Greg - I think it's fair to say that I've included a somewhat eclectic mix of videos in this journal. Maybe a couple more to come yet as I finish the epilogue.

Maybe there's something wrong with me because I liked the video. Hilarious, arty, bizarre, twisted. It even got me to look up some other Puscifer videos. Freaky stuff.

That was epic!! I really enjoyed following along!

Way to go, Bud!!! Congratulations❤️

Congratulations on completing a truly unique route. There were many opportunities for things to go wrong, but determination, good planning, and flexibility prevailed.
I enjoy tour journals through geographic and cultural regions that cyclists mostly avoid. I saw many familiar places that I have seen on past tours. And I enjoyed all the historical context you provided. This journal will be a great resource for people contemplating future tours of the Great Rivers South route.
During my 2014 Pittsburgh to Fort Worth bike tour I saw only one other touring cyclist after leaving the Great Allegheny Passage trail, in Golconda, Illinois. He was riding the entire Great Rivers South route as a small part of an epic tour from Seattle to Key West.

Thanks for posting another great adventure. I've enjoyed following along, and will look forward to reading that final epilogue.

I would say congrats old man but old men don't ride a bicycle across the country. A good friend told me that one time and I use that line when I go backpacking in the Ouachitas. Let us stay young bro, at least in our minds.

Greg - there was a building dedicated to Joseph Smith, but it wasn't open unless you went on some sort of tour that started at a store in town. I didn't go into the village, but saw 1 lady wearing an 1800's period dress in it - I just didn't have the time to explore it. There's a really interesting book I read that you might enjoy if you want to examine history a bit; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_the_Banner_of_Heaven It gives you a lot of background on Joseph Smith and the Mormon religion.

Thanks Kelly! You warned me that this route was tough in several ways, and you were right. Sometime in the next few days I'm going to post some suggestions for others that I think would make it a better experience.

Mark - I have my photos in the "cloud" using Onedrive. They are sorted by year, and then by topic under that year, so If I can remember the year or guess close to it I can usually find the photo. I spent a considerable chunk of money having my old photos and slides digitized - I had something like 20,000 or so photos/slides to scan - I used a group called Scancafe to get that done. I originally did scanning myself, but got much better results with these guys since they use much more expensive equipment. When I was deployed to Germany in 2019 I spent at least 1 hour each night sorting and adding keywords to my photos. And I'm only up to 1991 so I have a long way to go - but my photo collection actually starts in 1850 with photos I have from both sides of the family.

Congratulations on a good finish! I've enjoyed reading along with you.

Thumbs up on Chicken Train!

Mark, this may be one that you and I just have to disagree on. In the 1970's I would have agreed with you - college dorms had Confederate flags displayed, the "Dukes of Hazard" had the General Lee car with a flag on it, and displaying the flag was just more of a youthful rebellion thing. But that was almost 50 years ago. Since then, most organizations have realized that the flag is an insult to some folks, especially to African-Americans. We aren't supposed to discuss religion on this site, so I'll just leave you with this link (can't insert a link in the comments, so you have to copy/paste); https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/sbc-repudiates-display-of-confederate-flag/

I agree about the breakfast pizza! I've also found that some C-stores make lunch or dinner foods including sides that certainly beat eating "junk food."

Casey's breakfast pizza!! We ate a lot of C-store food while touring during COVID and it was our best discovery.