Day 15 Springfield to Hodgenville, KY.  63 miles.
Early take off to Bardstown in 2 waves. Craig left early to get to a Rotary meeting in the Old Talbott Tavern. 20 miles away for lunch.

 
Greetings from a smaller KY hound. Likes to jump out in front to impede your progress, while his buddies attack from the rear.  Scene from Western KY. 

Sharon got separated from Rod going into town, led to near abandonment of her x-country quest. We had a 2 hr pow-wow where everyone was completely honest about expectations, concerns, etc. Lots of sparks, but very necessary to keep our party together. I (Craig) have to be more careful about pushing the schedule too much. Got to have fun. I don't think this has been fun (fun enough) to date. Just pedalling, all day, with some breaks a mini marts for refueling. Drag into camp late...usually without showers or laundry facility. Very hot day at 90F+.  Another pasta bar for dinner. Went to county park for free camping to discover it was locked and no one with a key. So we camped behind the school.

 
Hodgenville, home of Abe Lincoln. And they are proud of him ... as well they should.

Day 16  Hodgenville - Rough River Rec Area.  59 miles. .  Early departure. First stop at Lincoln birthplace. An impressive memorial and replica cabin. City is preparing for 2009 bicentennial of Lincoln birth. One encounter with Amish buggy. with early arrival in camp, about 3pm. Changed time zones, so dark earlier. Nice resort area, but reservoir water very low. Overnight raid by racoons. Opportunity to try dog spray for the first time on the rascals. They made off with my little stash of goodies. Still hot and dry. Farmers along the way are complaining about no rain. Rarely have irrigation, so rely on rainfall.

Amish buggy. 2 kids on ride with pa to get fuel for their pump. They don't use modern machinery or use electrcity.

Day 17 to Sebree, KY.  75 miles.  Pretty easy day. Spirits are high. Only one more day in KY, then off to Illinois. Overnight accommodations at First Baptist church, serving as a cycler hostel. We shared wonderful accommodations with Jeff and Mary from Seattle. They'd started a couple of weeks ahead of us. Taking a more leisurely approach. NIce facilities including plush couches, mattresses on floors, full, clean kitchen, shower/laundry, big screen tv. We are all in wonderful spirits with all comforts of home and new friends from home to talk to. I write this in the parsonage, end of day. Violet, pastor Bob's wife, did our laundry...and sent us to bed with homemade ice cream and a goodie bag of treats.   Tomorrow, it's an easy 55 mile day to Illinois.

  wild woman...ready to harvest

As of end of day 17, we have cycled 1080 miles. We get stronger everyday. Heat is the biggest obstacle now that the terrain has become quite gentle.

Day 18 to Cave in Rock, Illinois  a park on the Ohio River.
June 2, 2007, Sat.
7:00am start while air cool and winds calm. We hoped for breakfast 12 miles down the road in Dixon, but cafe no longer in business. So common for this region. Went another 8 miles for breakfast in Clay. Engaged in conversation with a retired coal miner, Joe. As he sat down at our table, he spilled his tall glass of ice water on our table. His wife hopped over to help clean up after him. The waitress brought him a toddler's sippy cup. Everyone in the cafe enjoyed a good laugh at his expense. Joe told us a bit about the current coal industry in Kentucky. They frown on scrapping the tops off hills now, so the mines in Western KY that are underground are busier than the better coal found in Eastern KY, because there, they have to rip up landscape so much. Now in library in Marion. About 12 miles from the Ohio River and the little ferry that will take us into Illinois. Camp is on the other side. We will stop to visit an Amish store en route, but should be into camp early tonight...spending another night with Jeff and Mary (Seattle), before charging ahead of them on our way west. 

 Free ferry from KY to IL across the
Ohio River.

Crossed the Ohio River on a small ferry to village of Cave in Rock. The cave is scene of a few movie sets. NOthing special ... especially for someone (sharon & I ) that live in an underground cave. Nice and cool, domed ceilings.  Just like home. Humidity is sapping our strength, after a very good morning with lots of miles early, we wilted on the Ohio at the campground/park. Only 55 miles, but nothing better place to stay down the road, so we opted to have an "easy" day, spend another with Jeff & Mary. Mary was married to a teacher at Shorecrest, Barry M, the tennis coach who lived a few blocks from us before selling. Son also grad from Shorecrest. Jeff's relative lives less than a mile away. Very small world.

