East of the Mississippi

      Yesterday I rode forty -six miles from Les Peres to the St. Louis Arch and back, no need to repeat it.  Kelly Sleeper realized ithat when it came to navigating St Louis, I was directionally challenged.  He loaded me up and drove over to the rails to trails just beyond East St. Louis.  East St. Louis is no place to be night or day and getting from the Mississippi shoreline trail through East Saint Louis could be a bit shaky.  No one gets up there until the   afternoon but why trouble trouble..  The maze of trails surrounding Edwardsville proved its worth. Lousy trail markers led me in several directions until a sympathetic soul guided me to the trails to rails path leading to Staunton.  Prior to this act of kindness, a couple of boneheads only made matters worse by sending me even further off course. If apprehended, they are spend time in a Russian Gulag.

        Get your kicks on Route 66.  I merged into this landmark road at Stauton and rode to Litchfield where I dined at Ariston's, a famous Route 66 restaurant. Arriving in my bicycle cloths caught everyone's attention and learning that I was traveling the transcontinental, they had me sign their guest book.  Good for the ego and the meal was superb.  Feeling stuffed, I rode down route 16 to a city park with new facilities, rivaling any state or federal park.  The camp office directed me to the new horse camping grounds where I dodged the horse exhausted and set up camp. I had the place to myself and the hot shower refreshed my tired body.  I

   Today it is more of 66 as I close in on Normal, Illinois to pick up my Adventure Cycling maps which will lead me to the Northern Tier route and beyond.  I am thinking about the Atlantic but I can't smell it yet.