A Free Day - finally. And the Journey continues...

Tuesday was our blessed free day. This was one we really needed - we had ridden nearly 400 miles in the past four days, so when we arrived in Isola del Gran Sasso, we put our bikes into what will become an auditorium at the Istituto Biblico Evangelico and didn't even look at them for about 36 hours. WONDERFUL!

It was fabulous to sleep on actual beds and to not have an agenda. All of the staff were wonderful hosts for us, where even our cooks and drivers got to take a break and relax. Here we are at our first dinner in Isola - great food, although nothing compared to the fare we're used to from Oriano and his helpers...
During the day Tuesday, we were free to do as we liked. I had some work to do and had already maxed out my Spanish capibilities, so I journeyed about a mile or so into the small town of Isola do to do some work and relax. The town sits under the mountain of "Gran Sasso" (Great Rock), and is a picturesque Italian town. Here's one of many shots of the town:
It was actually a blessing that I forgot my European adapter for my power cord for the computer - I had to walk back a little early and got back to the camp before a brief summer storm hit. However, I didn't have a bad office... Too bad I don't have a place like this at York Alliance!
In all, it was a great off day, and we're now ready for the last leg of our journey.

Sadly, because of a conflict with the Giro route and a short day for the race itself, we couldn't make the long climb up Blockhaus. However, we abridged our route and took a shorter but still difficult route. In all, we climbed about 1,000 meters in a short day (about 55K or 35 or so miles). Oriano and company met us in a nice picnic spot (below), where we had a fabulous lunch and began the long drive to our campground for tonight.
After our long car transfer today, we'll head toward Mt. Vesuvius tomorrow, and climb that at the end of the day. We'll camp at the base of the mountain, and then Friday, we'll tour the ruins before heading on through Naples and preparing for our last ride into the Coliseum in Rome.

As the trip wraps up, we're finally settling into a nice routine and enjoying both the riding and the down time. However, we're all anxious to return to families and home as well. Thanks again for following along!