Day 16:
Today’s musical selections
– everything is illuminated soundtrack
– crystal castles (lll)
– Mozart l’opera Rock soundtrack
Day 17:
I didn’t write down anything that happened today. It scares me that I can’t remember the last two days. I think we crossed into Illinois and biked 95 miles or something. Stayed at Grassy Lake Campground.
Oh! I just remembered kinda:
Biked 12 miles then crossed into Illinois via Barge! Right when we crossed we were in a town called Cave-in-Rock. One of the shops had a cool wall that was covered in different rocks although most of it looked to be a purple quartz (amethyst probably which is my birthstone).
We were planning on going 80 miles but it ended up being 95 because we tried to take a ‘shortcut’ that ended up being longer than the normal route.
Had lunch (a greasy cheeseburger) at Eddyville Shawnee bar and grill. When we were leaving the cook gave us extra strawberries she had from a cake she was making. Even though they were covered in syrup it was nice to eat fruit.
Did some night riding to get into grassy lake campground. Can’t say I liked biking in the dark but there was enough lights on my bike that it wasn’t hard to see in front of me. There was a shower so that was nice then I set up my tent and went to bed.
Day 18:
This morning at 6am we were rudely awakened by a nasty voice shouting ‘good morning biker friends. You guys better stop by The Marion so you can pay for your campground.’ No one answered because we were all half asleep and confused on why someone was shouting at us. The voice continued ‘hellloooo’. Mark answered groggy ‘yes we will’. The voice didn’t stop ‘Nice tents. I’ll see you later’. Unable to go back to sleep we got up 15 minutes later and complained to each other about how rude the camphost was. Although I took a shower the night before it seemed as if my cleanliness was erased when I put on the same clothes. It had been a couple days since I got to wash my shirt and since I’m only carrying one….you get the picture. We packed up and headed now to The Marion cabin. We asked since we got in so late did we have to pay for our site? She got mad and angrily said ‘yes. Why on earth would we assume we didn’t have to pay?!’ We thought since we got in so late they weren’t going to charge us. To our horror the lady went on. Apparently since we didn’t check in when we got there we had to pay a late fee of 25 dollars. Fortunately Mark defused the situation and said we didn’t want to be rude and wake you up in the middle of the night and we didn’t know where your camp since it was dark when we got in. The lady softened and said ‘fine it was 15 dollars total or 3 dollars a tent’. I happily put in 3 dollars. I would pay that any night for a shower and electric.
There was a dock outside her cabin and we walked out to look at the lake. To our delight there were turtles and fish near the surface. The camp host lady came out and said she could feed them and more will come. I think she felt bad about being rude to us. After she threw in a dustpan of crickets, 7 or 8 turtles of all sizes came up to the surface. She even offered us coffee. I don’t drink coffee but Ellen and Evan took her up on her offer. When they came out of her cabin Evan had another dustpan of crickets which we took turns throwing them in the lake one by one. Finally we couldn’t linger anymore and set out for Carbondale, Illinois. It was only 12 miles away but it went by really fast. We found small cafe to eat breakfast. It was more of a vegan/vegetarian type place as the menu featured things like free range eggs and soysage and non-GMO potatoes. It was a little more expensive than I wanted to spend on breakfast but it was nice to eat real food instead of the gas station type food so it was worth the few extra dollars. I got an omelette with mozzarella cheese, tomato and portobello mushrooms. It also came with home fries and a biscuit that was shaped like a heart. Everything was delicious! After breakfast I wanted to get my chain looked at since it kept skipping when I went into a high gear. (For those that don’t know that means I couldn’t get any speed on the downhills because I would be spinning my peddles because I was stuck in the lower gear. It made uphills particularly annoying since I couldn’t coast as much over them.) (If you’re confused on why my chain was acting up you’ll have to wait to find out as that story falls under the restricted stories)
There were three bike shops in town: Carbondale Bike Shop, Phoenix Cycle, and Bike Surgeon. Carbondale Bike Shop had best reviews online so I went there. Ellen was having problems with her gears and wanted another pair of shorts so we left breakfast early to go down the street. At first I regretted my choice to go to this shop as it was dark and there didn’t seem to be much selection of items. The owner came out from the back and introduced himself as Cho. I hate to admit but I had a hard time understanding him. I kinda wanted to leave and go to the other bike shop but it was too late without being horribly rude. I told him that my chain was skipping in the high gears and I think it might have something to do with the derailleur. He put my bike on the rack and spun my chain backwards before saying there were a couple of tight links. He replaced them no problem and then checked my breaks and shifters just to be sure there was nothing else wrong. The total cost was only 5 dollars as long as I signed his guest book. Worked for me.
