Day 9 - ending at Cameron, MO - Getting Aligned - CycleBlaze

August 14, 2017

Day 9 - ending at Cameron, MO

Posted via email Tue Aug 15 03:39:02 2017 PDT

Up at 6:10am. Took empty bike outside to load; it was just going to be easier that way. Noticed a wire sticking out of the front tire just before leaving, so pulled that out. Rolled out of the motel parking lot at 9:24am, stopping at Casey's down the road for air. The front tire was fine, but the back was only 44.5 psi.

Next, to McDonald's for breakfast. An older couple there stopped to talk, saying keeping active while getting older keeps you going.

Cameron was my off-route destination for today, and west on US-36 was the way to get there. Got started at 10:23am. The highway west out of Chillicothe is level for a ways. I noticed the south wind on the curve southwest, and realized how fortunate I've been so far this trip, wind-wise.

Same familiar ride - wide shoulder and traffic noise. I was ready for a diversion, and noticed on the map a way to go through part of Utica, instead of around the town. So that's what I did at 11:10am. I met a most interesting fellow on the gravel road west of town. He and his brother recycle surplus materials. He said, sorted out properly, plastic pays twenty-three cents a pound. And he has a lot of plastic! After I asked, he explained the different grades of circuit boards, and how they're sorted. He knew weights and values for everything. As we were talking, three cats surrounded my bike, so I had to be careful not to move any. The EPA was called in once at his site. After their inspection, they just asked that circuit boards not be left sitting on the ground (due to the lead in them). When it was time to go, he moved the cats for me, then we parted with a handshake.

I was back at the highway at 11:42am. Mileage so far at noon today: 8.2 miles. At 12:45pm, I'd reached the Caldwell County Line. An hour later, I came upon an 'Incident', which turned out to be a wrecked semi-truck with a livestock load. Didn't look too serious.

At 2:11pm I was ready for another diversion off US-36, so headed north at Road 'B', about four miles east of Hamilton. A turn west after half a mile lined me up to enter Hamilton on 'Old 36', which is still-in-good-shape concrete.

I arrived in downtown Hamilton at 3:00pm, and looked up a place to eat, which turned out to be 'J's Burger Dive'. Hamilton is big on quilts, apparently, and also has a JC Penney museum.

Back on US-36 at 4:03pm for more slow-pedal hills and traffic noise. It was raining to the northwest, but didn't quite make it to Cameron. But I did make it - at 5:31pm. Checked in at America's Best Value Inn, and pushed the bike into room 107 at 5:56pm. Soon after, I walked to the nearby Dairy Queen for supper (Turkey BLT and root beer float). Followed that with a Dr Pepper back at the motel.

There, all done before 10:00pm (except for the morning proofread).

I'll add here that I did have a shower and was in bed at about 10:40pm.

Jeff

Spent: $9.09 (breakfast) + $10.31 (lunch) + $65.22 plus $5 (motel) + $9.98 (supper) + $1 (Dr Pepper) = $100.60.

+ plus signs indicate pictures added after returning home from the trip +

Day 9 - Chillicothe, MO to Cameron, MO
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+ my breakfast at McDonald's - Chillicothe, MO +
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+ one of several friendly cats at the recycle yard - Utica, MO +
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Today's ride: 39 miles (63 km)
Total: 356 miles (573 km)

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