Eminence, Missouri to Pilot Knob, Missouri -- 70 miles

We woke at 4:45 am and began biking at 5:30 am, in the dark. We walked our bikes out to the road because Lorraine didn’t want to fall on the campground’s 1/2 mile gravel driveway. The hills were long and very steep (like a serious roller coaster) for about 20 miles. At 6:30 am, we were dripping with sweat and, if we stopped to rest for a few seconds, the flies and gnats swarmed us. Lenny thought to himself that we would never make it through the day if the terrain stayed like this. On one multi-level hill, when we paused to catch a breath, already soaked in sweat, a bus full of rafters came by and emptied the remainder of their soda water on us. We don’t think it was meant to cool us off! We stopped at a service station in Ellington to get orange juice and fill our water bottles. We spoke to Cecil Bounds, who said he is a big supporter of chiropractic. We gave him some information on vertebral subluxation and took his photo. 

Jason, from the Adventure Cycling group, caught up with us in Centerville. He had splurged on a motel room the night before, in order to get a good night’s sleep – and it must have helped because he had left an hour later than us. The hills were still fairly steep but nothing like the area around Eminence. We ate our PB&J sandwiches by the side of the road. We stopped at Cody’s Country Store to fill our water bottles and chatted with the folks there. When the owner found out about the soda incident, he said, “That is an embarrassment, I am going to write to the tourist board and the governor about this.” The woman in the house across the street called to us, “Be careful! They drive like maniacs on this road!” Lorraine was concerned when we saw 2 houses with Confederate flags flying outside. It was not a welcoming feeling for a couple of Yankees. 

We arrived in town at 2 pm – the first motel we checked was full, but they sent us over to the Shepherd Mountain Inn. Lenny was tired and cranky, and became more cranky because the air-conditioning in the room wasn’t cold enough. We bought groceries, then went to the Fort Davidson Historic Site, a Union fort from the Civil War. Phyllis and Josh gave us a tour. Phyllis had created a non-profit organization to help support the fort and its interpretation. They told us that 12,000 Confederate soldiers were sent to take the fort from 1,000 Union troops stationed there to protect the lead mines and the railroad that supplied the Union cause. General Sterling of the Confederate army ignored advice from more experienced generals about taking the fort by pounding it with artillery. Instead, they sent infantry and the cannons mowed down the Confederate soldiers like sheaves of wheat. 1,200 Confederates were lost to 200 Union troops. The Confederates were preparing for an artillery attack in the morning. Unknown to them, however, the Union army put rags on the wheels of the cannons and slipped out in the night. The cavalry blew up the ammunition as they left, which created a huge crater in the center of the fort. The Confederates, assuming there was an accident, did not check on the fort until the next morning when the troops were long gone. 

We had a mediocre dinner at the Fort Davidson Restaurant. Lenny was agitated because the waitress forgot about our salads, and brought them with the meal. She continued to provide bad service. Lorraine’s meal did not fill her up, so she ordered an appetizer for more food. We went back to the room and learned how to make mortadella from the Food TV channel.