The Muddy River

I finally pried the phone outta sasq's hand and managed to tie her up long enough to tap out a blog post. Haha. We've tallied it up. She's got 12 posts, I've got 4… and a half. Let's make it 5, before she gets loose!

It's been a pretty nice day. After getting hooked up in Carbondale, we rolled outta BMX Joe's at an average leaving time. We actually would have had a decent jump on the day but got caught up chatting away with Joe. He's a wicked friendly guy with a wealth of local and x-country cycling experience. There are a couple routes out of Carbondale, and after Joe assured us that the flooding wouldn't be an issue, we settled on taking the Mississippi Levee route to Chester. This proved to be an interesting choice. If you haven't had a chance yet, check out the photo's I posted on FB. 10 miles or so into our ride we managed to navigate through a closed bridge (there are occasional perks to being on bicycles), although perhaps we should have taken this as a sign.  There was some serious flooding that had taken place along most of the route, but it didn't affect us too much… until we approached a road that had a sign reading "water in road". We didn't think too much of it, until we got close & had a proper look. Our first thought was "let's find a detour"! So we turned round and headed for a detour. A few miles later we approached another flooded road, except this one was signed' "road closed".  It was significantly more flooded than the original route and clearly could not be passed. So after snapping a quick pic, we turned back around AGAIN and headed back to the first flooded road, peeled off our socks & shoes, hung them over our handlebars, & splashed our way to the other side. Good thing we just got those chains cleaned up & replaced! Once we made it to the other side, we suited back up only to realize the road was flooded up the way a bit. Oh well!

Another 25 miles later & a couple subway footlongs, we decided that Chester was looking pretty nice. Not only is it the home of Popeye the sailor man, but it also boasts another bicycle touring haven--the Chester Aerie chapter of the fraternal order of eagles. This place is basically a bar and restaurant that has built a small building that sleeps 9 with AC, has a shower, & provides breakfast… for free! They also have outdoor beach volleyball courts and a tiki bar. No complaints here! So, we've posted up here for the evening and will hit the road pedaling hard in the AM.

Better go free sasq up before she attacks!

godspeed,
little foot

ps. tomorrow is a big day! We'll be cycling our 2000th mile & crossing into MO!