Day 23 : A Hunting Preserve???

From Marshfield, MO to Everton, MO - ~ 49 miles

what a great morning...we didn't even get out of bed until 7:30. then we enjoyed an amazing breakfast of quiche, sausage, bagels, fresh fruit and coffee. simply another amazing meal! we stuck around for a little while after breakfast to finish up blogging and to enjoy the nice home and low humidity for a little longer.

we returned to the dairy queen parking lot where dave had picked us up last night. we got our gear all loaded back up and were ready to get back on the road just before noon. we rode just a couple of miles down the road when cailyn said, "i can hear my tire". we stopped to figure out what was going on, and it turns out that he front tire was rubbing on her front brake cable. so, we took a look at things, and decided that it would be best to reroute the brake cable. so we ran the cable a different direction, got everything back in place and working properly, and were on the road for good at about 12:30.

dave had told us that there was a great coffee shop in fair grove, which was about 15 miles into our ride. after stopping at the gas station in town to ask for directions, we were able to find the coffee shop. and man were we glad we found it...it was a really well done coffee shop. really hard to believe they are able to keep it open in such a small town. they told us that they get quite a bit of business coming out from springfield. we enjoyed some mimosa's and some great conversation, got our water bottles filled, and then got back on the road.

about 2 or 3 pm we passed another pretty major milestone on our tour. we came upon missouri highway 13, which runs about 2 blocks from our house in warrensburg. it felt quite close to home. and now we are also officially cycling west of home. in some senses it doesn't seem like a big deal...in another sense, it seems like a real monumental milestone as we really are west of home.

we continued on into the town of walnut grove, where we found another one of our favorite locations on the tour. a gas station/convenience store where they make sandwiches. we each ordered roast beef sandwiches with our choice of toppings. we loaded more ice into our water bottles and then got back on the road with about 22 miles left to ride.

this morning before we left dave's house, i looked at the maps and discovered that there was a town just 7 miles past where we were originally planning on stopping for the night, that had a hunting preserve listed with camping available. we weren't really sure what that meant, so i decided i would give them a call and see what it was about. they said they camping was free and they also had showers, and so we decided that would be a great option for tonight...free and showers is a great combo! as we got into everton, we followed the signs to the hunting preserve...when we finally got down the gravel road and to the preserve, it was a beautiful looking place. a quail and pheasant place...however we weren't sure where we were supposed to go. we parked our bikes outside what looked to be an out building and began walking towards the house. as we headed that direction, a guy came out of the house towards us. we had called ahead and told them we were coming and were interested in camping...as he came up to us, he immediately told us that it was too hot to be riding bikes across the country and that we were crazy. turns out they have a lodge here as well, and they allow cyclists to stay for $20 a person. so he asked, "are you sure that you don't want to stay inside in the air conditioning?" to which we said, "we just don't have the budget to do that." ultimately, the guy told us, "here's the deal...i've got these cots that you can put out inside and sleep on and i will charge you $10 total for the 3 of you. so, we are "camped" inside of what amounts to an entire house, all to ourselves for $!0. we are sitting, getting ready to go to bed, watching the college baseball world series.

man am i glad that we made the trek down the mile of so of gravel road!! this is quite the deal! it is just amazing what people offer you and what you come across out here!