June 22nd - Chester, IL to Farmington, MO

Mileage: 47 miles
Terrain: Rolling Hills
Temperature: 80 ish degrees
So last night we slept at the Eagles and we were warned to not put up our tents because it was supposed to storm. Well that it did, however, three of the riders chose to put up their tents before it started to storm. I waited out the storm inside of the Eagles, however, many chose to wait it out under the shelter house outside. They watched the tents and described it as a demolition derby. So after the storm was over they had found out that 2 of the 3 tents survived and the one apparently looked like a kiddy pool. So Ike the owner of the “kiddy pool” had to make a run to Wal-Mart to purchase a new home!! So the was another cyclist staying outside of the Eagles as well and had his tent set up and he said something about a bunk house. So we soon asked one of the Eagles workers about this alleged bunk house and she gave us the key. The ground was soaked, however, there were only 9 bunks and I was lucky enough to get one. They even had a window air conditioner in this very small bunk house!! The this morning we woke up got everything packed up into the trailer and headed out of Chester, IL the home of Popeye!! We then shortly came to the bridge to cross the Mississippi River into Missouri!! Stopped took some pictures while still in Illinois and then crossed over!! Took some pictures with the Missouri state sign and started riding. The first part of the ride was pretty flat and there where headwinds present. However, I am sure that they are nothing compared to what we will be experiencing in Kansas!! Rode out a little further and then started coming to some hills. Supposedly we are passing through the Ozarks or something like that. I am sure that these hills will not even compare to the monstrous hills in Virginia! Came to our first rest stop and one of our route leaders, Pepper informed us that about 10 miles from the rest stop that there was a Brewery that was worth stopping at so we did. I had delicious nachos while there. There were also many vineyards and wineries that we passed along the route. After the Brewery we only had about 12 miles left to Farmington, MO where we are staying at a hostel that was just remodeled. It is soooo nice!! They have rooms with bunk beds and a washer and dryer and two very nice showers. After we arrived at the hostel we decided that we should get some ice cream so we walked a few blocks to an ice cream place and the basis of our conversation was that we think that we should start a reality show out of this trip. However, the problem is that everyone is very laid back and there really isn’t any drama on this trip. We have decided though that drama could definitely be created by a camera crew as they do on many reality shows. Got back from ice cream got a shower, did some laundry and now everyone is discussing going to get Mexican food so I figure I’ll tag along as I am still full from the shake that I consumed!