Photo of the Day

The photo of the day will be gone as long as my camera is broken, I'll do my best to get pictures up again soon.

Keegan's Log

Day 29: June 10, Kirksville, MO to Quincy, IL

We got up for a buffet breakfast at the hotel, Holly left for the 5 hour drive back to Lawrence at the same time dad and I left for Illinois. The skies were heavy and gray, the Weather Channel had forecasted rain for whatever that's worth. We followed a small two-lane highway for most of the morning, the traffic was light and a light tailwind made the riding easy. We rode due east until we passed a small town at mile 22 (I'm not sure of the name), our road then turned southeast, the change in direction turned the wind into a crosswind, which held for much of the day. The clouds started to clear up, by the end of the day we had sunny skies all around.

The only rest stop of the day was at 32 miles in Knox City. I was about to take a picture when I dropped my camera on the sidewalk, so far I haven't been able to get it to work again. I guess the picture of the day will be gone for a while, unless my camera miraculously heals.

We left the rest stop and continues southeast toward Illinois. We stopped at a mini-mart in Ewing for a bite to eat, a group of riders had gathered for a rest. We joined a big highway at mile 64, the only road that crossed the Mississippi River for quite a few miles. Just before the river we stopped at a go-cart track hoping to take a quick ride, but they were running races today so we didn't get the chance. We moved on, but only a few hundred yards later I hit a rock and cut the sidewall of my tire, so I had to stop to change the tire and tube. By the time I was finished 6 others had gathered and there was a sag behind us, so we all grouped up and had the sag follow behind us as we made our way across the bridge over the Mississippi River. The Mississippi was a big milestone, it's hard to believe we've already come this far.

We stopped at the other side of the bridge for a big group picture and we sprinkled our sand. We rode a few miles to the Quincy Museum, a renovated house along a street full of huge century-old mansions. The house was amazing, the outside was all stone with carved pieces on every column, the inside was covered with ornate wood carvings, silver, and gold decoration. The upstairs housed a slightly-misguided museum dedicated to the future, but I found a pair of iMacs with high-speed, wireless internet, which was plenty to keep me entertained. We finally left the museum and rode the last few miles to the hotel, stopping at K-Mart along the way for a few things.

Dinner was a free night, a few of us went to Ruby Tuesday's where we got more food than we could eat. Afterward it was back to K-Mart, I got a tiny screwdriver to work on my camera, no luck yet. Tonight I'll be getting to bed early, tomorrow is a 107 mile day to Springfield. The weather forecasts aren't looking good, here's hoping it doesn't rain on us...

Phil's Log

A nice woman came to greet us at our sag stop at the post office in Knox City, Missouri. It turned out that she is the minister at the Methodist church which stood all white and beckoning at the end of the street. She would have the congregation sing any hymn we wished. It would have been nice to have stopped, and it was a short day, but we had to move on.

And we passed a bicycle junkyard in LaBelle, but since it was Sunday, it was closed. I can't imagine how a storefront bicycle junkyard in a tiny town in central Missouri can eek out any sort of a living, but it has been there for years. That was about as exciting as the day got.

It was an easy 74 miles to Quincy. We did have fun stopping at a go kart race, no one believed what we were doing. And Keegan's blowout (his flat # 5?) was just before the bridge across the Mississippi, so a bunch of us grouped and we all crossed en masse. The bridge to Quincy is old, and the river was high with the recent rains. Stopped for photos (Keegan's digital camera isn't working). Then we rode up the hill into Quincy, after i nearly fell trying to get started on that riverbank hill.

A number of us took the time to stop at The Quincy Museum, a magnificent home built in 1890. The first floor was awesome, heavy with mahogany woodwork and gold gilding, and fireplaces everywhere. The upper floors were done in spacecraft and computer discovery motif, more of the same on te third floor. The building serves as the town's museum of everything. But while on the third floor I opened an unmarked door and stuck my nose inside. It was an unfinished 1890 attic room and the smell was exactly that of our old house attic on 91 Puritan Drive in Port Chester. What memories of a wonderful attic it brought back!

Tomorrow we have a 107 mile ride to the state capitol at Springfield. There is an interesting downtown area, sever blocks set aside exactly as they were when Abe Lincoln practiced law there. But we will be too tired, I suspect, and it will be too late to ride the extra miles. One of the few disadvantages of riding your bicycle across the country is that you don't have a car to see the sights!