I love these stories. Glad you survived the crickets and had a successful ride--and that you can stay closer next year.

Eden, you didn't happen to get any pictures of the butterfly thing, did you?

We once--this has nothing to do with bikes--were driving through Idaho on a rock hunting trip. A buck ran into our windshield and shattered it with his antlers (he then kept right on going--he was okay). We stopped at a motel 50 yards up the highway. The room was full of gnats. I mean FULL. Gazillions. We went to the front desk to ask for another room, and she said, "Oh, yeah...there's been a hatch on the river." Defeated, and a little creeped out (why does that sound like the start of a bad sci fi movie? "There's been a HATCH on the river"), we went back to our gnat filled room and tried to sleep with our mouths shut all night.