Hank – Kathy wasn’t feeling up to snuff today so I didn’t mind when she said she’d like to stop in Portageville. I didn’t sleep very well last night either but I did eat better than she. I had the energy but there’s no sense in forcing yourself to go on when you’re feeling drained.

We stopped at Katy’s Diner to get a good meal in us before finding a place to stay. No hotels or motels showed up on my search but usually there’s at least one locally-owned place around. Phyllis and Henry, two customers in Katy’s told us about Pattie’s Inn. I called and a room was available so we were set. Phyllis took off but Henry stuck around for a bit. He’s a retired horticulturalist and still going strong at 84. He also has a great sense of humor. Hardly a sentence passed by when he wasn’t cracking a joke. He left after a bit and Kathy and I downed our huge breakfasts.

Then we rode the mile to Pattie’s where we met Pattie. She fixed us up with a room at a very reasonable price. This is the nicest and best kept locally owned motel we’ve ever stayed in. Everything is neat and clean. The outside is well cared for and decorated nicely. We have thunderstorms coming tonight and tomorrow morning. She said we were welcome to stay another day if we wanted to wait out the storms.

We cleaned up and Kathy got a short nap in. For dinner Kathy had her mac ‘n’ cheese. It wasn’t as good as she was expecting. Pattie did our laundry for $6.00, which we were very happy with. There’s no laundromat in town and our bike shorts were pretty soppy and saggy.

We relaxed the entire day.

Kathy – Nether Hank nor I slept well last night in the tent due to the heat. We were awake off and on all night. Hank managed to get about four hours of sleep and I got about three hours. We were up, dressed, packed up, had a light breakfast, and on the road by 8:00 am because the temps were going to be humid and in the high 80’s again today. We also had 10-15 mph headwinds with gust up to 25 mph.

Our plan was to ride 35 miles and call it good for the day since we were both tired. Well, we didn’t make it that far. Hank was a trooper in front of me breaking the headwinds/sidewinds, but it was still tough riding. I’m sure it was harder for him than me.

Regardless, after 19 miles I had enough. I told him I felt like a wimp today. My body is tired and sore from past four days. Lots of miles and elevation. My mind is on overload and tired from lack of sleep. Today we were are riding on roads with no shoulder and constantly monitoring traffic in our rear view mirrors. I was also trying to draft off Hank, so my eyes constantly switched between watching for traffic and watching Hank’s back tire trying to stay as close as possible without hitting him. The added heat, humidity and winds just did me in. Normally I can tough it out…but not today, I was just done.

I told Hank I wanted to stop for the day with only 19 miles in. If we pressed on to the next town it would be another 17 miles. I just didn’t have it in me to fight the winds for 17 more miles. I felt bad, but really just needed some down time. Hank agreed.

We decided to stop in Portageville, Missouri. We really haven’t had a meal since yesterday morning at Judy’s house so we stopped at a local restaurant and fueled up. We found a local motel that is clean, well kept and best of all, has air conditioning. Pattie’s Inn is owned by one of the kindest woman you could ever meet. There are no laundry services here, but Pattie insisted we give her our dirty clothes and for a minimal cost she would use her personal washer and dryer to clean them for us. She washed, dried and folded our clothes and then brought them back to our room. What a sweetheart! We meet some pretty amazing people on this trip. Thank you Pattie!!!

We showered and cleaned up. I applied Desitin ointment to the heat rash on my legs and tried not to itch my bug bites. My plan was to stay inside this air condition room resting and doing lots of reading the remainder of the day…and that’s what I did.

Before going to the motel we stopped by the grocery store and I got some noodles for the mac and cheese sauce I didn’t get to have last night. I had the mac and cheese for dinner tonight…it was okay. It sounded much better than it tasted. I think I’m good for another year before I feel a need to eat it again. 😊

We are expecting some severe thunderstorms and possible tornado warnings in this area tonight so it’s best to be inside. Hoping we both sleep well tonight. Tomorrow we will wing our ride depending on when the storms move out of the area.

A couple of notes…

If you would like to view older blog entries please click on the months below:

• May 2018
• June 2018
• July 2018
• August 2018
• September 2018
• October 2018
• November 2018
• December 2018
• January 2019
• February 2019
• March 2019
• April 2019
• If you would like to comment on a blog post, please click on the post title (or header), scroll to the bottom and you will then see the comments section where you can add your thoughts. We look forward to your comment and encouraging words. Thank you!
• If you would like to see our current location click here: Current Location where you can see our daily travels.
• To see all the photos related to a blog post, simply click on one of the photos and it will move over (either to the left or right) to the next photo.
• If you would like to “follow” our blog, please click here: Home Page and look in the bottom right corner on your computer where you will see a “+Follow” link (If you are viewing our blog on your cell phone, the location may vary depending on cell phones. Please look around to find this area). Once you click on the “+Follow” link, just enter your email address there (only we can see it) and then go to your personal email to accept the ‘follow request email’ that you will receive. Once this is done, anytime we write a new blog post you will automatically get an email letting you know so you can read it at your leisure. Another option is to bookmark our site and view when you like: www.HankandKathyGreer.com