Day 19 - April 30 - Cairo, IL to Cape Girardeau, MO - Crossing the T.....Part One

Day 19 - April 30 - Cairo, IL to Cape Girardeau, MO

Meeting the Legend

Ed’s Story

We were awoken up at 1 o’clock in the morning when the smoke detector in the room went off. There was no smoke. It just failed. John took immediate action after he was unable to wake up the people who worked at the hotel. I will let him tell you what he did.

It was very foggy when we started; so foggy we had to turn our front lights on so people could see us.

A lone tree and vine covered railroad bridge

We turned west and continued to Cape Girardeau. The road was smooth and had a nice shoulder. There was very little wind to us.

A scum covered pond, or as I would say an algae smoothie

I had to stop at Thebes to buy some stamps.

Someone or something is in the car looking at me.

Paying homage to the steamboat at an overlook of the Mississippi river.

Approach to the Mississippi River Bridge.

We made it to our WarmShowers host, Judith’s house. Her grandfather built the house in 1904 and the family has owned it ever since.

A bust of Shakespeare in Judith’s house.

Todays ride:

Tomorrow we ride 67 miles to Chester Illinois where we will be staying at a bike hostel. Until then happy biking.

John’s Story

Why do we do this? At our age? I just finished reading Chuck Yeager’s autobiography. I think he hit on this topic on the last page of his book, which I excerpt here.

When the smoke alarm went off at one a.m. this morning and I went to the office to try to inform them, it was Jack-the-Ripper London foggy. Things actually thinned out by this morning.

When I couldn’t rouse the hotel staff about the screaming smoke alarm I just ripped it off the ceiling and disconnected the power. When in the morning I informed the staff of the issue, the only response was, “I will make a note of it”. No apology for the inconvenience. Nothing. I left an appropriate review online.

As the fog started to lift we saw the bluffs of the river looming in the distance. Luckily the hills weren’t as bad as we expected. It was a case of the forecast seeing the hills that were cut through by the highway, but not the highway itself. The steepest climb should have had 8+% grade, but at its steepest point it was only 2%.

It took only 30 minutes to go from dense fog to big patches of blue….

Bill, I need your opinion. To me the next two pictures look like the same flower except for the color. White versus pink. Are they just two colors of the same flower? Different species? Different stages of development? Inquiring minds want to know.

Caught this guy flapping by. It took about 6 shots to finally get it in the frame.

More fauna, about 6” long. I saw plenty of 1” turtles, but none of them were alive, and I didn’t want to photograph tiny corpses.

At this same location was a plaque about the hazards of steamboat travel on the Mississippi River. As of 1867 there were already 133 steamboats at the bottom of the river between Cairo and St. Louis. That stretch of river became known as The Graveyard.

We should have been in Missouri a couple days ago, but here we are at last.

We were told about tonight’s WarmShowers host by the host we stayed with in Gautier, MS. 85 years old. According to her she’s ridden her bike on every continent not covered in ice. Her house is like a museum. She gave us a tour. A lot of amazing things have accumulated over 120 years in a house occupied by a single family. I won’t even try to describe the things she showed us. Judith grew up in this house, and then moved back in decades ago when her parents died. There are deep closets and high shelves stacked with boxes and parcels she has never bothered to open. Who knows what might be hidden in them? It’s an urban archaeologist’s dream.

When we arrived we knocked and rang the bell many times and tried calling Judith, with no response. After about 15 minutes she walked up to the house after running some errands on foot.

The grand staircase in the middle of the house. There’s a skylight above the staircase that admits light and can be opened to let warm air rise while pulling fresh air into the house.

Heinzie the guard dog. Best friends from the moment we met.

Climbing from the attic onto the flat roof of the center of the house, with a widow’s walk.

It’s an old house, Judith hosts lots of visitors, and the water pressure is atrocious.

Judith rode from the Pacific Ocean to Cape Girardeau in 1976 for the BikeCentennial. Three years later as part of her work to receive an art degree, she created a series of woodcuts to describe the experience. We got a personal showing.

This is an amazing place and Judith is an amazing person.

Now for a digression or two.

Digression Number One: Geology Lesson

Meandering rivers like the Lower Mississippi flow across relatively flat land in great curves, and the river often changes course. When the river shortcuts across a very tight curve it can abandon part of its old channel as an oxbow lake. In the instance shown on this map, the river cut off a piece of Missouri, and left it on the Illinois side of the river. The state line remains with the original course of the river as it flowed when the states were created.

Digression Number Two: Hotter’n’Hell

Among the many rides Judith has made, as it turns out, is the Hotter’n’Hell Hundred in Wichita Falls, TX. I’ve ridden it about ten times. One of the water bottles I brought is from one of those rides. I was reminiscing this morning about the hottest one I rode, when the temperature hit 111 degrees, and being thankful that that was then and this is now.

Today's ride: 32 miles (51 km)
Total: 912 miles (1,468 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	3
Comment on this entry	Comment	0