June,6 update

I'm in the library in Hartsville Mo. I just rolled into town about 10 minutes ago.There's not much here, a small main street with half the stores vacant, no cafe open a night, and a choice between camping on the courthouse lawn or going down to a park, about 2 miles away and sleeping next to the lake. I choose the lake and bought some convenience store food for the night.

So, I'm in the library in Hartsville, and this guy walks in and strikes up a conversation with me. He asks the usual questions, where to, how long, where from, etc., then asks me if I'm carrying a gun. I replied that I'm harmless and hope to be unharmed. He then launched himself into a diatribe warning me that Obama was letting Muslim terrorists into the country and it was not safe to travel about unarmed. I had, so far, not run into any terrorists, and frankly, that eventuality had not until then entered my mind. He, in fact was the scariest thing I encountered on my entire trip. While this conversation was going on, the librarian, sitting behind this patriotic American, repeatedly rolled her eyes, and after he left, she apologized profusely  for his behavior.

Free lunch

Downtown Ellington

Add caption

Ellington Hostel

River at Allen Springs

Roadside Artist

Sunday I rode from Farmington to Ellington Mo., A hilly but unremarkable ride with one exception. Along about lunch, I rode into a little community that had a very small restaurant. I ordered a couple of cheeseburgers, a coke, and fries, and while waiting, struck up a conversation with a couple of locals either coming or going fishing. Again they asked me the usual questions, but apparently had not heard about the terrorist threat in rural Missouri. My food came and I ate in a booth across the room. They got up waved goodbye and left. When I got up to pay, I discovered they had bought my lunch.

 The Ellington hostel was rustic but it had a shower and cots. I was tired and fell asleep early, about 9:00. I set the alarm for five intending to get an early start, but it was raining at five so I went back to sleep and didn't wake up till 8:00. Eleven hours sleep is quite a lot for me, I must have been tired.

Anyway the late start caused me a lot of pain. It got hot quickly and I had the most brutal day of riding of my entire trip. I dropped down a steep 2 mile hill to  Allen Springs ( about 30 miles of riding) around one o'clock. I hit 45 miles an hour on the hill and never pedaled a bit. Looking forward to the climb up the opposite side of the river,  I was so hot and tired I laid down on a bench at a canoe rental place and slept for two hours. Fortunately when I woke up the sun was lower and after the one more bad hill, the terrain eased up for the last 20 miles.

I spent the night in a small community center motel in Summerville, Mo. and dreaded getting back on the bike today.

My ride today was simply glorious. Beautiful scenery, rolling hills, cool and low humidity. I ate lunch in a small country store in Ben Davis, Mo. Talked to the owner, a very sweet girl named Rebecca, married with 5 children. I could have stayed there and talked to her all day, but I had to hit the road for the last 20 miles.

I think I'm out of the worst of the hills now, and I'll soon be in Kansas. You will need to keep clicking the start button to see a view I had today outside of Ben Davis.