Big lightning storm tonight. Plenty of rain to freshen the air. Wake up to nice cooler air. Plenty of energy for long day ahead.

Day 19 to near Carbondale IL  June 3, 2007
a long day in the saddle with lots of rollers...some pretty steep. Can't coast down one and up the other side. But we got off to an early start, so kept pushing to arrive in camp at about 6:30p. Last few miles were a bit of a struggle, especially for Sharon. We put in 78 miles, nearly 4,000 ft of climbing. The only hills in otherwise flat Illinois. Nice campground at Little Grassy Lake in a national reserve. Very pretty countryside. Made dinner in camp

 A sorta clean lake for a very hot guy.

Day 20 via Carbondale to Chester, IL  June 4
Getting our bikes tuned up at 2 different bike shops in town. Had met one of the shop's mechanics on the ride in last night. Craig rode with him for several miles, valiantly trying to keep up with the luggage free young racer on his racing b ike.  Did okay for an old man.

Sharon and Craig On the road by 1:00p. Rod still had some tinkering to fix his shifting. Fought very tough head wind and traffic for 38 miles. Thought it was to be an easy turned into one of toughest. Overnight at Cole Park (city park). Free camping, only allowed for cyclists. Also free showers and use of their old/classic swim pool. Free, again, just for cyclists. We 3 the only cyclists on this night. Had a nice picnic shelter with power, water, garbage ... all utilities except for a very handy bathroom. Sharon's getting pretty good at ducking behind a tree. Although I had to remind her when she goes on side of road in tall grass to take off her pink helmet. Kinda ruins the camouflage.

Day 21 Chester to a park in Missouri, June 5
End of 3rd week. Leave Illinois today very early. out of camp by 6:30am. Crossed the Mississippi, just out of camp, but first a stop to see the Popeye statue.

 

Chester, Illinois, home of Popeye creator.
I'm Popeye the sailor man,
I live in a garbage can.
I fight to the finish,
cause I eat my spinach.
I'm popeye the sailor man.

 

  Leaving Illinois, crossing the
Mississippi River.

  Entering Missouri. Our 4th state. June 5. We are now on the homeside of the Mississippi.

 Looking for a breakfast stop about 7 miles down road. No luck on that, so I (Craig) pedalled just ahead of Sharon enough at top of big hill to have a cup of hot tea and oatmeal with raisins and prunes waiting for her at the 10 mile mark. She's been much more easy going lately, so it's nice to give her special favors and consider she runs out of gas before I do. Missouri countryside is very pretty. We like it a lot better than most of other rural areas we've seen. Even though we have lots of rollers (uphill, then downhill), we prefer hills to wind in our face. Wind is steady, unrelenting, never a break, whereas a hill has a goal and reward (coast down the backside).

 breakfast on the road

Upon leaving our late afternoon stop, Farmington, Rod developed a chain problem. He opted to stay back and tinker, letting us go on without map and basic directions ... I have a guidebook, but we were on an alternate route. He was going to try a self fix or limp back to town for possible bike shop.

We enjoyed a ride thru the country, finding our way to Pilot Knob, MO.  A nice little town at edge of Ozark Mtns. No camping allowed in town. Getting dark, so as Sharon enjoyed relaxing at a super modern Sonic in/out restaurant. I found a nice little secluded spot along a river (Sharon opted not to get a motel...she's turning into quite the tough traveler). Then I came to the firehall where the guys were outside chatting. I inquired about an official place to camp. They started calling the mayor, the police dept, everywhere, before one fellow told us we could simply pitch a tent in his nearby yard. As I went to get Sharon, they got ahold of their chief. He came down to give us the keys to the firestation for the night. We slept in the training room, with TV, air conditioning, indoor plumbing, cold drinks in the frig. And we got a tour of all the contemporary equipment and antique fire engine. Sharon got to wear the Captain's hat.  Nice way to end our 3rd week.  

Captain Kenny, happy to show us his equipment and hospitality.

A new chief is is town ... and she doesn't take any guff.

 

to date, by end of week 3: 1350 miles