After some tough weather days, we have had beautiful days yesterday and today. If riding a bike across the country is something that one would like to do, it is days of riding like these that might come to mind. The sun has been shining and the routes beaufiful, with rolling hills and countryside that does not disappoint.

In some ways the rollers are quite similar to what we have at home. Short stretches where the grade goes from 5%, to 6%, to 8%, to 9%, with perhaps a spicy 11%, 12% or 14% thrown into the mix, going up and down. I love this type of cycling, in part because I can enjoy the descents. I can see where they turn back into climbs. There are seldom hidden surprises due to curves that could hide driveways or intersections. I find both sides if the hill rewarding and, generally, fun.

One of the things that surprises me about the hills here is that there is no expanse to see at the “top.” It is beautiful, but there are no mountains or huge vistas. There is more of the same. Our guide, Cy, has told us that at one point the Ozarks were the highest mountain range on the planet. Now we are on a plateau and no mountains are visible. These rolling hills are all that remains.

Also absent is much of the historical culture of these towns we ride through: at least to those of us who are not a part of it. There are almost exclusively chain restaurants to eat at. There are few stores in the little storefronts in the places we ride past. The last two nights we have stayed in independent motels that do not seem to have many other guests. Here in Eminence there do seem to be some businesses based on the rivers that flow through the Ozarks, especially kayaking, but not many others. That said, we stopped at a ice cream stand that also had a variety of lunch type foods on our way in and it was incredibly busy for a town of approx 500 people, so hopefully local businesses can thrive here.

At an intersection between Marshfield and Houston. Sadly, the Yakety Yak did not seem to be open any longer.

It was unclear what happens at Alice School now, but it appears to be very well maintained.

Some of the beauty is hard to convey in pictures, but is it beautiful and it is nice to stop, take a picture or two and remember how lucky we are to travel the country at a pace that allows us to see what we could easily just pass by in a car.

From the “you never know what you will see” files: this fawn’s mother was killed and the owners of this house next to our motel in Houston took it in and have raised it with their 3 “other” dogs.

81 million gallons/day makes a great place for a mill!

And you need a school. This one was next to the mill.