Mon11Jul16: Pardu, Estonia - Meza Salas, Latvia (117.2km, 776.3km YTD)

Stayed up until midnight to watch the Euro2016 final match between France and Portugal, with 30 teenage Swedish basketball athletes & 3 coaches, but started falling asleep during the second half so went to bed before the final overtime goal.  Portugal 1 - France 0.
Nice morning, a bit of fog but the tents are dry so things are easy to pack.  7am coffee tastes ever better today, no porridge this morning but I can make do with muesli & mango chips & milk.  My departure is in the middle of the pack so there's a few people to chat with as I overtake them.

Off the main A1 highway and to coastal road #331, lined with small houses and holiday cottages, about 500m from the coast.  A national park with a 3-storey observation tower, and a boardwalk out to the grassy beach.  Further down the road is a church made out of brick and stone, beautiful design, sure wish I hadn't fogotten to put the card in my camera last night.  So much for my dreams of a dry day, the clouds have moved in, and a light rain begins falling - for consistency, we've had rain every day of this trip, so it's obvious why the Baltic countries are green.
Small communities and few pedestrians, light vehicle traffic this early in the morning, and at the 44km mark is a sign indicating that we have entered "Latvija".  Another country bites the dust!
Our route rejoins the main highway A1, and enters the major junction town of Salacgriva, before the flagging tape suggests we turn left onto a sideroad and towards the pine forests.  Somehow I made a wrong turn, the pavement turns into rough gravel at 62km, so I miss the road that the lunch truck is on and have to stop and ask for directions from a household of locals.  Very nice young man, he speaks with a British accent and confirms that he had worked in the UK for several years.  Whichever route I'm on isn't too far off the prescribed trail, so another 2km of gravel and I turn right onto some lovely pavement towards Ozolinea.
At the 103km mark I find a Top mini-market, buy some yogurt and a chocolate bar for lunch, and ask a local policewoman for directions.  The usual language barrier, but she confirms I'm in the correct country.  2km further than there's flagging tape indicating a right turn, only about 2km from where our instructions said it would be - that's close by TDA standards.
However, we're back on another Euro highway - the A4 - and this time it doesn't have any shoulders, just lots of semi-trailer trucks coming at me with sprays of water washing me each time one of them passes.

The turn-off to "Meza Salas" Resort is right on schedule, but there's another 5km of gravel road to reach the rural retreat/resort.  Mud splashing up my shoes and the bike's drive train - very sloppy.  Chris and Peter have already arrived, because of the rain I set up my tent under a shelter and then run out and pitch it under a slide in the playground - partial shelter - alongside my bike.
Friendly owner and very cooperative, but the weather is starting to make riders a bit more irritable every day.


An hour later the rain stops, the sun comes up, and the photos makes this place look gorgeous.  Wonder what the weather will be like tomorrow...