Eminence, MO

Over 4,000 feet of climbing today according to Marks fancy computer. And as much descending, which was more fun than the climbs. A long and tough day with 5 significant ascents. Significant in my book anyway, this would probably be a 'flat stage' on the Tour de France. Also I've yet to see Chris Froome & co get off to push their bikes up to a summit!

The day was 53m in around 7 hours of cycling. Mark, Patti and George were on the road with me today too.

Lots of wildlife round here, I heard raccoons at the campsite last night. There are also armadillos which is exciting, although the only ones I've seen have been roadkill unfortunately. There are also lots of pretty birds. Bright Red Cardinals, some sort of blue birds and black & white woodpeckers with funny red crests on. The woodpeckers woke me up this morning, there are worse alarm clock sounds :)

Made it to Eminence. This area has seen a lot of flooding recently. This time 2 weeks ago the roads may not have been passable, and some still are not to cars. The floods have devastated a lot of businesses and houses, including the campgrounds which are all by the rivers. Therefore I had to find a motel for the night. I was genuinely looking forward to my planned camp meal of rice, kidney beans and tinned salmon, but a Mexican restaurant with George and Mark was better grub I'll admit.

Eminence is usually a tourist hot spot with lots of canoeing on the rivers but the flooding means many things are closed. There is a push to get things open for Memorial Day weekend coming up, which is the start of summer for the Americans. I will expect campsites etc to be busier for the
summer from here on in.

I'm happy with my cycling in the Ozarks and am going to turn and head back East tomorrow, probably taking it a bit slower. After a few more days of cycling I will return to Corrie and Danashouse to pick up a car and plan the next part of the adventure.