Sweet Tea Starts time: 10:01 A.M. Distance today: 42.2 miles Average speed: 12.8 mph End time: 3:33 P.M. Top speed: 41.9 mph Temperature and weather conditions: Light head wind with rain for a few minutes. The roads were wet and slippery. Total trip distance: 1,961.6 Miles (since start on April 2, 2000) We left today from Mt. View, MO and had a blow out within a few pedals. I don’t mean a flat, but a very loud POP! So we quickly pulled a wheel off Roman’s bike, since he is temporally on leave graduating from high school, and continued on. We were not able to eat before we departed, so we stopped at the first town - Birch Tree -which was only 13 miles away. We ate at the D J Cafe. Their lunch special was all the catfish, slaw, beans, and corn bread you could eat. We’ve had an unsatisfied desire for sweet tea since we left. Joyce Chitwood, the owner of D J’s (pictured with Jessica Jenkins), has the best sweet tea we’ve ever had. In fact, Charles drank a few ounces less than a gallon. That is an awful lot of sweet tea. Floyd enjoyed a cherry cobbler, which helps his gout. D J’s was a wonderful treat for brunch! We continued on and entered the Mark Twain National Forest. We found Charles Mitchell and Charles Futchs (our Charles’s family use to spell their last name, Fox, this way) on the side of the road with a broken serpentine belt. Their cell phone was out of range. Ours worked, so they were able to call for roadside assistance. Mr. Mitchell suggested we stay at the landings. The owners, Tom and Della Bedell, were friends of his. The landings is actually called the Rose Cliff Lodge. They provided us a cabin with four beds on the edge of the river. It is fantastic! We also visited the Big Spring. This is the largest single spring in the United States. Notice the water’s wonderful colors from the spring fed lake. Tomorrow we are off to Poplar Bluff, Mo. This is about 50 miles away. We may make it a little further if there are not too many mountains. We desperately need a bike shop to buy tires, tubes, and supplies. We’ve not seen a bike shop in a few weeks, but Poplar Bluff has one.