Day 24 - May 5 - Kampsville, IL to Hannibal, MO - Crossing the T.....Part One

Day 24 - May 5 - Kampsville, IL to Hannibal, MO

Little Bugs! Little Bugs! Little Bugs!

John’s Story

From the time we arrived in Kampsville, IL until we got to Hannibal, MO today we were assaulted by hordes of small insects: gnats, skeeters, no-seeums, ants. Stop by the side of the road and you were inhaling Insectivora. When we came back from town to camp yesterday evening after the rain and dove into our tents to escape them, I spent the first ten minutes killing the critters that got into the tent with me during the 10 seconds the tent door was open. Corpses everywhere!

When I called the McCully Heritage Project couple days ago to get a campsite, we were assigned Site 4. She said it was “up a rise”. We’ll, we had to take our stuff down the hill across a stream and past Sites 2 and 3 to get to the hill to Site 4. Site 1 was occupied. Thank goodness we were up a hill.

This was Site 2 this morning. A canoe might have come in handy.

Site 3 didn’t have standing water, but the ground was too mushy to walk on without sinking into the mud.

When intentionally or coincidentally , Michell at the McCully Heritage Project assigned us the only available campsite now in the flood zone. A Road Angel award is hereby conferred, whether merited or not!

Finally a fairly floral foray today.

Don’t know that I’ve ever seen these before.

Many miles ago I saw bright yellow flowers in a bar ditch that looked like irises. I thought surely I would see them again, but I never did. Finally I saw these few blooms, but these flowers are a much paler color.

Calhoun County is the prettiest part of Illinois that I’ve ever seen. This morning we crossed over a high bluff (luckily the blessed road builders found a route through the hills that provided relatively gentle grades) and went from the Illinois River watershed back to the Mississippi. Our route went northwest and the wind was from the northeast, so the trees and hills shielded us from the worst of it.

If barn quilts are supposed to be protective, I think this one is falling short.

What’s older, the decrepit barn or the phone booth? And why is the phone there?!?!

For a good part of the day we rode at the foot of the hills to our east and the wide flat floodplain of the Mississippi to our left. Those hills are in Missouri.

I’ve never seen a farm silo with a building attached.

No matter how small, every convenience store in Illinois has gaming machines in a little room at the back.

Most folks over 21 won’t fit into that refrigerator.

Back to Missouri for the last time on our tour. Rest day in Hannibal to tomorrow, then three more days to the end.

Once we crossed the Mississippi to Hannibal we rode down a l-o-n-g hill to the Best Western. We’ll get to climb out of our hole on Tuesday.

Checked into the motel and marched posthaste to Great River Brewing, which closed at 4:00 pm on Sunday.

Around the corner from Great River Brewing.

A tasty doppelbock to reward a day of riding.

Back to the motel to get showered. After a nap, it’s to Friendship Brewing Company for dinner (and maybe another beer? 😬)

Both breweries are closed on our Monday rest day tomorrow, so we have to make hay while the sun shines.

Friendship Brewing closes at 6:00, so beer there and on to The Brick Oven Italian restaurant. Friendship opened just last October and has three locations. Luckily one of them is here.

First craft brewery I’ve ever visited with a huge Falstaff sign on the wall.

For dinner I had “Sicilian spaghetti”: black olives, capers, anchovies, olive oil, Parmesan. Very much like the “black pizza” I looked for eight or nine years ago in northeastern Pennsylvania on a trip to look for the tombstones of my dad’s parents and grandparents. It was yummy!

The last line in Mark Twain’s 1886 short story “Taming the Bicycle”.

Ed’s Story

Before I start on todays ride I have a few pictures to share from yesterday’s camping.

If you look carefully, all the little black dots on the tent are the bugs zipping around the campsite and us last night.

I’m glad they told me. I was ready to start drinking.

We had to be careful walking around or we would be carried away.

The first climb today reminded me of our tour last year. Several miles at a 1-2% grade followed by the bigger climb. Luckily it wasn’t as bad as the climb coming off the ferry yesterday.

As John said the ride was better than we anticipated, especially not feeling the predicted wind.

The vine is slowly taking over the barn.

An unusual barn quilt…they are all over this part of Illinois.

Waterwheel… It would be interesting to know what they used it for.

A beautiful little Evangelical church along the way.

I didn’t get a picture of the house, but this is a pretty steep gravel road heading up to it. Not sure I want to drive it when it’s wet or in the winter.

They must’ve been traveling cross country, and this is as far as they got.

Corn anyone? A nice display of military services flags in the yard.

Another red barn. Can’t have too many of them.

Our route finally turned west towards Hannibal after riding northwest all day. The wind, although still at our backs, felt the worst all day.

Yes, we are crossing the Mississippi River AGAIN into Missouri AGAIN.

We are staying at the Best Western on the River. It is within walking distance of town. Hope to visit the Mark Twain Museum tomorrow in addition to everything else.

We came across a vicious guard dog on our way to the first brewery.

This sign on the bathroom door makes me worry about ordering light beers.

Dinner tonight is spaghetti at the Brick Oven.

Our ride today:

Tomorrow is a rest day here…wash clothes; dry out tent gear; tighten bolts and lube bike; maybe even visit Mark Twain’s home.

Today's ride: 60 miles (97 km)
Total: 1,185 miles (1,907 km)

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Rebecca ChimahuskySicilian spaghetti sounds as bad as the black pizza!!
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