The long crossing

Not a whole lot happened today. I spent the whole time on the highway just trying to make good time. I stayed on I70 as I came west out of Columbus, OH, through Indianapolis and into Illinois. I stayed the night in a hotel outside of St. Louis. Even though it was boring old interstate driving the whole way, I did see a few interesting things, some good, some bad.



At one point I was stuck behind a semi truck hauling hogs. This happened when I was in traffic near Indianapolis so I couldn't get around the guy for about half an hour. It was not fun. Also not far from there I saw a bunch of billboards for an RV dealership owned by a guy named John Raper. How does a family get a name like that? I know that back in the day if you were a blacksmith your last name would be Smith. Does this mean that somewhere back in this guy's family history there was a rapist? Why would you keep a name like that? It boggles the mind. I also was stuck behind a truck carrying coffins for a bit. The last coffin on the truck was bouncing around and not at all secured well. It made me think how ironic it would be if that coffin fell off and hit me. How bad would it be if I was killed by a coffin? A bit morbid I know but you think about weird things when on the road.

Somewhere outside of Dayton I stopped for gas and found a fruit stand in the parking lot. I had one of the best peaches there that I've ever had. I was awesomely messy. They were also selling peach cider. When I had my free sample I had to buy a whole jug of the stuff. Hopefully it will keep until I get to Spokane (my first stop where I plan to stay for more than a night). I also met a nice couple there in the parking lot named Lane and Lorie. It's amazing how many conversations I've gotten into that started with someone saying "nice bike". They were on their way to Seattle and suggested that when I'm in the area I go to the San Juan islands (a little island chain in the Puget Sound, near Seattle). During the spring and fall you can go out in a boat and see the Orca's that stop there durning their migrations. Not the right time of year for that but it would still be pretty cool to go out there. We'll see if I make it.

I did stop at a Harley dealership and bought a gel seat cushion for the bike. I've only been on it for a little bit so far but while it helps a bit, it doesn't help as much as I had hoped. Maybe I'll feel better about it after a while.

I stopped for dinner at a place in Effingham, IL called the Firefly Grill. I looked it up on Google Maps. I just did a search for restaurants near where I was and it was one of the first that came up. It looked like a really good place, they grow a lot of their own veggies, and the menu looked interesting. When I got there I ordered the corn chowder and a burger. I figure if a restaurant can't do a burger well then then it's not worth eating at. The soup was really good but the burger...not so much. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't nearly as good as I hoped it would be. Oh well, you can't win them all.







Next stop is Cahokia mounds state park in St. Louis. I heard about this place when reading a book about pre columbian archaeological sites in the US. This place was a full sized city right on the Mississippi that was built somewhere around 1050 AD. I'm not sure why I never head about the place before now but it sounds really interesting. The city was built from scratch and planned out ahead of time and they estimate that it was bigger than London at the time. I'll let you know how it turns out.

After that, I head northwest, hopefully making it to Omaha by tonight. Anyone know of anything to do there? Restaurants, things to see or do, places to hear some live music. Let me know.

P.S.
I'm done with interstates. They are boring and I don't like them. I figure they've done me some good by getting me through much of the boring part of the country (no offense if you happen to live there) and the part that I live close enough too that I can visit it on a long weekend or something. Now it's time to do some exploring as I go.


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Location:Fairmont City,United States