{"id":745,"date":"2011-10-24T05:31:44","date_gmt":"2011-10-24T05:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/?page_id=745"},"modified":"2011-10-24T05:31:44","modified_gmt":"2011-10-24T05:31:44","slug":"13-vienna-thats-vai-yenna","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/13-vienna-thats-vai-yenna\/","title":{"rendered":"13. Vienna: That&#8217;s &#8220;VAI-yenna&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Night of October 1, 2011<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Propped up in my tent on this thermarest I bought two years ago \u2026 a huge innovation, since it has straps and metal ribbing that allow it to work as a chair with back support. Sipping what\u2019s left of the $5 red wine I opened for lunch on the road. Wearing most of my clothes. It\u2019s supposed to get down into the thirties tonight. I feel the chill already.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m on the north side of Hwy 146, about a third of the way across the southern tip of Illinois. I stopped an hour before I needed to because I was tired of dodging heavy traffic on a highway with no shoulders \u2026 looking into my mirror to see what\u2019s coming up from behind, looking ahead, balancing the two. When there\u2019s no oncoming traffic, the traffic from behind passes around, leaving me plenty of leeway. But I keep a good eye out. Sometimes when there\u2019s traffic in both directions, I have no choice but to pull off the road onto the gravel and grass.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I was getting worn down by this rather nerve-wracking exercise. So when I saw a likely spot, I took it. Also, I didn\u2019t want to camp close to the next major intersection, not too far ahead, with north-south highways \u2013 37, 45 and then the Interstate 24. It would be too noisy and too built up. The town of Vienna (pronounced <em>VAI \u2013 yenna<\/em>) sits on the intersection of 146 and 45, a likely spot to grab a hot breakfast and access the Internet. So I wanted to save that for morning too. There isn\u2019t too much in the way of towns after that for a while.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I haven\u2019t set the alarm on my iPod either. Today I made my earliest start so far. I was packed and rolling before sunrise \u2013 very crisp out too, me in my shorts, sandals and light jacket. But tomorrow I\u2019ll be in no rush. I should have plenty of time to reach Golconda and decide whether I want to stand down there for a day or not. From the ferry crossing at Cave-in-Rock, I\u2019ve plotted my course a day or two\u2019s ride farther east into Kentucky.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Starting yesterday morning \u2026<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>#8074 \u2013 <strong>Them old cotton fields back home.<\/strong> At my first stop this morning, I overheard some locals talking about a cotton festival in Sikeston today.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8074-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-746\" title=\"IMG_8074 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8074-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"IN THEM OLD COTTON FIELDS  by  JOHNNY  CASH\" width=\"648\" height=\"486\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VRNzdRFnn0c?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>#8075 \u2013<strong> Pretty Missouri countryside.<\/strong> Off Hwy 77, looking north. Another tough road with no shoulders and considerable traffic, much of it consisting of large, heavy trucks. Note the forested hill to the right. I am starting to get into ups and downs again.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8075-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-747\" title=\"IMG_8075 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8075-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8077 \u2013 <strong>Last night\u2019s camp, Friday.<\/strong> Just a trifle raw and in the open. But there was absolutely no one in sight.\u00a0 There were some large dog prints in the dirt, but they weren\u2019t fresh, and after dark I heard coyotes howling in the distance. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>The main highway north and south is off to the left, behind a large stand of trees where a loud vesper chorus of bird song resounded as I was showing up and scoping out the scene. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>The highway running across the center of this photo, from west to east, is brand new and hasn\u2019t been opened up yet. There was a lot of noisy traffic on the other side of the barrier, a hundred yards to the west, but the place I set up camp was well off the beaten track \u2013 just the way I like it.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8077-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-748\" title=\"IMG_8077 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8077-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8083 \u2013 <strong>In the Men\u2019s Room upstairs<\/strong> at the beautiful Schnuck\u2019s Grocery Store on William St., on the south side of Cape Girardeau. You can brush your teeth, shave, wash your hair and take a little sponge bath with wet paper towels in a place like this, all in about 15 minutes. It\u2019s not quite the same as a good hot shower, but it makes you feel<em> so<\/em> human again. Thank you, Schnuck\u2019s! <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> On such occasions, I\u2019m conscientious about wiping up any splattered water and leaving the premises as clean as I found them. I always used to think it looked tacky when I\u2019d see some guy shaving in a public restroom. But I\u2019ve noticed that it\u2019s better to look than to feel tacky. So far, no one\u2019s hassled me.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8083-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-749\" title=\"IMG_8083 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8083-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8082 \u2013 <strong>People in the smaller towns are amazingly laid back and accommodating.<\/strong> Of course, I wheeled my bike inside the store and found a likely spot to prop it up \u2013 in the produce section. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> I\u2019m extremely sensitive about where I leave it when it\u2019s going to be out of sight and untended for a few moments. (I wouldn\u2019t have parked it outdoors in front, for example, while I cleaned up and shopped inside the store.) I also leave my snotty handkerchiefs in sight and exercise other techniques that would make my outfit unattractive as an object for pilfering. Moreover, it\u2019s so heavy and awkward to move that very few, even experienced bicyclists, would know how to roll it away. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>One old fellow named Stanley \u2013 during an earlier stop that morning, back out at a crossroads convenience store in the countryside \u2013 commented perceptively that I have a lot of money tied up in my rig. I sure do, and it\u2019s taken many years to put the whole thing together \u2013 fine-tuned and upgraded every time I travel like this. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>As a rule, I don\u2019t take any chances. They used to hang horse thieves in the Old West, and I can appreciate the logic behind such a harsh policy. If somebody ever took off with my mount \u2013 heaven forbid \u2013 it would be an incalculable loss to me. Much worse than just a major inconvenience and financial setback. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>The setting and population are critical. Once in Portland, Maine, I leaned my loaded bike beside the entrance of a public library, thinking to use the Internet. But I didn\u2019t leave it there untended; I didn\u2019t even go inside \u2013 only because of the way some fellows hanging around were sizing it up. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>Once in Romania, at a resort just north of Constanta, I left my slippers above the water line and went for a swim in the Black Sea. Gypsy women in their brightly colored dresses were patrolling the beach in the early evening, walking up and down. When I came out of the water, my slippers had disappeared. There are people who will steal <em>anything<\/em> that isn\u2019t nailed down. Once in Torun, Poland, walking in the historic old town, out of the blue, a Gypsy boy thrust his hand into my large bicycle messenger\u2019s bag. But I was quick and grabbed his arm before he could fish anything out and disappear. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>Social elements and occurrences like this don\u2019t appear at all on the horizon of the small towns I\u2019ve visited across Middle America. In addition, the merchant folk are more decent and civilized than they are on the congested, impersonal East Coast, where I live. I still haven\u2019t heard anyone say, \u201cSorry, no bicycles are allowed in here.\u201d \u00b6 What did happen is that, after I\u2019d been in the store for maybe half an hour, an assistant manager named Jon kindly suggested I put my bike behind the swinging doors, in the employees-only area, back by the loading dock. No one would mess with it there, and it would be out of everybody\u2019s way. So, with ample peace of mind, I resumed my tour of the spacious store, stocking up on a few nice grocery items, and later enjoyed a second breakfast in the Deli Section. I also gave Jon my blog address, as I\u2019ve done now in several other business encounters like this along my route since creating the blog account in Yellville, AR, a week ago. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>Note the handlebar bag hanging at the far right above the sink. This is my cockpit. It contains my most essential items \u2013 including debit card, cash and ID. It\u2019s the one item I keep near me at all times.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8082-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-750\" title=\"IMG_8082 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8082-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8085 \u2013 <strong>French vanilla.<\/strong> Coffee is an essential fixture of every morning for me, and I\u2019ve always been a purist in my tastes. I don\u2019t touch dark roasts. Nothing fancy \u2026 please. Just plain-Jane house blend for me, thank you. I might <em>very<\/em> occasionally add cream \u2013 and I <em>do<\/em> mean cream, or at least half-and-half. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>But several mornings ago, back in Bono, AR, purely on a whim, I pulled the lever on the French vanilla spout when I\u2019d stopped at the small town convenience store to take a break. \u201cDang!\u201d I said to myself. \u201cI do like the way this tastes.\u201d <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>So when I saw the same label on a lever this morning at the Schuck\u2019s in Cape Girardeau, I made the same decision, with the same delightful result. I even went back for a refill \u2013 a bargain at twenty-five cents. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>Incidentally, we had Schnuck\u2019s Grocery Stores when I was growing up in St. Louis County half a century ago. Speaking with Mom on my cell phone this evening, I mentioned the beautiful Schnuck\u2019s in Cape Girardeau \u2013 with its attentive staff \u2013 and she declared, \u201cOh, yes. I shop at Schnuck\u2019s here too.\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8085-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-751\" title=\"IMG_8085 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8085-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8089 \u2013 <strong>Conveniently located,<\/strong> right next to Schnuck\u2019s, is the Cape Bicycle Shop, which I\u2019d found on the Internet and phoned the previous day from Sikeston. Don the manager, good as his word, was waiting for me shortly after opening, with a 28-and-three-eighths-inch folding tire (kind of an odd size) \u2013 all rolled up in a compact ball \u2013 suitable for me to pack away neatly in one of my bags \u2026 buttressing my peace of mind as I head out into the hinterlands of Illinois and Kentucky, where I expect well-stocked bicycle shops to be in short supply.