The rest of the crew hadn’t shown up yet so Ellen and I texted them to see where they were. It turns out they went to a thrift shop they saw and bought a some america flagged gear. The rolled up to the bike shopped decked out in hats, flags and shirts. In truth it looked rather goofy but it was exactly what we needed as we dubbed our group “Team ‘Merica” several days ago. We spent a couple more hours walking around before we decided to continue. (At this point it was 1:00 and we had 40 miles left) We only got a couple miles down the road when we spotted a Walgreens and stopped to get snacks. They had a section of forth of July stuff so we got some bling to attach to our bikes.
Next to the Walgreens was a Micky Ds and it was practically lunchtime so we stopped yet again to get something to eat. I got fries and a coke. Finally we were ready to put some miles in at 2:00. The terrain was pretty easy until the last couple miles into Chester Il. As we rolled into Chester we came across a park and apparently Chester is the home of Popeye (as in the cartoon). We stopped and took some pictures while deciding what to do. There were two options: 1) an eagle scout cabin with showers or 2) try and camp in a walmart parking lot that was 1.5 miles off route. The choice was clear: The Walmart parking lot. We headed towards the walmart and spotted yet another McDonalds. Evan and Jolee looked the smallest and cutest so we sent them to ask the manager if we can camp next to the store. They said no. We were hungry so we went over to Mcdonalds for some food. Now if you know me you know I really don’t like eating at Mcdonalds. We didn’t know if this was the only place to eat or if there would be something later. I got a Mcflurry and had a brilliant idea to add hot fudge to it. Evan got a southwest salad and it looked so good that everyone else ordered one too. It was soo good and I’m kicking myself on how many times I’ve gotten McDonalds for my mom and not ordered this salad. What was I thinking! After eating dinner we discovered that Mcflurries were 2 for 3 so Ellen and I got another one. Evan wanted to try and ask the Walmart people again. The Walmart people didn’t go for it so we bought food for breakfast and headed to the Eagle Scout cabin. There was some kind of volleyball game going on but they didn’t bother us as we unpacked and took turns showering. There was a restaurant and bar near by so we spent the evening chatting and enjoying the A/C. I was tired so I headed to bed and fell asleep.
Day 19:
Brent alarm went off at 6 but I fell back asleep. Today was our short day! We stacked our miles the last couple of days so we ride 45 miles today. We moseyed around getting ready in no real hurry. Jolee came back from the bathroom and looked pale and said she hit her toe and head on the bathroom door. She went laid back down in the tent. Ellen, Brent and I decided to start the day and try and get to the bike hostel. Evan and Mark waited at the cabin until Jolee felt better. I was glad to start as I was getting antsy. Today was a short day and I wanted to get there as soon as possible to enjoy doing nothing and not worrying about getting to a destination. We biked about 2 miles out of Chester and hit the Mississippi River. We crossed over the bridge and stopped to take pictures of the Welcome to Missouri sign. The wind was blowing and we were excited to discover it was a tailwind! The first 7 miles of Missouri were flat so thought we would cruise right up to the start of the Ozarks.
