What I learned

--the road smells like tar, sweat and roadkill
--California has forests; Missouri has the woods
--what a woodchuck looks like as it crosses the road (and what a woodchuck looks like when it didn't quite make it across the road)
--people are fascinated when you tell them how far you've ridden your bike
--Brent Futrell will bark like a dog and chase that dog down the road so I can get by without being bothered
--nachos with bbq pork are a nice surprise
--every small town is proud of something (East Peru, Iowa home of the Red Delicious Apple; Indianola, Iowa home of Casey Blake, LA Dodgers third baseman;Red Oak,where most magazine subscription renewals go)
--the corn in Illinois looks a lot like the corn in Iowa, HOWEVER, the corn in Missouri has trees at the perimeter
--dumptrucks on the road are almost as bad as 18 wheelers when you're on a bike
--riding 100 miles for fun once or twice a week is OK, any more than that and it becomes a chore
--loose meat sandwiches in eastern Iowa are like sloppy joes without the sloppy. And people love 'em.
--living in a tent for more than a week can be a bit much
--I can ride 117 miles in a day, if need be
--it's good to have friends and family who will listen to you from the road and be oh-so supportive and helpful
--And though I didn't complete what I set out to do, I will still be the only teacher at my school who rode her bike from Omaha to St.Louis over the summer!

 

Downtown St.Louis in the rain on July 28. I"ll be back.

 

Rainy day in St.Louis, where we didn't have much time--heartbreaking because the Cardinals were playing. When I turned down a scalper's offer of buying a ticket, he asked, "Do you like baseball?" "More than you know," was my reply as I walked past him. I'll get to the stadium someday when I'm not on a bike.

 

Yet, my friend Tricia was no where to be seen in this neighborhood

 
And who knew that Popeye actually had a home?? The more I'm on the road and off the interstates, I learn that every small town is famous for something.

 

And after you cross the Missouri River, you're in Hannibal, Missouri--note the landscape across the highway, just in case you forget who Hannibal is famous for.

 

Here we are just off Interstate 72 in Missouri. Big bridge, fast cars. Bridges aren't exactly my favorite, tho they seemed more tolerable
when the waterway was only a river.