We both felt rested after spending yesterday in the hotel so were able to exceed today’s planned mileage.
But first, we have to talk about the takeout Illinois barbecue we had (we didn’t know there was such a thing either!). 17th Street Barbecue in Murphysboro won the Grand Champion’s award in a BBQ contest in Tennessee four out of five years, such that the organizers, quite politely, asked them to stop entering so someone else could win. They were written up in numerous publications and a guy kept calling and asking the owner to send him some in New York, to no avail. Finally, the guy pulled out all the stops on a phone call and said, “do/did you watch Cheers? I’m Norm at the end of the bar. How can you help me get some of your BBQ sent to me?” That got his attention. They did about five overnight dry iced mailings with feedback from Norm every time – still frozen on arrival, not cold enough on arrival, etc. and perfected it. Now, not cheap, they overnight their BBQ all over the US.
The ride today was hot and humid again with a heat index of 115. Brad and Sue were again the heroes of the day with numerous cooling/rehydrating breaks.
It was too hot for the cows, who looked at us like were we crazy to not be in the water like them.
There was some beautiful morning light as we tried (and failed) to beat the heat.
