We're back in the eastern time zone!

We've made it to Terre Haute, Indiana, and we are very much enjoying a visit from Drew's parents. They have treated us to a stay in a nice hotel, and we have just returned from a chinese buffet dinner. We are all pretty stuffed!

Since we left Leawood, our days have gone as follows:
Leawood, Kansas-Tipton, Missouri
Tipton-Hermann
Hermann-St. Louis
St. Louis-Altamont, Illinois
Altamont-Terre Haute, Indiana

It was sad to leave the Douglas family in Leawood, but we set off bright and early for a 110 mile day to Tipton. We crossed into Missouri only a mile from their house, and had a nice ride through the rolling hills. We again ran in to some technical issues, and throughout the day, managed to accumulate 9 flat tires. We reached Sedalia around 3:30, only to find the both of the bike shops in town were closed on a Saturday (even though their hours posted online and on their doors said that they were open). Regardless, we got lucky, because Walmart happened to have in stock the exact tubes that we needed for our bikes. We stocked up on tubes and some patch kits, and continued on our way to Tipton. In Tipton, we were having trouble finding a place to stay, because the town was incredibly small. Someone suggested that we ride down to the ambulance base and ask them if we might be able to camp on their lawn. As Katherine was standing outisde the door, a nice older couple saw her looking concerned and stopped to ask if she was OK. After she explained the problems we were having, the Koechner's were kind enough to invite us back to their house to spend the night (and take a warm shower!). An interesting note: while we were standing in the kitchen, we noticed a picture of the four main characters of the movie Anchorman taped to the refrigerator. When we asked about the picture, we learned that "Champ" (real name David Koechner), was their son! That night, Drew slept in the treehouse, and was very excited to be sleeping in a treehouse that Champ had played in as a child.

Our next day, after passing through the state capitol (Jefferson City), we hopped on the Katy Trail. This trail is an old converted railroad bed that has been turned into a bike path. It runs from Clinton-St. Charles, Missouri--most of the state! We were excited to be on the trail because it was pancake flat. Missouri is actually quite steep. Although the hills are short, the roads are not cut into the hills as they are out west, and can be pretty tiring. Even though it was flat, the unpaved terrain slowed us down a bit because there was more resistance against our tires. The scenery on the trail was beautiful. It was pretty cool to ride through areas that were actually dim because the vegetation fromthe trees cast so much shade. We rode though some small abandoned towns, through lots of cornfields, along the Missouri river for quite some time, and by a couple of tall cliffs. We also saw some pretty interesting birds (but we couldn't identify any of them). That night, we camped in the town park in Hermann, a small town on the Missouri river.

The next morning, we set off for St. Louis. Our goal in the morning was to make it to the arch, take lots of great pictures, and cross the border into Illinois for the night. We spent a good majority of the day enjoying the Katy Trail again, and then got off before St. Charles to head for the city. Boy, the roads through cities are confusing! Our plan was to take a route through the city that turned out to be a major 4 lane divided highway, and we quickly realized that this was not going to work. After asking for directions about 14 times, we finally headed in the direction of the arch. By the time we reached the city, it was nearly 6pm. Because it had gotten so late, we decided to stay in St. Louis, and then cross the Mississipi in the morning. We stayed in the 'Hampton Inn Under the Arch". Despite the name, the hotel was not in fact under the arch (but it was pretty close!)

The next morning, we hit the arch right away, and were amazed at how tall it actually was. It's the 'gateway to the west', but we thought of it as the gateway to the east. We then crossed over the Mississipi River, which was not as wide as we thought it would be, and headed into Illinois. Unfortunately, there was no sign on the bridge to let us know that we had crossed state lines! The rest of the day consisted of a pretty flat ride to Altamont. We were slowed a bit by a strong crosswind, but we were just thankful that it was not directly in our faces.

This morning, we woke up to a ripping headwind, and were disappointed that we were going to be riding with the wind blowing at us all day. We were excited that we would be seeing Drew's parent's though! Even with the wind, we managed to make great time this morning with Tony breaking wind for our pelaton. Our original plan was to make it to Brazil, a fairly small town in Indiana. After riding this morning though, we decided to cut some miles and make up for them tomorrow, when the wind was forecasted to be more mild. We decided to stay in Terre Haute instead. Around 12, Drew's parents drove by honking at us, and we stopped to say hello. They took all of our gear from us, which made the rest of the day much easier! I think we have all forgotten what it is really like to ride a bike without four heavy panniers strapped on. This afternoon, the wind slowed a bit, but it began to pour on us. As it turns out, it's not all that unpleasant to ride in the rain. It keeps you cool, and once you're wet, it doesn't really matter if you continue to get wet. It's possible that we were also just happy that the wind had slowed some. We again crossed a state line without seeing a sign (we're not sure if we missed it, or if it just wasn't there!). We also crossed time zones again--we're officially on eastern time again! For some reason, this feels like a really huge landmark for us. We're just over 2 weeks from home now, and we're all excited to see family and friends. We're glad to be spending the evening with the Cathers. We had a lot of fun at dinner, and now we will just relax until we head to bed. Unfortunately, they will be taking off in the morning to head home. It's been a short visit, but great to see them!

Tomorrow, we will attempt to make it through Indianapolis to find a place to stay. Apparently, there is a huge NASCAR race taking place, so it might be a bit hairy trying to find a place to stay near the city tomorrow night. We'll let you know how it goes!