July 27th, 2006
Today was a new twist on things. Chelsea and I were so exhausted after yesterday that we couldn’t even move this morning. We woke up, and went right back to sleep. After talking about it, we decided to have Alex take us to the next stop, and give ourselves a recovery day. We had great fun – stopped to see Alley Spring, MO, a natural spring that pumps out 81 million gallons of water a day! It was well worth taking the time to see it – just gorgeous and very tranquil. They had historical exhibits and a history of the Ozarks – really interesting. We managed to find a Wal-Mart along the way in Houston, to replenish our water supply, and then continued on to Bendavis.
We were really shocked to discover that our camping place here in Bendavis is on the lot in back of the only store in town. It is a feed store, gas station, convenience store, and mini-restaurant, all in one room. We ate our pizza tonight at a little table looking at the remedies for various ailments for dairy cows. We have no bathrooms – the store closed at 6 p.m. and won’t open until 7 a.m., long after Chelsea and I will be gone. We do get to use some outlets outside the store for charging our cell phones, and there is a hose in the gas station if we need water.
We are hoping to get up to 70 miles tomorrow, praying that the Ozarks are truly behind us. We found out that we have some very hilly sections ahead of us, but we just hope that they aren’t as extensive or as steep as yesterday.
(Note: we got rained out of Bendavis the next morning and drove to Marshfield through a blinding thunderstorm, stopping in Hartville for a great breakfast and a lot of local color.)