Day 39 - Sunday, June 27

Today was one of the most challenging days thus far for many reasons. First, Lucky needs his round of chemo tomorrow and after calling 20 or more vets for days, I was not able to find anyone in our area who could administer the protocol. Tho only option available was University of Missouri Veterinary Health Center but they were booked up through August. Thankfully they were sympathetic to our situation and after I sent them the story on Lucky, they made room for us tomorrow first appointment which is what I requested!

And, they will also see us the following Tuesday for his next treatment which will complete 2 full cycles and give us the following week off.

Part 1 of my day was knocking out roughly 30 miles - longest run yet since i restarted with a back that is at 75% and blisters that formed as a result of the back. The silver lining; once my back got bad, my tibia got fully recovered! You get old enough and there is always an issue, just one replaces another.

Once this was completed at 3pm, Chris and I drove to Columbia, MO to Mizzou which took us a little more than 4 hours.

As we passed through St. Louis on our way, we took a detour through St. Charles on the other side of the river. It was a wonderful historic town and we landed in a restaurant called Salt & Smoke which was out of this world bbq, especially the St. Louis style baby back ribs!

We docked the rig at a Cracker Barrel in Columbia for the night and will be ready to show up for 8am appointment tomorrow.

Highlight of the run today was an off camera interview with two gentlemen in hunting gear leaving their house. I walked up and asked if I could grab some water for Lucky and that got us talking…. The bearded man brought out a bowl and filled with water and as Lucky inhaled the water, the man and I stood behind his small house overlooking his massive thousand (?) acre back yard.. I asked if this was his farm and he told me they were just renting the house from the Trovillion family who actually own 10,000 acres they farm.

The gentleman with the beard lived in the house with his second wife and was raising nine children! They were on their way out to go digging for ginseng and goldenseal. They told me that ginseng would bring $50 a pound after it was dried which would whittle down to a 4 to 1 ratio. On good days, they could pull 50 pounds which was enough to buy Christmas presents they told me. In addition to rooting, they were big time hunters and expert woodsman having had numerous run-ins with huge rattle snakes and bears. I asked if he had any videos and he pulled out his phone and scrolled through many videos but found the one he was looking for that showed a rattle snake that was 20 feet long and thick as my thigh.. I asked them if they would be willing to tell me these unbelievable stories on video but they were not comfortable and as I learned later ginseng is on the federal protected list.

Tomorrow is big day for Lucky -

Thank you for your continued support.

Cheers,

David’s.

3:56am wake up support - he is waiting as I turn on the light

Long country road awaits. As we approached a house, 3 crazed dogs came at us and then next thing I know Lucky has neutralized them and they are following us down the road and away from their house. I felt bad about yelling at them to scram a half mile from their home but who knows how long they would have followed Lucky.

Unnamed men who both had big smiles, great tales to tell and doing what they love.

My two friends told me the Shawnee forest is up first…

Then the Grantsberg Swap which was other worldly.

One flower found its way to survive.

Flocks of birds resided in the swamp in addition to other scarier animals.

In the middle of a very remote stretch Lucky and I ran into a prison.

So we decided to approach the fencing near guard tower number 2…and nothing happened to us.

Back on the road, I made it to Vienna IL by noon. As I approached the town I came over a bridge and was surrounded by small insects that assembled as a unit, moved from one area to another and I was able to film it since I was right in the middle!

Our plan was to pull up at interstate 57 at the Illinois Tourist Info Center. But when we got there it was just a ghost town of shuttered building and gas stations that had gone under.

A successful day getting the miles in.

Chris (pilot) and Lucky (co-pilot) get navigate the rig towards St. Louis.

Our pit stop for dinner at Salt & Smoke, an exceptional restaurant.

My meal. Pulled pork, trashed St. Louis ribs, Brioche, baked beans, cream corn and home made pickles

Heading back to rig after dinner to get to our final destination - Columbia MO.