Days 64 & 65: Welcome to Fall & the Ozarks, & the 2,700 Pound Toilet

We chose our campsite at Meramec State Park with only one thought in mind: if it is going to be cold, we don't want a long hike to the bathroom in the middle of the night.  As a result, we were where everyone could see us as they entered the campground, so we drew a bit of a crowd.  But we weren't quite prepared for what looked like a seven year old girl who decided to come peak in our cabin window early Saturday morning.  Fortunately, Lana chased her off, never to return.

We've been in a cold snap for a few days now.  Saturday's forecast high was 58 degrees, but we never saw the thermometer register any better than 54.  Sunday was a bit better, though not by much.  But at least the winds had died down considerably.

When Jim Williams stopped by to chat with us the other day he gave us a pretty succinct idea of what to expect as we head toward Chester, IL: most roads will follow ridge lines that mainly have low to moderate rollers, occasionally dropping down into river valleys, where some of the grades can be pretty steep and long.  Coming out of one river valley yesterday I barely managed to keep my speed above 5 mph, and if it had been much longer I may have ended up walking.

I remember my bicycle tour through the Ozarks of Arkansas and Missouri in 1985 as the hardest riding of a 10,000 mile trip.  I recall the western Ozark roads as short, steep, narrow and serpentine - with just one hill after another, all day long.  That memory may be colored by the fact that the bicycle that I was riding weighed a minimum of 75 pounds and that it was hot and humid at the time, but it seems an accurate enough memory in light of our current experiences.  

The eastern Ozarks don't seem as bad, though I find myself longing for those hot and humid days.  Riding in 50 degree temps with a strong wind hasn't been much fun.  You have to dress warm enough that you work up a sweat on the uphills, and that chills you to the bone on the descents (I managed over 45 mph on one of them).  Needless to say, we are anxious for the warmer days that are forecast to arrive, so that our hard work will be more enjoyable.

Crap!  Another 10 miles of THAT to Potosi?

We stopped in Potosi for lunch, taking advantage of a fish fry put on as a local school fund raiser - catfish, hush puppies, beans and coleslaw for $7!  It was great to find a quick meal that was different from our day to day fare.  With the weather so dismal we stopped there long enough to also do laundry and get caught upon on a few other chores.

We had planned to stay in Potosi at the Lions Club Campground, but when we got there we found nothing but a couple of picnic tables - not even any toilets!  

Potosi was our last stop on the Great Rivers South route until we get to Southeastern Illinois.  Our plan is to connect with the Trans America route in Farmington, MO.  There is a gap of nearly 30 miles where we would need to plan our own route.  That was a little too much for Alea, as Missouri has been a tough state to navigate, as there are few places to pull off the road and it is easy to miss some intersections.  The prospect of getting lost and leaving me suffering in the cold had the anxiety meter pegged way past high, so we opted to drive the 20 miles to St Joe State Park ($23, power and showers).

With the continued cold temperatures we opted for another short day on Sunday, opting to break up the ride with a stop for lunch in Farmington at The Factory Diner.  From there it was a short ride to our turnoff for Hawn State Park ($23, power and showers), where we spent the night.

Alea arrives at our turnoff for Hawn State Park.

In the late afternoon a couple pulled into the site across from us.  We overheard them saying to their neighbor that they had just bought their camper, a hard sided trailer with pop out beds fore and aft.  Asked how light it was, they answered that is was only 3,800 pounds (which is pretty light for a standard trailer).

In the morning they and another camper were discussing our camper and wanted to take a look, so we invited them over.  They were impressed with the efficiency and quality, but the wife of the owner of the 3,800 trailer crowed that she finally had a bathroom, which was something she had sought for a long time.  I thought to myself that our camper only weighs about 1,100 pounds.  So that means that it was necessary to add an additional 2,700 pounds (to a lightweight trailer) to have that toilet, and I suspect they would quickly learn how fast that blackwater tank fills up if they use it exclusively.  Of course that meant an expensive tow vehicle, with poor gas mileage and high cost of ownership, etc...