Day 4: 6/23/2022: Ash Grove to Houston, MO

 I had the house to myself last night.  Glad no one was there because I set my alarm on my phone for 4:30 a.m.  I normally wouldn't consider setting an alarm on a bike tour, but I knew today was going to be a long difficult day and I wanted to get an early start.

Pic of sunrise below.

There is a kitchen at the house so I made myself 7 eggs this morning for breakfast.  I also ate a couple of tortillas, and 2 bananas and took off at 5:30 a.m.  About 45 miles later, and pushing 11:30 a.m., I pulled into Walmart at Marshfield and ate a pint of ice cream, a peanut butter tortilla, and a bag of chips for lunch.  My peanut butter was so hot I could have poured it.  I had to eat it really carefully or I could have been wearing peanut butter the rest of the day.  At Marshfield, I knew I was still looking at about 70 more miles to go for the day.  At about 6:30 p.m. I finally arrived at Houston, my stopping place for the day.  They allow cyclists to camp at the City Park, and they open the pool restrooms and showers for cyclists to use.  

A few scenery pics below.

Pic of Nate and Janice below.  They are from Massachusetts and are biking from the Massachusetts coast to San Francisco CA, where they are moving.  A friend of Nate's is driving Nate's car and their belongings to CA.  This is their first long distance tour, but they both regularly ride road bikes.  They will also finish today with over 100 miles for the day.  They have been on the road for about a month.

Tonight, Beverly, a 78-year-old local widow, walked across the street and chatted with me about 45 minutes about the history of Houston.  The biggest thing she wanted to talk about is Emmett Kelly, a famous clown, who was from Houston.  She stated he is the clown that tried to sweep up the spotlight on the floor.  She also stated the town has an Emmett Kelly Day which draws several clowns to the festival. 

Total miles today: 117.1