Ozora to Fredericktown, MO Wed 6/24/2015

     The hills were brutal from Zora to Farmington, MO.  I bought a Missouri roadmap, studied it, and made the decision to go south on US 67 to US 60 W. Divided highway and an emergency lane which serves as a good bicycle lane. Much safer. Up hills are only about a 4% grade which I can pedal up. So I went south on that route to Fredericktown and got a motel there. However, as I was eating dinner at the Chinese restaurant someone stole my flags and flagpole off my bike.

A yard bouquet

Peach and apple orchard behind the farmer.  Notice the high fence to keep the deer out.

Grape orchard.  This is wine country

A Missouri brewery

Meet Orlando Salazar.  Met him at the gas station/Food Mart.  He works for Halliburton in the oil industry.  He helped me get on the right road to head south on US 67.  He grew up in La Junta, CO.  His parents still live there.

His name slipped my mind before I could write it down or I misplaced it.   We had a good visit. 

Now that's a good bike lane.  Especially with that rumble strip out of the way.

Ate Chinese food tonight and this was in my fortune cookie.

Murphysboro to Ozora, MO Tue 6/23/2015

     Today started off real good, but turn south after a couple of hours.  I chose to go a different route because it would cut off several miles to the bridge that crosses the Mississippi River. However, the Mississippi River is at flood stage and is 42 feet above its normal level. That put water over the highway that I was going to take just before you get to the bridge. Detour signs. Took me 15 miles out of my way to get back to the bridge. That ate up a lot of time and energy.

Murphysboro's Main Street at dawn

Chester is where the bridge is that crosses is the Mississippi River

On my way now. I'll soon be in Missouri.

This home overlooks the Mississippi River Valley

This is the view from the home above. In the distance you can see the mountains in Missouri.

Not Kentucky thoroughbreds, but horses anyway.

They're harvesting the wheat in this field. The hauler behind the tractor is full of wheat.

Side view of the wheat harvester.

Not finished harvesting this field yet.

Highway 3 is flooded because the Mississippi River is at flood stage, 42 feet above normal level. This was a long detour.

This is the route used to haul coal from a coal mine to barges on the Mississippi River. About 200 18 wheeled trucks pass by here daily. They're usually driving 67 mph.  They have a governor on their engine. This was very scary.  If they're coming towards me they are full of coal. Going my direction, they are empty.

This is Dave Baril.  I stopped in his driveway to eat some lunch. He had me laughing from the time he drove up with his wit and humor, until we parted.  It was he who told me how many trucks pass his house each day and how fast they drive.

This was a welcomed intersection. The trucks go straight, I turn left.

This is a statue of Popeye the sailor man. This is in Chester, Illinois, the birthplace of this cartoon character in 1932.

The very narrow bridge crossing the Mississippi River.

That water is not very far below the bridge.

Looking down stream.

Looking upstream

This is Larry McGuire.  He gave me an escort across the bridge. I started riding and he pulled in behind me and blocked traffic so no one would pass me until I got across the bridge. That really eased my mind and calmed my nerves.

Another milestone on this journey.

Heading for the Ozarks in the distance.

This is where I begin my journey into the Ozarks.

Lot of storage in these bins.

St. Mary, MO.

Carbondale to Murphysboro, IL Mon 6/22/2015

   
     Leisurely morning this morning. Had to wait until 10 o'clock for the bike shop to open to replace the broken spoke. I decided it would be a smart thing to replace the 24 spoke wheel with a 32 spoke wheel, which I did.  I also had them clean everything real good and give it a good tuneup. They did a great job on it. I feel much more confident riding down the road now with less chance of a spoke 
breaking.
     I decided to stop in Murphysboro instead of going any further. I planned out my route across Missouri, and if I get the mileage that I want each day, I can be in Kansas a week from today.  We'll see in the next few days how rough the Ozark Hills are.

Glad to find this bicycle shop.  Maybe their name had something to do with that.

Dave Lubbs displaying the 32 spoke wheel prior to replacing the 24 spoke wheel.

Dave doing the fine tuning and intricate work that I won't even attempt to do. I was very pleased with their work and their honesty in helping me make the decision to replace the wheel.  Although my mind was pretty well made up that that was what needed to be done.  I didn't want that broken spoke worry hanging over me all the time.  THANKS DAVE.

While Dave was fixing my bike I had breakfast at a cute little restaurant that had this sign displayed. There were no kids running wild in this place

I walked back to the bicycle shop along the railroad tracks and couldn't resist taking this picture as a reminder for us to "grow where we're planted". 

Sunday in Carbondale, IL Sun 6/21/2015

Attended the Carbondale Ward Meetings.  Walked in and felt like I was in my home ward again.   It   was a wonderful day as I got calls and messages from my family wishing me a Happy Fathers Day, and it was.

Primary children singing "I'm so glad when daddy comes home" after meetings.  Then the young men and young women served all the dads root beer floats.

Proud dads watching and listening to their children singing.  I remember being one of those dads when my kids were in Primary.

Patrick Hayes was the first to greet me as I entered the church

James Mathias invited me to dinner with his family in their home.

Jacob Jackson, a young single adult returned from his mission in Germany a year ago.  I told him if he'd come out to Mesa I would let him date one of my beautiful granddaughters.

Carbondale Ward Building

My taxi waiting outside the church to take me back to my motel.

James and Amanda Mathias with their children Samuel, Olivia, Whitney and Caleb.  It was fun being with them and interacting with the kids.

Bay Creek Lodge to Carbondale, IL Sat 6/20/2015

  Beautiful day for a bike ride today.  Cloudy and cool.  No steep hills.

The happy water tower. I like the bowtie.

A white fence Farm.

Zoomed in.

Nice bike lane on this highway.  20 miles just like this.

Arriving in Carbondale, IL.

Southern Illinois University football stadium. The Salukis(Some kind of dog resembling the greyhound and having fringes of long hair on it's ears, legs, and thighs.)  When I rode into Carbondale I thought of my good friend and coaching colleague, Steve Marks. at Poston junior high This is where he went to college. I called him and told him where I was and we had a good visit.

This is Nghi (knee) Lam.  He is with a group biking across America to raise awareness and money for MS.  He is from Florida.