Day 63-66

Day 63 Pilot Knob to Ozora

We grabbed some breakfast at the Hitchin Post Restaurant, across the street from our pavillion/home for the previous night. To my surprise, there were two smashed beetles next to where my head was and Mark said he saw them headed straight for my hair in the dim light when he was going to sleep! He smashed them to pieces for me, oh how sweet! Maybe I should sleep with something over my head!!!!

We made it to Farmington after 17 miles and grabbed some caffeine, coffee and mountain dew usually do the trick! After talking with a local, we found out about the winerys close to Coffman another 25 miles away! We hopped on our vehicles and began thinking about a nice refreshing taste of wine! We met a very nice couple who bought us a glass of wine, they were celebrating their 26th year anniversary! Another couple gave us 20$ to support our cause! I tell ya, its teuly amazing how generous people are, even complete strangers!?! We rode another 20 miles, and met George W. Lawson, a westbound dude who carried an insane amount of water! He showed us a picture of him holding a roll of toilet paper and taking a dump by a no dumping sign! It was pretty classic, not gonna lie!

We rolled into Ozora, basically a truck stop/gas station four way corner and found our favorite place to eat lately. We ate Subway for dinner, once again!!!! After a lovely dinner we went across the street to the motel and asked the front desk if we could pitch our tent in the grass patch in front of the closed down bar and frog infested pool that was murky green! They said it was fine but if we got a bug bite that it wasnt their responbility, whatever that was suppossed to mean! We literally slept by a marsh, and had to be careful where we walked, it was like quick sand but muddy grass instead. Ha! I actually found it quite funny! We took sink showers at the gas station and I went to bed thinking I was going to get attacked by a large bug of some sort!

Day 64 Ozora to Carbondale

We woke up in marsh land, grabbed a few hearty snacks at the gas station and were on our way for a 75 mile day! We mastered bike dancing, could possibly be a new sport!

We entered Illinois, across the Mississippi River and into Chester: the home of popeye! We snapped some photos and grabbed some lunch at the grocery store, we sat inside on a bench and people watched for awhile until the rain began! We decided it was only a light sprinkle and kept riding, southern Illinois is beautiful! Rolling hills and green fields and lots of trees! The storm was chasing us all day but somehow we made it to Motel 6 just in time! I took a shower as fast as I could and Mark was glued to the television! We slept in a lovely, real bed and enjoyed the use of the air conditioning! We planned on meeting Irene, Marks mom the following day and taking a rest day, the first one since Fort Collins!!

Day 65 Rest day in Carbondale

The day consisted of going to the bike shop, WalMart, the laundry mat, and Applebees! It was a productive rest day and so nice to see a familiar face! Poor Irene was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic and after driving for eight hours she made it!

She went to all the trouble of bringing us both new clothes and plenty of food in an ice chest! We gave her all the stuff we didn't want and exchanged some of our old stuff with the new. We downsized a bit to lighten our load for the Appalachians! We enjoyed each others company and got a good rest in a bed for the second night in a row! Thanks again Irene! It was so great to see you and we will see you again very soon!!!

Day 66 Carbondale to Eddyville

We didnt wake up until 9:30, I blame it on the beds! After Irene's hotelmade breakfast which was delicious, we picked up our bikes, had a photo shoot and pedalled out of town! We said our goodbyes and planned to ride 60 miles to Eddyville.

It seemed that today, EVERYONE was mowing their lawns as we passed by their house, church, school, whatever! It was very strange! All day we encountered great roads! Not much traffic, not too steep, and beautiful country! We rolled into Eddyville about 6:30 and found Hayes Campground, about 1 mile off route. It was horse friendly you could say and our campsite was directly next to a horse stall! Our neighbors showed us their awesome RV equipped with horse and human quarters! We met Rebel, the black stallion, and when he went pee, it literally sounded like someone turned on a fire hose! We met another man from washington named James who we joked and chatted with for a bit. He gave us some money out of the blue and told us to have a safe trip.. No questions asked! At that moment, as we were siting on the picnic bench, boiling water for some mac and cheese, the storm approached and conquered! It poured cats and dogs and we ran under the office porch for shelter!

As we walked back to camp, there were rivers running down the sides of our tent and we were happy to find that somehow our tent was perfectly dry! We slept like rocks and were hoping to find the storm gone come morning time!

Kristen