Marion, Kentucky to Eddyville, Illinois
What a difference - sleeping with police permission. No need to get up early, so I slept until about 7:30. Woke up facing due east with the sun coming over some trees and hitting me squarely in the eyes. The tent was still wet and my attempts to dry stuff overnight pretty much failed. So I packed everything up, still wet, and headed for coffee.
Had breakfast with a guy with a patch over his right eye and no teeth. He told me he head been hit by a car while walking, not once, but TWICE in his life. Once by a young girl and once by a police car. He walks with a very ornate cane - looked like it was made out of whale bone or something. Coincidentally, we both have a similar scar on the underside of our right forearm.
After breakfast, I hit the post office and was about to hit a library, too when I spotted an American flag in the gutter. Looking down the street, I realized it had fallen from its support bracket on a telephone pole because the street was lined with flags. I tried to reach up high enough to return it to its proper place, but couldn’t reach it. Diagonally across the street, I spotted a small wooden bench and hijacked it to give me the boost to rehang the flag. As I finished, a woman came out of a hair salon and thanked me. I asked her if I could use her phone and she said okay. She let me use her private office but it had a rotary phone, so I used the touchtone in the main area.
The owner’s name is Emily Shelby and she had number of great stories. It all started with my question about tanning beds. How come, since West Virginia, it seems you can’t ride a mile without seeing a tanning bed sign. Sometimes in hair salons, sometimes in grocery stores, sometimes just in homes... She told me of the many other uses besides tanning per se. For instance, during winter months it helps ward off depression, helps arthritis conditions, among other things. She took me in the back and had me try it out for 10 seconds or so. It was my first tanning bed experience. Very coffin-like when the top closes. She told me how her tanning bed is old but they do their best to take care of it.
The walls in the adjoining room were decorated with framed displays of hair dressing and barbering tools and gadgets from years gone by. A couple of framed ponytails also graced the walls and each ponytail had a tale that went with it. But my favorite story was the one about the framed 5 dollar bill. Emily said that many years ago a customer came in and gave her $3 for an $8 haircut. The customer wasn’t happy and said the haircut was only worth $3! Years later, the dissatisfied customer’s daughter came in and handed her $5 and said, “Your haircuts ARE worth $8!”
I was telling Emily and some of her patrons that I am discovering more and more each day that this trip is about the people I meet more than pedaling. Emily said that’s the difference between the Northerners and Southerners. Southerners are more friendly and trusting. I said, “Southern? I never considered it the South. I thought maybe Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, etc., but never thought of Kentucky as South. Hell, I can’t be 200 miles from Chicago.” Anyway, Emily set me straight on Kentucky being South.
She also had a very Frankenstein looking device in the shop. About 5 foot high on a stand with 30 or so wires hanging with aluminum clothespins on the ends of the wires. She asked me to guess what it was and I said, “Some type of hair curling device.”
She said, “Yes” and showed me an old picture of one in use. She said it was from the 30’s.
I wrote my address in her appointment book and left. Who knew, when I woke up that morning, that I would be hanging out in a beauty salon?!? They were just the friendliest, nicest people!
A quick 12 mile ride down to the ferry - oops, forgot to fill up on water - well, it actually is quite cool this morning still, even chilly. I arrive at the ferry and cars and trucks are just unloading. I ride my bike on and lean it up against the railing. Next thing I know I’m GOINACROSS... the Ohio River and I am the only passenger and vehicle! I got the pilot’s mate to take a picture of me GOINGACROSS. It only took 10 minutes and I spent most of it talking to the mate, so I decided to ride back to Kentucky and try it again. The ride back had us on a course that seemed like we would collide with a barge, but both vessels kept up full speed and cleared each other easily.
On the Illinois side is Cave-In-Rock and a 1/4 mile up the river is a beautiful state park which overlooks the river and has a giant cave you can explore. I am taking advantage of these surroundings to write and dry out all the wet stuff. I’M IN ILLINOIS!!
It’s now 7 PM and I’ve landed in Eddyville, IL. NOT DRY, so I am now at the Shawnee Lounge. One tequila and a Corona or 2 or 3 or 4. Met one Gene Palmer. A local timber lugger who taught me about logging and more info on tobacco farming and subsidies and Tyson egg farms where they supply the buildings and equipment for 10 years of service and then you own the whole operation - but it’s hard work- and most people don’t make it, but if you do, you end up with a million dollar business.
I am really tired. Low bike totals for today: 47.78 miles. 4 hrs. 40 min. 1194.6 total miles.
Locals recommended a tent next to the community center in town would be OK. Good night.
Actually, not such a good night - barking, snarling dog kept attacking the tent. This big, black, son-of-a-bitch (literally!). He started off barking from a distance and then stopped for 5 minutes and I would think he was done. Then he would creep closer and start barking again and stop. Eventually he came right up to the tent and would strike it with his paws and bark this low, growling, gruff bark right in my ear. Then he would retreat and things would get quiet. Only to repeat the whole process 5 minutes later. It was like I was really bothering HIM and HE couldn’t sleep. But he was really bothering ME and I couldn’t sleep! Here we go again. I tried yelling at him. Eventually, he gave up!
In the morning, when I woke up, he was 30 feet away and just looking at me. Never barked again...
The two fellow cross country cyclers I met told me they carry a bottle of ammonia water to fend off dogs. I may just try that.