blue SpringOwl's Bend Camping Area to Houston Motel, Houston. A delightful ride, for the most part - and of only 56 miles. Hilly for the most part, though decreasing. Before we set off we walked to the Blue Spring - and indeed, a wonderful blue spring, about 300 feet deep, turned up at the end of the 1.6 miles path. It's a small river emerging from a rock face a bit like a small Malham Tarn. The blueness of the water is incredible, apparently the Native Americans called it the spring of the summer sky. Such pure blue, and so far from the sea (I'm getting wistful about the coast - I've never been this far from it before!). On the way back from the walk a snake was curled up right in the middle of the path in the remains of an old tree trunk - it had a diamond shape on the back of its neck. We hung around, went back to the Spring for a second look and then tried again - and thankfully it had gone. Stopped at Alley Spring during the day - old mill in wonderful condition (tho' not, apparently, working order yet) - another gushing mass of clear water, this time gushing from a deep green depth. A big hill out of Alley Spring - wow, it was meltingly hot! But then the hills eased off considerably and it wasn't at all difficult to get to Houston (Missouri, not Texas!). Staying in a cheap motel, doing the laundry and catching up with my diary. The nearby presence of a Wal-Mart meant that a beer looked likely (a rare occurence through Kentucky due to the number of 'dry counties'). We walked along the road to the Wal-Mart - not a lot of people do that, walk that is. And then shopped like crazy before a wonderfully large meal.

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