Our own showroom guru, Hank Darlington, is
bicycling cross country to raise funds for
The Decorative
Plumbing and Hardware Association's Memorial Scholarship Fund. If
you are interested in supporting Darlington’s cross-country cause,
click here.
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| In our rain gear at our first SAG stop. |
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Good
News: No traffic on the roads until 11:00 a.m.
Bad
News: LOTS of traffic after that!
Good
News: Not nearly as many hills as yesterday.
Bad
News: We still did 2900 feet of climbing.
Good
News: Most cars and trucks gave us as much room as possible.
Bad
News: Those that didn't tried to run us off the road - and honked their horns
at us!
Good
News: Eight inch wide white lines were freshly painted and easy to follow.
Bad
News: NO shoulder and we had to ride the white line.
Good
News: The road was in great repair 95% of the trip.
Bad
News: The remaining 5% was in horrible shape!
Good
News: We passed the 2000 mile mark today (Pictured above)
Bad News (well, really not so bad): We still
have 1500 miles to go.
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| Crow is a brand name of
hybrid corn. |
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Good News: We've made it through some tough wind & weather the past 5 days.
Bad
News: We have a Century Ride tomorrow - and 87 miles the next day - before we
have another rest stop.
Good
News: My roommate Champ's wife, Veronica, arrived today from Washington, IL and
I'll have the room to myself for three nights.
Bad
News: I can't think of any!
Throughout the day everywhere we looked we saw
signs in the corn fields that said "Crow's Planted Here"! All of us
had a different thought. I finally had to ask! Crow is a brand name of hybrid
corn. The company also products hybrid soybeans, alfalfa and sorghum! See
picture.
Ah
ha.....you thought you were going to get away without a little history lesson
today, huh? No such luck. We crossed the mighty Mississippi River today
(Pictured here) — and I thought I'd tell you a few facts about the river:
The Mississippi River is 2,348 miles long and is the second longest river,
after the Missouri, in the United States. (The Missouri beats it by 208 miles)!
The area that drains into the river comes from 31 states! Even I just learned
that!
The Mississippi starts in Minnesota and then flows south, following the
boundaries between the states of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and
Louisiana on the west, and Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and
Mississippi on the east. It ends in the Gulf of Mexico. It is the actual diving
line between these states.
The river's name means "father of waters" in the Algonquian language.
The advent of the steamboat in 1812 brought dependable transportation, and
river traffic increased rapidly. During the Civil War control of the river was
a major strategic objective; the Vicksburg Campaign of 1863 achieved that goal
for the Union armies. Traffic resumed after the war, and the steamboat reined
its waters for many years.
Eventually they were replaced by diesel, screw-driven towboats pushing barges.
The rivalry between rail and river transport, which started in the late 19th
century, persists to this day.
The widest point of the Mississippi River is Lake Winnibigoshish (how would you
like to have this name in a spelling Bee?) near Grand Rapids, Minnesota at over
7 miles across. Now that's a W-I-D-E river!
One
last thing: I'd like to encourage any of you who want to donate to the
Scholarship Fund to get your donations in. You can do it online at
www.bikewithhank.com
Okay,
that's it for today! Tomorrow we're off to Springfield, IL.
Read Darlington’s other adventure-filled posts
from the beginning of his Tour de USA at his daily blog (http://www.crosscountryrider.blogspot.com).
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