we took the ferry across the ohio river into illinois. here are a couple pictures on the ferry.
right when we entered into illinois, we stayed at a campsite in a town called "cave in rock." why was it called that? because there was a cave in a rock. we went exploring after dinner. as soon as i saw the cave, i instantly thought of harry potter. it was eerily similar to the horcrux cave in 'harry potter and the deathly hollows.' i tried to take a picture of it but it was too dark. it basically looked like this though:
then we had a rest day in carbondale, illinois. a few of the guys on the ride are from there so it was a wonderful day off. we rode around 82 miles into carbondale and stayed at seth's parent's house. they had a TON of food waiting for us and it was wonderful. then we went to a bar afterwards, all wearing matching "welcome to the 'dale" tshirts that one of the boy's mom made. it was such a fun night with lots of dancing.
the next morning, we woke up and did a bunch of yardwork for a woman who has MS. she is in a wheelchair and isn't able to do yardwork anymore. she was so excited to have us there and we did a huge transformation to her yard. she was such a nice lady and i'm grateful that i was a part of that.
after yardwork, there was a HUGE barbeque at seth's house. nonstop food and pool action. a little later, a few of us went to the movies. i was able to see toy story 3 in theaters which i am extremely excited about. i was so afraid i wouldn't be able to see it in theaters since i'd be riding all summer, but i was able to see it with mark. it was a fantastic movie and i may or may not have bawled during it. i like to think that even the 8 year old me that fell in love with toy story 1 would cry during the third movie as well.
the next day, we went to a local radio station and talked a little bit about what we are doing. there was also an article about us on the front page of the paper.
when we entered illinois, there was no "welcome to illinois" sign. so right before crossing the mississippi river into missouri, i took a picture with the missouri sign. even though i had been out of kentucky for a few days, i decided to take a "so glad i'm not in kentucky anymore" picture. i think i look more scared than excited, though.
then we crossed the mississippi river and took a picture with the missouri sign.
wednesday was a such a tough day. it was 87 miles and EXTREMELY hilly. we rode through the ozarks wesnesday and yesterday in 100 degree heat. let's just say i'm extremely thankful for this little gem we found.
(taking a quick siesta after swimming and before another 35 miles on the road)
on wednesday, we woke up at 4:45am and didn't get into camp until around 7:45pm. yes, we WERE the last ones into camp. (it was me, liza & carmen.) carmen had 3 flats plus we stopped A LOT. a lot of people got into camp way before us so we heard "did you just get into camp?" a lot. actually, we hear that just about every day. there is a group that likes to wake up at 4am every morning and race to get into camp first. the ladies (myself included) like to take our time and actually see the country. we don't like to race. not that there is anything wrong with the way they do it... except for when i hear them rustling around at 4am and wake me up. not cool. once we got into camp, though, we stayed at a campsite right on the river. here is my tent right next to the water. it was absolutely wonderful.
the next morning, we woke up to don making us pancakes. the route leaders will make us breakfast from time to time and it is always amazing when they do.
yesterday we rode through houston, missouri in texas county! it was pretty exciting for me. nobody else seemed to think so. but i got a picture of the texas county sign! made me miss home.
anyway -- that's about it. or at least what i remember. oh, and here is the new video.
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