Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Farmington, MO to Chester, IL

Tuesday morning we left Farmington and headed east on county road F. Our last day in Missouri was to pass through the wine country. We passed 4-5 vineyards in a gently rolling landscape east towards the Mississippi. We changed roads several times and had traveled east on county roads B, P, N, Z and H. After several tough hills that reminded us that we were still in Missouri, we topped one and looked out on the floodplain of the Mississippi River. We rode approximately 6 miles on Hwy 51 over the floodplain which was planted with corn and soybeans. Then in the distance we could see the bridge we had to cross. It was an old cantilever bridge and was roughly 1/2 mile in length. We marvelled at the river as we crossed over. The flow was tremendous. We felt a sense of accomplishment since we had crossed Missouri in 8 days of cycling, had passed the 2800 mile mark and crossed the Mississippi River.

2 comments:

Michael Podolny said...

Yay, officially in the East

mas said...

Congratulations on your amazing progress! It is just fascinating to see how much the country changes as you make your passage.

I was on our regular tuesday night Aptos hills ride noticing surprising amounts of trash by the side of the road, and wondered if you guys have noticed any regional differences, i.e. are any of the back roads in any states noticeably cleaner or more trashy? Keep 'em coming, I'm really loving the travelogue!

love, mas