Day 46, 7/14/07, Ozora, MO to Murphysboro, IL, 53 miles

Started riding a little bit outside Ozora, MO and made it to Murphysboro, Illinois, this was a test ride to see if Skip's back would allow him to ride. He seemed to do well. There were only a few hills, short little grunts, but nothing like the Ozarks! We crossed the Mississippi into Chester, Illinois, which claims to be the birthplace of Popeye! The creator of Popeye apparently hailed from Chester at some point, possibly his birthplace. Illinois was great, we road on mostly little used back roads through farmland, but unlike the KS agribusiness farms, these were smaller farms with scenic houses and barns. Murphysboro itself was a bit anti-climactic, but it marked a turning point in the trip, because we were about to SAG over a section from Murphysboro, IL to Berea, KY that Skip had ridden previously. We started the journey that afternoon and 6 miles into Indiana, the RV blew a flat. We waited for several hours on the interstate for the RV equivalent of AAA to come help. Skip decided to find help himself and picked up a couple of locals to help us. They put air back in the tires and got us on the road again, they were really sweet to help us on a Saturday, when even the "professionals" wouldn't!

I caught a nice sunset that night at a state park in Indiana.