We slept well last night in air conditioning and nice comfy bed. We woke to a breakfast buffet with strong hot coffee. We could still see the big full moon in the sky t
The guys headed out around 7:30 am heading towards Grand Tower. I ran to get some groceries.and to pick up a few items from Walgreens. I topped off the gas tank and restocked the coolers with ice and made sandwiches for lunch. Definitely needed lots of ice today as it is getting hotter and more humid as we get further south.
I took off to meet them only to wonder where they had gone. I drove and drove and drove and drove until I could finally see them down the road. It was a gorgeous tree lined road with lots of shade as the sun was still on the east side of the bluff.
Then they came to a really cute town of Modoc. It had a great little Market so I stopped to get more ice and a few things for dinner. They had a really great meat counter so I picked up some hamburger for dinner.
Then about 1/2 way mile 48 or so I jumped on and we headed for the hills. Just my luck! Ha! It was gorgeous countryside but up, down, up, down, up,down we went. The grades were extremely steep. I actually stopped on a flat section to see if I had a flat tire. I was kind of hoping I did as otherwise It was just me. We climbed our way right into a charming little town of Chester. Ill. Home of Popeye. The park in the middle of town was full of murals and statues and signs stating their claim to Popeye.
When we started to head out of Chester we were on a truck route bypass. It was a road that big long haulers used to carry coal up to a dumping station along the Mississippi where they loaded it onto barges. Then I saw a sign that showed a truck on a steep slope going down and it read truck runaway ramp at bottom of hill. I knew then it was a bad sign of things to come. So Terry heads down the hill zipping along with no fears as it appears to me. I however was wishing once again I was wearing diapers. So I headed down the hill riding my brakes the whole way while semi's were passing going in both directions some taking a load and some returning. The road was horrible and I was trying to hold on as there was not much shoulder. I would say there was maybe 2' between the truck and I. NOT FUN!!!! When I got to the bottom I found out Terry was braking too. It was a short stretch and I was thankful. Jan Fox I have been wearing my evil eye everyday and today I was really thankful to have it on!
Then we headed into some flat country up on a levee but it was in the heat of the day with no relief from the sun. I have to say it started to take it's toll on me as I kept getting slower and slower. So then I made the executive decision to switch it up. The temp on the Garmin read 101 degrees. Terry and Dave finished the day at the Camp site "Devils Backbone. It is right on the river with a major passage way for Barges. There has been three large barges that have passed in the last several hours some of them two and three barges wide.
We set up camp and and started the burgers. Cleaned up and started the blog. It is still pretty humid and the bugs are coming out so I will be ending this shortly so we can take cover. Large Mosquitos!!!
More tomorrow night as another day ends.
DAve, Terry & Julie
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