We went across the street to a Deli/store for breakfast. Mmmm... good breakfast burrito. Very busy place, but then it must be the only "restaurant" open in Van Buren since the flood. Over 100 homes were lost in town.
We left town, by climbing back up to State Route 60. Another hot, humid day for us. There were a lot of "lumpy" hills. Not as steep, but just as many. We still had our nice shoulder on Route 60. There were only two opportunists for stopping places. A Deli/Store/Hardware/Bait store. We made sure we had all of our water bottles full, some with Gatorade and some with plain water.
Not much happened today, just up and down, slow long climbs in sweaty hot weather. We had one other opportunity for a water break before we got to the next town of Charleston MO. The only excitement for the day was when we got to Charleston, the roads got very confusing. We had trouble finding the right one. We finally found the right one!
We are just north of where Tropical Storm Cindy is reaking havoc on the Gulf Coast. If you look at the storm tracker, it's comin......... No campground (that aloud riff raff tents) was available to us in Poplar Bluff, so we stayed at a motel. We passed two campgrounds coming into town, but we can't stay there.
After our shower we walked down the street to a Krogers for dinner supplies. We have been searching for some IPA beer since we left home, practically. No luck at Krogers, so we walked down the street the other way to see what we could find. It's all good if you like Bud, or Bud Light. Oh well, doesn't matter anyway. It's just a new game that we play!
Poplar Bluff, MO - Charleston MO
Today was a little cooler, and overcast day. The storm is coming! It wasn't supposed to start raining until later in the day. The terrain for the day is definitely flatter. We are in a Delta area now, getting close to where the Mississippi River and the Ohio River converge. Traffic was picking up as well, but the shoulder was still nice. We stopped at a McDonald's for something cold to drink. While we were there we talked to a group of locals that were having their coffee hour. They were amazed that we could ride our bicycle all the way from California. I guess I can seee their point, but just another little bike. One of the men told us about the very narrow bridge we had to go over to cross the Mississippi the next day. We have ridden over some crazy bridges in our travels. We were trying to decide the craziest/scariest. The two we came up with was 1. Crossing the Columbia River near Portland OR. Very narrow, no shoulder, metal grated bridge. We flatted (two tires) at the same time and ended up WALKING most of the day pushing the bike. By the time we reached the other side, we had quite a line up of cars behind us. Most of them were not very happy with us. 2. Bridge over the Penobscot River in Maine. Very high, very narrow and very windy, scary ride! 3. Coos Bay bridge in Oregon. Since it was grated, and there was a sign that said we had to walk on the NARROW sidewalk, we were walking across and heard a horn blowing, a WIDE load trailer was coming at us blowing the horn. We stopped stood beside the bike, against the rail, held our breath and the trailer made it through. Whew that was a close one. So bridges are scary sometimes.
Since the storm was coming when we checked into motel, we asked about possibly staying two days. She said well, we'll see. We watched the radar all night, sure enough it started to rain just as we were starting to leave in the morning. I had made a tentative reservation at a motel in Cairo, IL that was
about 20 miles ahead. On the other side of the bridge. Just as we got to the other side of town it stated pouring harder. I don't mind the green rain (from the radar), it's when we have the yellow's and red's that it gets less fun. The scariest part is making sure people can see you. We did everything we could to stand out. We had TWO flashing red lights on the back, one flashing light on my head, Hap had a light on his head. And we had on our brilliant yellow rain covers over our panniers.
We stopped at the truck stop on the other side of town to try and wait out the worst of the storm. Problem was there was reds and yellow on the radar. We ended up staying there for a couple of hours. I had my second breakfast while we watched the rain. We got into a fun conversation with a trucker. He was from Texas, drove all over the country and had 12 kids! He had retired from another trucking company and was planning to retire again next November.
The rain finally let up and was "green" again. So off we went! We had about 8 miles or so to the bridge over the Mississippi. There was quite a bit of traffic going to the bridge. Most of them gave us plenty of room, no problem. But there was one (there's always ONE!) truck/camper trailer. He came up behind us, giving us plenty of room. He waited for a car to pass coming toward us. Alll was going well when all of a sudden he accelerated to within inches of our back tire. I was watching him in the mirror. Not sure what he was thinking but all he had to do was go around. I turned to look at the driving, when his wife opened the window and started yelling at me, then the dog started barking. Not sure what the point was, but I think she must have said something important. All I know is we all missed each other.
Going across the big bridge really wasn't that bad, because a semi truck stayed way back from us, and That slowed the traffic way down. We got off the road as soon as we crossed the bridge. Thanks Mr. Trucker. Cairo was on the other side of the bridge in Illinois. Illinois is our eighth state. Only two more to go. Almost home, maybe 500 miles left.
There were no restaurants or grocery stores in Cairo, so we stopped at the Dollar Store and got some
frozen dinners for supper. When we checked in we again asked the girl about maybe staying another
day. She said no problem.
We woke up to pouring rain, red and yellow on the radar with clearing for tomorrow. Guess this will be our day of rest!
Tearing down house after flooding in Van Buren MO
Breakfast in Van Buren MO
Leaving Van Buren MO
Water Break
Flatter riding going into Charleston MO
MCDonald's Coffee Hour
We are just north of Tropical Storm Cody
Parking the bike at the truck stop Charleston MO
It's still raining!
Greens, yellows and reds
Leaving Charleston MO
Cleaning the chain in Cairo IL
