It's a small world, after all

I'm currently in Excelsior Springs, MO. I've ridden 2511 miles thus far. This Friday my brother will meet me in Jefferson City to ride with me over the weekend. We will ride a portion of the Katy Trail, a 165 mile rails to trails route along the MO River. I'm looking forward to it.

Two nights ago I was fortunate enough to stay with Matt and Jana in Atchison, KS. They are warm showers hosts. Matt is a professor at Benedictine College in Atchison, KS leading their program for special needs psychology. Jana is a union brick layer. They are an amazing couple. Obviously each new warm showers experience starts with the basics, who are you, why are you riding, what did or do you do. Matt asked me what I specifically did in the navy. He casually mentioned he has two young women in his program whose father is a navy guy too, last name of Hutchens. I asked him if perhaps their dad's first name was Mike, but he prefers Michael. Sure enough, their dad and I served together in Memphis. Matt thinks very highly of these two young women and asked me to make sure I passed it along to Michael. A friend of mine taught me that paying a compliment directly to someone is always nice, but we should always pay compliments about people to a third party as well. The idea is that we should pass how we fill about people beyond just our little circle of people. It was wonderful to hear that two children I've met are doing amazing things as they study how to help developmentally challenged people deal with their needs on a deeper level. Matt was also selected as the educator of the year last year by the students at the college. No surprise.

As great as that was, the best part of the evening was sitting around their dining room table talking about a host of topics, including politics. At the table were liberals, conservatives, and some Bernie support. Unfortunately these different tribes have become so polarized in their conversations that true discussions seem harder to have. We had a great conversation and Matt made a great point. The less Americans involve themselves in the political process, voting, town halls, etc., the more convinced we become of the correctness of our position. Conversely we become less willing to even listen to other's positions. American involvement in the entire political process is lower than at any point in our history. A concern the founding fathers had as well. I did not come away from the conversation a Hillary fan, but I better understand why some people would support her or Sanders.

It was a superb evening discussing far ranging topics and I was sorry it had to end. Another cyclist was there that night riding from St Louis to Astoria, OR. I've seen a few more riders but all heading the opposite way.

Last night I stayed at a historic hotel, The Elms. The first one was built in 1888. The first and second burned down in relatively quick succession. The current edifice was built in 1912 and is on the historic register. It is a beautiful building. Excelsior Springs is named after a natural spring high in manganese. The area has been famous for these being healing waters. Al Capone, Harry S. Truman, and other famous people have stayed here. It is a destination hotel and if you ever find yourself in western MO I highly recommend staying here. The only other place to stay was soundly recommended against by the police officer parked across the road from it. I'm glad I asked him.

This is the lobby. Each little tile was cut and laid by hand. Very impressive. The current owners are investing heavily in the already nice property to make it a true destination resort.

The riding for the last week has been... challenging to say the least. The temperature has been above 100 every day with very strong winds out of the southeast. I am of course heading southeast so I have enjoyed extreme temperatures and wind of at least 20mph gusting to 30mph. I haven't been able to see much of the country as the roads are narrow, lack shoulders, and are heavily trafficked. Drivers have been pretty good. But it still requires hard effort and very tight mental focus as wavering inches from my direction of travel puts me in traffic. I've already lost one pavement contest and care not to try it again. Anecdotally the only vehicle occupants who consistently express anger toward me are old guys in Mercury or Grand Marquis. They will consistently yell at me, loudly honk their horns, or buzz me as they drive by. Even if they are going in the opposite direction the make it known I have no business being on their roads. I fear these guys more than the big trucks, because at least the truck drivers will try to give me some room. I don't know why they are so angry, but they've certainly found the car they prefer so at least I always know.

I was going to include a different picture to capture my riding last week, but the hotel lobby is much nicer than the road kill raccoon the highway workers in Iowa painted the white shoulder stripe directly on top of, months ago, so now the raccoon and the stripe are greatly diminished. Nothing like workers who simply don't care about their work product. A comment I have talked about before.

I am well over half way now and looking forward to being home. My next rest day will be with the parents of one of my Fourth Fleet team in Cape Girardeau around the 28th. It will be my third and I'm looking forward to it.

As always, thank you for your support. It truly means more to me than I can thank you for.