Hartville, Missouri

We are camped on the court house lawn in Hartville. I ran down to do some laundry, and it began to rain violently. Besides tonight, the weather has been nice. The wind has generally been blowing from the north, and cool, dry weather prevails.

Yesterday we stayed in Ash Grove in the city park. We met a rider, Shannon, from Richmond, Virginia who was traveling east as well. His friend, Glenn is a day behind him. Shannon is a mountain biker who decided to try loaded touring. He is not carrying much, and pokes fun at Steve’s setup, which is perhaps the heaviest touring bike ever ridden. Shannon and Glen are riding about twenty miles farther than we are every day, so it will be a challenge to keep up with them. I would enjoy their company, and I am confident we can tack a few miles on to our daily average.