Day 13

The sun was just coming up in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri as Russ pedaled out of town at 6:10 am heading south on Hwy 61.  There were wispy clouds in the mostly clear sky with a temperature of 77 degrees. There were several people on the road obviously in a hurry to get to work.  One vehicle took a risky chance of passing up a hill with a semi coming straight at him down the hill.  I did a frantic DON'T PASS NOW wave, but he kept coming!  How we all remained safe is only by the grace of God as I watched his big side mirror narrowly miss Russ.  My heart was pounding for several minutes after that incident!  Fortunately, the rest of the day felt much safer!

We took a couple of morning breaks and at 9 am came to Uniontown on Hwy 61 where we saw a sign that said ROAD CLOSED ahead.  Once again, God sent us help - a nice lady out getting her mail that told us they were building a new bridge down the road and a bicycle could get through, but not the car.  She also explained how to detour and meet up with Russ down the road.  What a blessing and Russ didn't have to waste miles detouring!

We had a lunch break at Wendy's in Cape Girardeau where we met Donna Hendrix who had been following us since Jackson.  She gave us a generous donation and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit.  She also was instrumental in getting several people in the restaurant involved in our route out of the city, she even got her husband Gary on the phone to speak to Russ & give us tips and directions as well.  Here's a picture of Donna with Russ outside of Wendy's.

With road closures and a ferry not in operation, our planned route needed adaptation.  We headed east out of Cape G on Hwy 74 & crossed the bridge to Illinois.  It was a neat bridge! In Illinois, the Hwy changed to 146.

After crossing over to Illinois, the effects of the flooding was evident right away.  In fact, in the photo above you can see the water standing in the distance.  We went many miles with water covering the fields on each side of the road.  We turned south on Hwy 3 toward Cairo.

That's water on the left and standing water with green scum on the right. 
We found a shady spot on the side of the road for a break at 2:00.  At 96 degrees, we needed a shady spot!

Fortunately, we found a motel in Cairo, Illinois.  If you look on the map you will see that Cairo is in a piece of Illinois between the Ohio & Mississippi rivers.  Understandably, it was deeply affected by flooding.  After arriving at our motel at 3:30, we took a swim in the pool to cool off, then an hour later Russ was back on the road to do a few more miles (just 25 more minutes) because he wanted to hit 100 miles for the day.  He crossed the bridge to Kentucky, so we were in three states today: Missouri, Illinois & Kentucky!  Here are the photos to show the bridge to Kentucky.

Tomorrow we will head across the tip of Kentucky into Tennessee, so tomorrow will be a three state day, too since we are spending the night in Illinois. 
Thanks again for all your prayers!  God reveals Himself to us in people, places and circumstances and His word.  Thank you for interceding on our behalf, we appreciate you!
Until tomorrow!
Russ & Carol