We woke up on our last day totally unsure of what our bodies would be up for after two very hard days of riding, or even if our brains wanted to ride. Nevertheless we packed up our AirBNB and headed to check out some of the central sections of the UnPAved course between Mifflinburg and Woodward. We parked at an almost non-existent trailhead lot and headed out. I apparently had not paid close enough attention when planning the route the night before, as we almost immediately started with a serious climb, even though we had chosen to go this way to remove the longest climb! Even though I'd gone to bed the night before thinking I didn't want to ride the next day, I found myself in a much better state of mind (perhaps just excited to see my family at the end of the day), the weather was great yet again, and my legs were way better than expected (they honestly never faltered over the three days!). In some ways this was the hardest climb we did. Even though it wasn't nearly as long, the gradient was by far the worst. As we started up, Dad made a cryptic comment about evaluating how felt once we got to the top. After I later confessed that the night before I'd been hoping he would pass on the last day of riding and we would just head home, he'd told me he posed that question because he got out of the car not wanting to ride at all! Thankfully we both kept one another going, he the night before and me by insisting once we got to the top of the climb (with one of the best views rewarding us!) that there was no way in hell I was going back to car and dammit, we were finishing the route! So on we went, down yet another tremendously long downhill where we passed three riders coming up, the leader in an UnPAved jersey. Thanks to Strava's FlyBy feature, Dad later determined they were prepping for the 90-mile route and did nearly the same loop we did, though in the opposite direction! The descent unfortunately changed surface conditions once we turned on to Brandon Rd. It was not like anything we'd seen so far. Large rocks at all angles embedded into hardpacked dirt, sticking out just enough (and every so often loose as well) as to cause you to have to slow down for fear of flats. Another descent spent on the brakes, destroying any chance to bring our speed up... :( Never mind that, though, as this was probably the prettiest of the three routes, with lots of scenic vistas and many very nice roads. Other than the descent previously noted, there was a lot of hero gravel and after a nice sustained climb we got into rollers that were tons of fun. We screamed down one at over 30mph. A long, barely there climb led us back to the car, where we unfortunately packed up too quick to really celebrate the weekend and everything we had accomplished and experienced. We stopped in Raymond B Winter State Park to have a hobo shower in the frigid rinse off station at the beach (we were hoping for actual showers, but no luck) before beginning the long drive home. In summary, I let the stress with my bike mechanical and route issues get the better of me and put a damper on things. We also were just a bit too rushed in general. Despite that it was a great weekend and I'm so glad we went. The weather was great, we got to see a lot of a new area and experience totally different roads and terrain, we had nice accommodations and found some good food to eat, and we helped one another through what was mutually one of our most difficult days on the bike. Of course we also talked a ton and made lots of great memories. Looking back I'm still very glad we went, and look forward to our next trip like this, though now I know how to plan things a bit differently (and will get my damn bike checked before we go!).