Everything felt like glue this morning. The humidity was glue, the heat turned the cement to seeming glue, and my legs were glue. Plus about 3 hours sleep on top of that. Needless to say, it took a while for the engines to fire today. I rested on a ’59 Allis-Chalmers for a bit. I thought the bucket seat would provide some relief to my saddle sore, but the cushion was just not there.
The bulk of the day was similar to Day 23. Flat, hot, humid, and corn, corn, and corn. The sun just pounded me and a thunderhead could really never find the sun to cover me with shade. But I just chipped away and my destination was only 35 miles away at 5 PM.
The folks were friendly to me today. The postmaster at Effingham, IL was waiting for me with a care package from my folks, with a stunning volume of food in it! He gave me a Gatorade because I must have looked parched. The owner of Joe’s Pizza gave me a free pie. He was a generous man. On the wall of his pizza parlor hung a picture of him and the mighty Pujols, one of the best ballplayers in the land.
In the evening, the hot sun faded and the road got smooth. I made much better time and pushed hard for Indiana. The southeast section of Illinois is very pretty, with the forest making a comeback from farmland a bit. The trees are a confused by pretty mix of north and south: cypress, red maple, sugar maple, white and red pines, oaks, and gums, to name a few. Across the Wabash River and time zone at dusk, I got utterly pelted by bugs, to the point I had to re-apply my sunglasses. At dark I pulled into the Knox Indiana County Park and had a friendly family pick up my camping bill for the night. The kindness of strangers has helped me greatly on this journey.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment