Springfield SD

The Siiiiiiimpsons! Taking a rest day in South Dakota. This is a beautiful town on the banks of The Lewis and Clark Lake. This pic was taken at a park intown. I've become very introspective out here. With little human contact the mind starts to breakdown everything in strange ways. I've learned a lot about myself, some good, some bad. I thought that I could change myself with this journey, but I've realized you can't change yourself, only accept yourself for who you are. This sounds easier than it is, because to do that you have to accept all those around you too. Everyone is an aspect of your ownself. Larisa said to me awhile back, the things we dislike most about people are the things we dislike about ourselves.

When the going gets tough...

Currently, I'm near Sioux City, IA. I've taken some long pulls on the bike this week to make up for lost time. In turn, my entire body is sore. I'll be in South Dakota tomorrow, though, which makes up for it. The further out I get, the fewer and fewer my resources are. This will be the last major city for awhile so if the posts become fewer, don't worry, I'm probably just no where near civilization.

The Gonzalez Family

These are my cousins I stayed with while in Kansas City. From left to right we have: Tommy, Missy, Aleesha, Mike, Tony, and George. George is my 1st cousin who is married to Missy, the rest are their kids (as you can guess). They were all great, we had such a good time. Went to Worlds of Fun, and rode a bunch of roller coasters. I drank to much, fell down, and busted my knee up pretty bad. It's still sore, but was worth it just to hang with family. And they didn't even laugh when I sucked it up in pool and bowling.

On the 8th day God said let there be ketchup

I've made it to East St. Louis, IL. I can tell I'm not in the south any more for three main reasons:
1. The accents have changed from the southern draw, to a New Englandish- MidWestern thing.
2. The roads are actually marked. Thru GA,TN, and KY I was lucky to get one sign every other intersection. Here, everything is marked. Every road, state park, everything.
3. Finally, the roads have shoulders. It sounds silly but when huge trucks are flying by you its nice to have some where to go.
This is a pic of the worlds largest bottle of ketchup. Its in a town called Collinsville, IL. People here have been very friendly. I'm at the foot of the Lewis and Clark Trail. I'll be taking this all the way to Oregon. Up until now I've been on the trans america or making up my own route. It a relief to have all the guess work out of the way.

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The Legend of Piasa

This is a depiction of a legendary creature from Ancient Native American folklore. Piasa was a bird large enough to pick up a whole deer, and carry him away. Piasa got a taste for human blood, and killed whole villages. He lived in these caves in Illinois.
THIS IS AN OLDER POST THAT NEVER MADE IT TO THE BLOG!!

Missouri

Last saturday I camped in a town called Hermann, where apparently on saturdays, they line up their classic cars in the Hardee's parking lot. Wiskey Tango's revved engines and peeled tires all night. I guess every small town has that in common.

I've made it to Kansas City, KS. While in KC, I'm taking a few days off from biking to visit with relatives and relax sore muscles. I figure I'm about one third of the way through my trip. It took a little longer expected, but this isn't a race. And until the money's gone, I'm going to push on.

The Weather has held up especially well. I've only seen hail once and been rained on while riding just a couple of times. The injury report goes as follows:

Right Knee: sore, possibly from over straining it. I think my right side is dominent, which leads to it getting wore out faster.

Left Shoulder: searing pain everyday on the bike. This I attribute to my accident a few years back. That shoulder and side of the neck has never healed right.

More to come later.

Piasa's Caves

And then the sky smiles

Just as the hail stopped and the ground was steaming of melting ice, two rainbows showed up. What a wonderful world.

Bottomless Pit (thats about 150 ft. Deep)

What is this?

Big Mammoth Cave KY

I'm in west KY, hoping

I'm in west KY, hoping to be in IL tomorrow. If it wasn't for the few remarkable people who open their hearts to strangres this world would be very dark place.