The land today was a difficult up and down roller coaster ride. When coming up a hill at about 1pm I saw the shimmer of another cyclists rear Ortlieb panniers (bags). After yelling "Howdy!" a few times he finally heard- he was the man from New Zealand! I had seen him sign the guest books at two hostels over the past few weeks, so already knew a bit about him. (He was pleased with his celebrity status.) He had left LA in November and had traveled to the bottom of the Florida keys before heading north to Virginia, then west via the Transamerica Trail. He planned to continue to Astoria, Oregon then head back down the west coast to LA, finishing by November. I rode with him for an hour before realizing his pace was probably 40-50 miles a day. We wished each other luck as I sped off. What an adventure for a 57 year old!
The Ozarks are much like old Appalachia, (that is, the western side of the Appalation Mountains,) but with little mining, much more pleasant. Upon entering the range the land is generally too hilly to farm so is instead protected by national forest reserve. Towards the end of the day things start to flatten out, as I reach the top of what I am quite sure is a small escarpment. Small cattle and horse farms cover most of the land.
Tonight there are pending thunder storms but the city park I am camping at tonight has a gazebo that I worked my way inside for a certain degree of coziness. I am looking forward to the speedy flats of Kansas with excitement.
Where are all your pictures? I need to live through you...how am I supposed to do that without visual stimuli?
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