the accent got away from me

Coffman
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A really nice day. Not too hot, and there were even a few flat spots. So far Missouri is just beautiful. I rode through wineries most of the afternoon. Nearing Farmington, there was one right on the road so I went in for a tasting. They had one of the original coats that Clark Gable wore in Gone With the Wind and a copy of the book signed by a bunch of the cast, including Clark and Viv. I stopped and ate dinner in a nice restaurant in town- a great green salad and a big plate of ravioli. The strong Kentucky accent is gone. I didn’t notice it fade away, but somewhere on the back of a bike, it got away from me.

Crossing into Missouri
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I encountered angels today. I guess they are just nice folks, but after hiking the AT I know they are angels. I was hoping to find a grocery store in Coffman, but all I found was an antique mall. A lady there had seen me on the road and, heading back to St Louis after a family weekend, pressed on me some fresh fruit, cheese, sun chips and even a small piece of some special St. Louis sausage. Then in the evening, arriving at the park, a man pulled over to tell me that I would have to register 2 miles down the road. We looked up the phone number and he called for me just to check. Another lady pulled in – she’s driving gear for her husband who’s biking the TransAm. She said I could leave my bike and things at her site and she would shuttle me down to the check-in. In the end they offered to let me pitch my tent there at their site. He’s a bike racer and had wanted to do this trip, so the whole family came along for a cross-country vacation. They have 2 little girls about my cousin’s age. And they are from Portland!

I'm at St. Joe State Park, in the heart of the old "Lead Belt" of southeast Missouri where much of the nation's lead ore was extracted for more than a century.