When I rode out of Farmington the next morning, I noticed the Friendly Motel at the edge of town. It had A/C, cable TV, and phones, for $20 a night. It did not have 2 pools, video games, a laundry, or a spa, or any of the other things which I didn’t use anyway at the Knight’s Lodge.

The heat was oppressive. After just 36 miles, I felt as if I had been riding all day. I drank 6 bottles of water, 3 bottles of Gatorade, ate 3 nectarines, had 2 ice creams, a large iced tea, and a giant root beer float. In heat like that, every breeze felt the draft on the outside of an air conditioner. The water in my bottles was like hot tea.

my memories were that i started being lazy about camping, and spoiled by motel luxury. but in reviewing my journals to enter this blog, i realize that was, in fact, very hot and humid.

At 2:30, I saw the Mississippi River for the first time in my life. I was not impressed. It was shallow, dirty, and slow-moving. The drought had something to do with it. The bridge over it was not nearly as long as the Golden Gate that I was accustomed to. The toll was 15 cents, but the tolltaker told me not to worry about it. And so, I entered the Land of Lincoln for free.

At 6:42, I was in Ava. I had 3 full water bottles, and had just finished a Gatorade. I felt good, because it had cooled to 97 degrees. It was 14 miles to Murphysboro. I went for it.

I didn’t reach Murphysboro until dusk. I soon found out that all the motels were booked. It was my good fortune to reach town the day before new freshmen moved into the dorms. Students and their parents had filled all the rooms in town. On the advice of one of the motel clerks, I headed for a distant motel, several miles away.

I found a sign that said “The Chalet.” Actually, this turned out to be a bar with a dancer on stage. It was all kind of informal. She wasn’t nude; in fact, she was dressed as normally as anyone else. When I asked for directions, the show stopped, and she and the bartender tried to figure out where the closest housing would be. They told me that the “other” motel was in DeSoto, 5 miles away in the wrong direction, over shoulderless, unlighted highway. I decided to head back to Murphysboro.

Back at the Murphysboro Motel, I cut a deal with them to camp on their lawn for $5. I should have done that in the first place. They threw in a pass to their fitness center, which had an indoor pool. I took a relaxing shower there, then swam a bit. It was a pleasant ending to a long day. I had ridden 96 miles in the heat.

My camping spot was right across the street from a 24-hour Hardee’s restaurant, so I got a snack at about 2 am. It was hard to sleep in the heat.