DAY 21 MISSISSIPPI BOUND

The night storm that caused my early stop in Ellington was pretty fierce. So glad that I made the choice of settling in Ellington for the night and was able to have a fine breakfast at a local dinner. The local's table had a few laughs at my expense as they sipped on their endless coffee. I didn't mind, these good old boys were not doing it out of malice.

All things relative, the hills would seem to tamper down somewhat today. However, in reality, there were many climbs in this section of the race and probably about the same as yesterday.

Found this funny sign next to a flat bottom boat called Green Monster. Not sure if this display was making reference to the "drain the swamp" campaign slogan of Donald.

A point on vision: my sunglasses are bifocals as I need some help to see things close-up. Had I lost or broke my sunglasses on route they would have been hard to replace and certainly would have made map gazing more challenging. Not sure what the best way to mitigate risk on this issue is, but probably having either a spare pair of glasses or somebody that can mail you a pair if need be would work.

The history marker below indicates that the Battle of Pilot Knob occurred between 1-2:30 PM, 27 Sept 1864. A 90 minute battle that probably had to stop for afternoon tea. Actually the battle between Unionists and the Confederates lasted almost three days so I'm not sure why the time was on the stone marker.

The weather still being a little stormy, I was able to dodge a downpour under a church roof. My mood was improving as I could really sense with every mile that Yorktown was going to be achieved. Until this point, I still gave in to the possibility that the race would get the best of me. My cold was just about done and my seat was not getting worse and actually seemed to be getting slightly better.

Finally arriving at the Mississippi, crossing this iconic river would bring great joy and fuel my mojo. And with this river crossing, I would also be entering Illinois

As you can see by the many selfies today, things were looking up. I wouldn't see any other bikers today, but I knew they were close by. I was holding on to my place and still trying to make up for that lost 1/2 day.

Did you know that the creator of Popeye was born in Chester, just off the Mississippi?

By sunset, I would push another 40 miles down route to Murphysboro (pop. 7984). A town of a fair size, I was promised good food and swanky accommodations for sure. As I approached the city in darkness, I couldn't locate any hotels, unless I biked out several miles. I will then have a good meal first. Located a nice patio bar and ordered a beer, but the kitchen was closed. Disappointingly, this time there were no left overs in any pots for me. So my meal would be popcorn and beer. Eventually, I biked away and found some gas station slop a block away. Under a heat lamp, I grabbed the last two pieces of sad-looking fried chicken. Waiting in line to pay, standing behind a young fellow with a bleeding nose, I realized that it was Friday night. Murphysboro was not panning out to be what I was hoping for.

Not in the mood to head to the out-of-town-hotels I would need to find somewhere to sleep. The campgrounds were also a little ways out. This old bank landing will have to do. I would hide behind the columns above passerbyes gazes. It was Friday night and until quite late I would hear hollers and loud cars go by every once in a while. I had my knife close by and strapped my bike to an arm. Only a few hours of sleep would be had this night.

Murphysboro would be just over 3100 miles into TABR. I was getting close to the 1000 mile to go mark. Can I do 1000 miles in a week, I wondered. Today I had achieved 147.6 miles, so I think that yes, yes, I can.