Across Illinois and Missouri

HILLS! Who knew Missouri had all these hills?

Since we left Mendota Thursday morning, we've been able to make up time for our day off due to weather and we really feel like we have our legs under us again. We've had great weather and even a little bit of a tailwind (heading west!) for the past couple days.

On Thursday we went 94 miles to Galesburg, IL. As we were rolling up to our campground we spotted a produce stand and picked up a fresh honeydew melon, some peaches, a tomato, and a green pepper. It was a great treat after a nice day of riding.

On our way out of Galesburg in the morning we got caught by a local cyclist who rode with us for about 15 miles. He gave us a good alternate route and we were really grateful for the local advice. We had a tailwind the whole day. We passed through Nauvoo, IL which is a really important historic site for the Mormons. It was a really unique experience to go through this town and see so many Utah license plates and big families. We didn't spend much time there because we wanted to get down the river further. It was very nice to ride along the big, wide Mississippi. Wespotted tons of herons, turtles, and saw some fish jump. We camped at the city park in Hamilton, IL. There was a pool at the park and we spent some time cooling off after a 92 mile day. It was fun to pull some flips and twists off the diving boards. I still get really excited when I can show off for Jenny. She humored me by requesting special dives and clapping when I attempted them.

That night we had a run in with a pesky racoon. I woke up in the middle of the night after a crash near the picnic table. After shining the flashlight over there, the racoon scampered off. I got out to check out the scene and realized that he/she had completely unbuckled our food bag, unrolled the duffel, and was muching away on the peanuts and cookies that we had just bought that night! I could barely sleep the rest of the night and every little noise caused me to jump.

We did not expect to get to our planned destination the next day because of our rain delay, but we got some great weather and I used that special incentive that magically makes Jenny's legs 10 times stronger....After I said that we could probably get a hotel room if we made it the 120 miles to Moberly, MO she seeemed to have a fire in her eyes that didn't let up until she hit the soft mattress at the Moberly Inn : ) We had a tail wind in the morning and beautiful rolling hills. Well, they were beautiful for the first 20 minutes or so and then they started to become tortourous. The hills did not let up the entire day and I was really amazed that we had the stamina to keep going. We had lunch at a Chinese buffet in Monroe City, MO and suffered through Chinese food burps the last 40 miles into Moberly (Sorry, maybe that is too much information : ). All in all it was a great, memorable day. We were sweaty and tired as we walked into the hotel, but we both had huge smiles on our faces!

Yesterday we rode from Moberly, MO to the Baltimore Bend Winery outside of Waverly, MO. I called Richard, the winemaker, and asked if we could pitch a tent outside their tasting room. He said that would be fine and we pushed through 15 hot miles in the afternoon to get there by 5:00 PM after a 85 mile day total. After a short tasting we bought a bottle to bring with us to Kansas City to celebrate with my aunt and uncle, grandma, and cousins. We had a very nice night with some of the best star views I've ever seen. The morning greeted us with a beautiful sunrise and we were off.

We rode 65 miles into Lee's Summit, MO today and arrived at my Grandma's house at 1:00 PM. It was actually a pretty tough ride with more hills (imagine that!). Thanks to Greg for the expert directions on bringing us into town, but I think he wanted to give us an extra little workout before our rest day by bringing us over some big rollers. Grandma treated us to a nice Mexican lunch and we had frozen custard for desert. We had a great KC BBQ dinner tonight at my aunt and uncle's house and we got to see all three of my cousins that I hadn't seen in over 5 years. It was great to catch up, see their children, and hear what's going on in their lives. I am so happy that we were deliberate about making family an important aspect of this trip. It has definitley reaffirmed my desire to stay in touch across space and time with those close to us.

It's been about 450 miles in 5 days...we've got a rest day tomorrow and hope to explore KC with Sandy and Grandma. Then it's westerward through Kansas to begin the steady climb to the Rockies. Colorado here we come!

Lots of Love,
Scott and Jenny