Day 21
Dustin:
We survived going through the "bad" part of Missouri, but it didn't seem as "bad" as we had been told. Taz, Bill, Jimmy and I pedaled our way through with no problems at all. Once we got to Ellington, the people were extremely nice. While sitting at an intersection looking at the map to find camp, about a dozen people waved at us. One gave us directions to the park and one of the other guys said come camp in his back yard. Hall's buffet was delicious even though the regulars didn't care for the bike attire. With such a good dinner waking up early the next morning wasn't really part of mine and Jimmy's plan, but finally we were up and ready to go. Leaving town also meant leaving Bill. The hills ahead were too big for him to go the pace we were doing. With our final goodbyes said, we pulled away and another new day had begun. It's awesome to talk to the east bounders along the way. Sharing random stories and finding out the "good" places to stay is usually the highlight of our conversation. Today (7/9) I saw and caught my very first armadillo! With Taz and Jimmy chanting for me to pick it up, I finally got enough nerve to do so. Scared to death (yeah, both me and the armadillo), I grabbed it by the tail just long enough for the picture and then put it back on the ground. It then retreated to the log which was its home.

Sitting down at the dinner table at a local restaurant in Marshfield, MO, talking to the people who were drilling us with questions about the trip, I noticed two people walking in and sitting down at the booth behind us. They did not look at us but I was staring at them for some reason. Finished off the conversation with the people, I see the people in the booth behind us ordering the best desserts and just sitting there and talking. When they were done, they got up and left. We didn't think anything of it. Then when we went to pay the waitress, she told us that us that the people behind us paid for our food. We just couldn't get over the fact that they were that kind. They didn't even know what we had ordered or how much it cost and they generously paid for our meal. I guess that is what you call a random act of kindness and we'll surely be able to pass that on down the line.