More to come...Work in Progress

Dear readers...

Thanks for tuning in on our progress from time to time. Due to computer issues and difficulties in maintaining Internet connections (there have been none in many of the places we've been) I am going to pick up with posting to the blog here after we get home and get organized again. That should be by mid September I would hope. Until then, there are several other riders who are publishing blogs more regularly since they have computers that actually work! Their URLs are listed further down here on my blog.

See you soon!!!!

Fred and Sandy

August 4, 2008 Elizabethtown, IL to Grand Rivers, KY

The morning started early since hot weather was forecast. As we took off and the sun rose the fog that was present early dissipated.

We rode to the Ohio river and had to take a ferry over to Kentucky.



Leaving our corn and soybeans and wheat we entered forested areas and shady roads.
On the road anything can happen. We were riding along and found a 'wide load' truck blocking the road complete with 'flagger'. We had to wait until they put this mobile home in place in the trailer park before we could pass on.


We arrived at our destination, the in Grand Rivers, the Land Between the Lakes' of the Kentucky River and Cumberland River. Nice town with a marina full of sail boats and the home of Patti's restaurant which was in reality several excellent restaurants a miniature golf course, several shops, wedding chapel, and all kinds of neat stuff.

Our motel, the Grand Rivers Inn was owned by Veronica, a very nice lady from Hungary. Most gracious. Of course I couldn't leave without going to the bike store for a tune up.

August 3, 2008 Elizabethville (Illinois)

Today found us riding to Elizabethtown, Illinois on the Ohio River. As by now usual, a nice day's ride. We stayed at the River Rose Inn, an old riverside mansion beautifully restored with memorabelia from Elvis and just about everywhere else. We had a cook out and nice evening on the river watching the barges and the recreational boaters and just generally hanging out (which I am finally becoming accomplished at). Jim, one of our fellow travelers, brouight hsi guitar along on the trip and has been kind enough to let me use it so I just relaxed plunking away on the river's edge. Doesn't get much better than this. More tomorrow.

August 2, 2008 Chester to Carbondale, Illinois

The trip from Chester to Carbondale was, as usual by now, just fine. We have been blessed with such wonderful weather. A tad hot and muggy by the standards of some but I love being on the bike and really like hot weather anyhow so no big deal. We were again on back roads in the country along the Mississippi or near it. We rode along the tops of the levees as shown here. More low lying wet fields though not as many. Still can't understand how folks can get flooded out and come back over and over again. Some of the fields are filled with crops and others with water but I guess to them it's home.

So far along the trip we've seen wheat (Montana and South Dakota), corn and soybeans in Iowa and Missouri and Illinois so this field of sunflowers was a new scene...in fact the only one we've seen so far.
In Carbondale we visited with friends Oved and Marge who we haven't seen since school. They treated us to a nearby peach festival with live music, bingo, great food, and lots of catching up. Great time!

August 1, 2008 Farmington, MO to Chester, IL

Missing a few days but here we are on the trip from Farmington, MO back into southern Illinois. Missouri holds many beautiful sights and many wonderful people but have to admit we won't be missing some of the truckers. Most are polite and give us wide berth but a few...well let's say we could have done without the guy who laid on his air horn. Crossed the Mississippi...again...this time over this steel bridge. Most of the states are widening the roads to accommodate cyclists but they can't build new bridges for us so we just get on, close our eyes and go. If you hold the road they can't run you off but the options are do that or go into the drink. Such fun. Not boring.The blogger has me in a tizzy. Some of the pictures are out of sync but I need to catch up with this so will label them as they appear.

Chester is the home of the cartoonist who invented Popeye and they are really into it. I missed the statue of Popeye himself and blew past the motel on the downhill (that meant going back up hill to get there but we've been up so many hills already that who is counting). Wound up at the bottom of the hill with the McDonalds which we have been frequenting for ice cream many nights...where there is a McDonalds anyhow.

Statue of Popeye's pal Wimpy. This was next to a farmer's market setting up in the morning as we headed out of town.Everything in Chester is Popeye. The Spinach Can Collector doubles as museum, tourist trap and store.
One of the Statues in Chester. This one is Olive Oyle and Sweet Pea.
Just one of so many peaceful roads we've traveled. Can't take pictures of them all. We are riding on Interstates, US and state highways and then back roads like this one in the country. All offer beauty and challenges.
We are in Missouri here (I said the pictures were out of order). Had to find a cool spot to rest and have lunch. Sacred Heart Church and school (not pictured) filled the bill on a hot day providing some shade.
Had to take this one. It's August and the corn is really high.
This one is on the way back into Illinois.
And this is the entry into Chester and Popeye and his pals.

July 26th, 2008 St. Louis

Rest day in St. Louis. Also my birthday. Spent the day cleaning up the bike, visiting with our friends Selena and Adrienne who drove us to REI co-op where we bought the store and then had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Yummy. I can't seem to pass up a bike store without buying something that has worn out or will soon.

The Arch in St. Louis the first evening there. Quite a sight to see. The courthouse across from our hotel below. Went for a little walk to the arch and then back and they were having a fireworks display for my birthday! Didn't quite get the pictures. Somebody said it was for some lesser reason but quite a nice display.

The arch on the morning of the 27th by daylight.
As with so many places, we must go back to further explore St. Louis with it's zoo and beautiful parks, not to mention seeing the Budweiser Clydsdales again.

July 24, 2008 Quincy, IL to Hannibal, MO

No pictures today. We have been blessed with wonderful weather...until today. Since each day ends at a new motel (except for rest days) we ride, rain or shine. It rained. In fact, there were thunder storms in the morning in Quincy. We left as the lightening was abating but it rained for much of the morning's ride. We got to Hannibal, MO and on the way I got a photo of the sign coming into Missouri but not much more. Toured the Mark Twain home and museum and dried out a little with the help of some hot cocoa with Sandy and a few others and then pedaled on to Louisiana, MO where we stayed overnight in a B & B.

July 23, 2008 travels from Ft. Madison, IA to Quincy, IL

Today's travels were exciting. We crossed the Mississippi River on the way out of Ft. Madison, Iowa to Illinois 'enmasse' because of some flap about not taking pictures on the toll bridge since 9/11 or something. Anyhow, we crossed the toll bridge and the toll taker must not have known what to do with a bunch of bicyclists because we crossed free. Sandy, in the truck, had to pay. The trip took us to Nauvoo, Illinois for breakfast (yummy and cheap) and then into the town to visit. Nauvoo is a contrasting town where tolerance seemed quite absent in it's history. Seems as though the Mormon Church settled there and the locals were not too pleased and ran them out of town after a great deal of angst. Not quit sure of the whole story because they built a huge Temple and education center which we visited so while they were kicked out, some of them managed to remain here while the rest headed to Salt Lake City in Utah (where we visited long ago)

One of the 'displays' was the home of Johnathan Browning. He was the inventor of the Browning Machine Gun but a ton of other things as well. The son of a farmer, he decided he didn't want to farm so he bacame a blacksmith, gunsmith and inventor. He invented special house nails and the house had a well inside so they had indoor plumbing long before anyone else. Very interesting.

Further travels led us through Illinois along the Mississippi River with flooded fields and sandbagged houses. A bad day of biking beats a good day of anything else but I'm glad we don't live in such a flooded out area. We had to re-route part of the journey because the road we were to travel was flooded out. All in a day's riding. Some folks still seem to rebuild year after year rather than move. To each their own. A bunch of pictures follow:

Catch up time. July 22 - August 2, 2008

Well, it's time to catch up on a few days travels. Tuesday the 27th found us traveling from Wapello to Ft. Madison, Iowa. I didn't get any pictures but we rode along the flooded areas of the Mississippi River. There was one road that we had to detour because it was flooded in a low lying spot. Oh well, the best laid plans sometimes go astray but it made for more bicycling miles and that is good. It also made me thankfully we don't have flooded areas like that at home. Wednesday the 27th we traveled into Illinois to Quincy, the home of the Lincoln-Douglas debate passing through Nauvoo with it's Mormon Temple and saw some of the buildings. We visited the shop of Mr. Browning who invented many things including house nails and the Browning machine gun. Rather brilliant and versatile in his inventions.

July 20-21, 2008 The trip from Dewitt to Wapello, Iowa

Well, should we continue or not? There WAS a road here!!! Says so right here on the map!!!
Maybe was, but not any more!!!!!
Being too lazy to backtrack we decided to forge ahead and portage the two areas of river to get to the other side...
And we made it.....

Well, the trip across Iowa has been anything but boring. I still get excited about corn. When we were in Dyersville we learned that as of about two presidents ago (Back when gas was a buck and change a gallon) only 3.4 percent of all Americans are involved with agriculture, i.e. feeding the rest of us and the world and making ethanol for our cars. When we rode from Dewitt to Wapello we saw what the media would have you believe is all of Iowa. It's not and we had a nice chat with the owner of the motel, the "Roy El Motel", in Wapello who set us straight. Most of the state's corn and livestock are fine. The small percent of folks who were hit with the storms were hit hard though and it's easy to feel sorry for them but they are picking up the pieces and going on with life. In Buffalo Iowa there was no power and the tree and electric crews were working to clean up the mess. The gal at the convenient gas station where we got my new power drink, V8, and said they didn't expect any phone service or electricity for a few more days. The stuff in the cooler would melt but everyone was cheery. Cash only though. Credit card machines require phone lines. In Wapello the motel owner, and elderly gentleman, we talked to...and I..couldn't understand how the folks who get flooded out year after year continue to rebuild on the same place knowing it will happen again. Anyhow, today's pictures are on the final leg of our journey on the road from Dewitt to Wapello. Except there was no road!!! It had been washed out. So, left with the choice of backtracking for another hour or so journey or wading across the river, we did the intelligent thing...we waded across, got in, washed down our bikes and lubed them, showered and had our happy hour and map meeting where we reorganized our route to avoid further such diversions. The results were smooth riding into Ft. Madison. After the map meeting we are eating in at the motel. More tomorrow.

Rest day in Dyersville

In the morning I cycled into downtown for a haircut and browsed around. They have a beautiful Basilica there. The barber told me that the flood waters had come up to the second set of steps on the Basilica. It is a miracle that it was spared and even with the water the downtown fared better than Waterloo.

In the afternoon we went to the National Farm Toy Museum. We got a prelude with a real tractor parked next door to our motel and the restaurant we ate at.

This tractor was wooden outside.This (below) was one of the first toy tractors collectors could get. It was made by the Ertl toy tractor company in Dyersville.There were TONS of toy tractors....two full floors full in a very large building.A Ford for Denny,A Caterpillar for Lou...And an International Farmall for Bob...

Gotta run. Map meeting time. Enjoy. Drop us a line if you get the chance. Most of you have our email address. And have a wonderful summer. We are.

Fred and Sandy.