Day 44, July 10

Ellington to Farmington, MO
63 miles

After waking up and packing everything up I did a short ride to the town of Centerville where I got a snack at a convenience store. The picture below is of downtown Centerville.

The landscape continued to be very green. There were still plenty of steep climbs and high humidity but both were less severe overall than yesterday. There was finally no sign of thunderstorms.

About one third of the way through the day I visited the Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park visitor's center.  Due to the entrance fee and time considerations I skipped visiting the rest of the park.

I ended up getting into Farmington relatively early (around 4 P.M.) and headed for a city park.  It lacked showers and a elderly couple that was picnicking there suggested I try the town cyclists hostel.

Farmington neighborhood:

Downtown Farmington:

I had not planned to stay at the hostel since I thought it was farther off route than it actually was and since they tend to be a bit basic and dingy, with exposed plumbing,  exposed wall studs, 70s decor, etc..  I decided I would head over for a shower but would come back and camp in the park.

The hostel/inn was in a historic former jail that had been converted by the owner of the town bike shop. It had an interesting history, including an attempted jail break in 1932.

Upon entering, with a door code provided by a town police officer, I knew I was not going back to the park. The place was clean and modern and included a washer/dryer, tv, computer, wifi, linens, basic food items and all needed toiletries. All that was requested was a $20/night donation.

Below is a couple who had arrived just before me. Ves (left) and Zory (right) were from Bulgaria but have been living in Toronto, Canada for the last 14 years. They have a much more ambitious ride plan than me. They started out from Toronto, crossed into the U.S. and followed the path of the underground railroad until intersecting the transamerica trail.  They are planning to continue west to CO then deviate from the trail to visit the Grand Canyon before heading to San Diego. From there they are planning to explore Baja California before heading through Mexico, Central America and all the way down the western coast of South America.  Ves' bike and gear weighs an immense 150 lbs. Zory was riding something I have never seen in the wild before: a Koga brand bike. They are built specifically for extended, multi-continent rides.

Jimmy and Jeff showed up later and headed off to dinner with a trans am racer they met earlier in their ride and who lives in Farmington.  They had also been planning on reaching Ellington yesterday but were much further from town when the thunderstorms hit and had ended up spending the night under the awning of the entrance to a church in the Ozarks.

Zory, Ves and I shared dinner and a six pack of local craft beers before I headed to one of the bedrooms to catch up on my blog.