Coast to Coast Bicycle Adventure: Tuesday, July 31, 2012-How The West Was Won!

Johnson’s Shut-In State Park, MO to Chester, IL (80 Miles)

Well we made it past the Mississippi River on this leg and into a new state…Yeah Illinois! If you want to know how we got to this point and how the west was won, you will have to read the previous 58 days of blog entries. So, now we are set to conquer the Eastern States.

There were more rolling hills, with narrow shoulder-less roads, which were busier than previous days. Kim voiced a strong dislike for pulling the camper on the less than perfect road conditions. The combined total for today was 4.285 feet in elevation climb, which is one of the top five for the entire trip. There were a number of dog encounters today, of which the “point and yell NO!” method seemed to work fairly well. Although there was one beast that decided to run along to my left and once he was winded he cut right in front of me. Whew, that was a near miss!!

There were some pretty views of the country as the road snaked along some of the hills. Crop farming started to be a little more prevalent as the hills lessened. Additionally, there were a number of vineyards, plus a beer brewery along the route. Unfortunately, I was too early in the day to enjoy the sampling of either. Farmington was a nice little town in route which included a number of quaint little shops. Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church and School (LCMS) had a very nice looking facility near the center of town.

Today’s wildlife sighting included a flock of wild turkeys and a couple of medium size snakes sunning themselves on the road. If you care, the dead animals included, armadillos, skunk, opossum, and turtles. Temperatures rose to the 90’s, so the deceased animals were very fragrant.

Camp for the evening was as Fort Kaskaskia State Park. It was a nice park but we were the only ones camping. I guess it is too hot for camping in the area. In the afternoon, we went exploring in town and ate dinner at the Reid’s Harvest House Smorgasbord with the famous 35 foot long buffet table.