We were wrong. The route took us north (which had the tailwind) then turned us west. Now we had a side wind which blew us all over the road. It wouldn’t had been so bad if the road wasn’t busy with semi trucks. We had to fight to bike in a straight line. It took us a lot longer to bike the flat section then I thought possible. I couldn’t listen to music or talk without the wind tossing my words to the sky. All of a sudden the Ozarks rose above us. Steep and unyielding. It would have been hard enough to get up them if the wind had been still. Somehow we got over the first section and stopped at a gas station. Bent was already there. The manager told us there wouldn’t be another gas station until we hit Farmington (our end destination) so we were welcome to fill up our water bottles with cold water and ice. We ate some snacks, filled our water and applied more sunscreen before hitting the road again. It seemed if the wind had died down a lot in the span we were in the store. The first 15 miles or so seemed to go by really fast. The hills were steep but the cars were few and the scenery pretty. Ellen and I rode side by side and discussed what we might do after we got to Oregon. I had an idea in my head for quite sometime which I will reveal in the next coming weeks. (Also don’t ask, I won’t tell and it will just annoying me if you pester me).
After riding for sometime Ellen’s water started to get low. I always carry too much water so I wasn’t worried. We noticed that a sign said crown ridge outlook. I thought it could either be a pull off over hang were you could take pictures or a housing development. It was neither. It turns out it was a tiger sanctuary! We tried to go inside a building that said gift shop but it was locked. So we sat down and tried to figure out where we were on the map. Fortunately someone came to the door and asked if we were okay. We asked to fill our waters and use the bathroom. The inside of the building was incredible! Polished marble columns and hardwood floors greeted us. Every surface was free of clutter and dust. On the walls there were pictures of tigers and of baby cubs. The man said if we wanted a tour of the sanctuary started at 1. Unfortunately for us that was in 45 minutes and we didn’t want to stay (although now I wish I did since we got to Farmington so early). Mark had texted me that he was on the road and we didn’t want him to catch us. Ellen and I headed back out with renewed vigor. The road wasn’t your standard black or white anymore. Instead it was a pinkish red. The pale blue sky and fluffy white clouds along with the green trees made the scenery look like something out of a fantasy book. I loved every minute of it. Even though the hills were steep I could see the top of them which in my opinion made them more bearable. Soon we hit Farmington and we pulled up google maps to find Al’s Place. It was a biker hostel that was suggested to stay at from my map. We almost missed it but two other bikers ran out of the house and flagged us down. After locking our bikes in the downstairs room we went to see if there were any beds left. (Yes the place apparently had real beds!) Brent got there earlier than us and managed to reserve four beds. There seemed to be a lot of other people there judging by the amount of stuff although no one was around. I decided to get in the shower while I waited on everyone else to get there. I also put in my laundry since it had been too many days since I had clean clothes.
Afterward Ellen and I walked around town in search of food. We found a convenience store and I bought an ice cream and a microwave Kraft Mac and cheese go make when I got back to the hostel. When we got back everyone else had arrived. They had to take showers still and I was starving so I made the Mac and cheese. Soon everyone was ready to go and we decided to go to CiCi’s pizza buffet. All you can eat pizza, salad, pasta and sofa for 9 dollars, it was too good a deal. Especially since we can’t seem to eat enough. Even though today was a short day I probably ate too much food. Once everyone had eaten we walked over to Walmart to find Aloe Vera and random things. I sat outside enjoying the evening air. All of a sudden Evan runs out and waves a shirt with an American flag decal. Soon everyone had a shirt. We look like a proper team now. It was a must to take a picture wearing the jersey’s outside of Walmart. We headed back to the hostel. The rest of the evening is going to be spent organizing my gear and watching YouTube since there is free wifi.
Today’s musical selections:
Whatta Man by Salt-N-Pepper
Timber by Pitbull
Gypsy and Skies the Limit by Fleetwood Mac
My Baby’s Sweeter by Peter Green & Fm
Summertime – My Chemical Romance
Symphony No. 2 – Largo Maestoso by Brian Crain
Pictures of the last few days:
Love the team spirit! I will bet your bikes are faster than the mowers!