We woke up this morning after getting to sleep in a bed for the first time in a long time. It felt good so we stayed in bed as long as we could.
Grabbed some grub and sat around chatting with Louie (our friend from across the pond who stayed with us) and Tom--our host. Tom talked to us about some of the people that have stayed with he and his wife Gail over the years.
The most notable couple was a blind couple who were riding a tandem bike cross country. You read that right. A legally blind couple. Crossing the country. Incredible. Tom was talking to us about how the husband was legally blind and had tunnel vision, only allowing him to see 10-15 feet in front of him, and the wife could see much less. This is a couple who had scaled Mt. McKinley. In order to accommodate their disabilities, the couple had to pick wide shoulder roads across the country.
Lesson #73: Humans are an incredible species and can adapt to almost anything around them.
Tom worked as a distributor for Pepperidge Farm and sold to multiple grocery stores in the area. We got talking about Wal Mart as a corporation. Making more money than most third-world countries. Tom was able to see the behind-the-scenes of Wal Mart. It was incredible to hear some of his stories about how Wal Mart treats their customers, but most importantly how they treat their employees. It really made us think about where we spend our money and who it's going to.
Lesson #74: Mom and pop stores are a dying breed. Support them while you can.
As much as we loved talking with Tom and having a nice little staycation, the road was calling. We got on our bikes and started East out of Fair Grove. We said farewell to Louie and started off.
Goodbye Louis. Great riding with you the past few days!
Today we really started getting into the Ozark Mountains. And albeit being hot and humid, it was beautiful. The mountains were tough, but quick. A real steep grade up and down, but much shorter than the Sierra Nevada Mountains or the Rockies. It makes for a tough climb for a few minutes, but then you get to enjoy the downhill, only to start the next uphill in a few moment's time.
We've really felt like Missouri has been one long roller coaster (who knows that it could be so hilly?) but the views have been terrific. Missouri has been full of lush farms and everything has been so green. So beautiful.
Also, today marked the first of a new stage for the two of us...something that we've really been looking forward to. Seth's dad, Tom, was coming down to spend a few days with us and be our support for a few days with motels!
So we've been biking all day, and Seth has been coordinating with his dad where he would meet us on the route. We had been looking forward to Seth's dad coming for a lot of reasons -- seeing Seth's dog, Ruthie who Tom was going to bring, seeing a friendly and familiar face, sleeping in a bed for the next few nights, and most graciously, Seth's dad carrying our gear during the day so we could crank out some good miles.
The sun was beginning to set, and all of a sudden, an 88 Mercury Grand Marquis came rolling down the road with a dog hanging out the window. Tom and Ruthie were here! We were in the middle of some farmer's field in Central Missouri and we had a nice little meeting party there. We threw our bikes on Tom's bike rack, threw our bags in, gave Ruthie a pat, and started driving to our hotel for the night.
We got to Willow Springs just in time for the home run derby, which made for a very happy couple of baseball fans. We all chose our winners (Pedro Alvarez for me of course) and spent the night chowing down and watching the Midsummer's Classic.
Thanks Tom for the start of a great respite from our trip. A great way to end each day with a puppy, pops and some A/C. Thanks for everything, Tom! Looking forward to the next few days.
No comments:
Post a Comment