<strong> \u00b6<\/strong> The morning had been decidedly brisk, even at this low elevation. So I laid in a pair of gloves as well. I\u2019m sure I will put them to use immediately tomorrow, before my tires hit the asphalt, a hundred yards up a grassy slope from where I sit. In fact, if I had them in my tent with me now, I\u2019d certainly be wearing them. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>Don followed me outside to record my satisfied departure from his store. <em>Yes, that\u2019s right. East, down William Street to Sprigg. Then head south, and you\u2019ll connect with 74, which will get you across the river. The bridge is very wide \u2026 good for bicycles.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8089-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-752\" title=\"IMG_8089 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8089-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/em><\/li>\n<li>#8091- <strong>But as it happened, I dallied for a while in town.<\/strong> Wouldn\u2019t you have done the same \u2026 if you had an hour to squander in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, which you\u2019d probably never see again, and two good wheels to get you around? <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>Here is a view of the old downtown section \u2013 looking east on Broadway, towards the river.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8091-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-753\" title=\"IMG_8091 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8091-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8094 \u2013 <strong>This is Main Street,<\/strong> if I remember right, looking south towards the bridge I would later cross. It runs parallel to the river, a block away. This part of town is oriented towards tourism \u2026 and much less down at heel than some of the nearby areas I saw.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8094-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-754\" title=\"IMG_8094 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8094-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8097 \u2013 <strong>This shot was taken by a lady tourist from New Hampshire.<\/strong> Yes, Cape Girardeau has been marked by an uncommon share of history, and it draws visitors from far and wide. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>Thanks to one of the plaques nearby, I learned that a million gallons of water a second flow past this spot. Which makes the Mississippi the tenth largest river in the world. The Amazon channels ten times that volume of drink. The Ohio, which joins the Mississippi just a little ways south of here, and which drains a much smaller \u2013 but much wetter \u2013 region, carries twice as much water. The Mississippi basin drains over 40% of the continental USA, including all or parts of more than thirty states, and its watershed extends into two Canadian provinces as well.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8097-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-756\" title=\"IMG_8097 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8097-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8110 \u2013 <strong>St. Ignatius,<\/strong> German Catholic Church, 1853.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8110-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-757\" title=\"IMG_8110 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8110-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8112 &amp; 8113 \u2013 <strong>An attractive bridge.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8112-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-758\" title=\"IMG_8112 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8112-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8113-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-759\" title=\"IMG_8113 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8113-copy1-e1319433733128.jpg?w=225\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>#8115 \u2013 Father of waters. <\/strong>Looking downstream, from the center of the bridge. Huckleberry Finn and Jim came by here on their raft \u2026 a long, long time ago.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8115-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-760\" title=\"IMG_8115 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8115-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>#8117 \u2013<\/strong> <strong>Mingling waters from points as far separated<\/strong> as the northern Rockies and western New York State.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8117-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-761\" title=\"IMG_8117 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8117-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8122 \u2013 <strong>Add another of these signs to my Extensive collection.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8122-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-762\" title=\"IMG_8122 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8122-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>#8126 \u2013 <strong>Mid-afternoon.<\/strong> Time for a break on the grass \u2026 off a side road, well back from the busy highway.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8126-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-763\" title=\"IMG_8126 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8126-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8128 \u2013 <strong>Decent red wine,<\/strong> French baguette (I wish I\u2019d bought two), crumbly white cheese and an apple. With the sun beating hard on my naked torso. A fine picnic lunch. <em>Thanks again, Schnuck\u2019s!\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8128-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-764\" title=\"IMG_8128 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8128-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/em><\/li>\n<li>#8130 \u2013 <strong>Note the non-existent shoulder<\/strong> along Hwy 146 in the southern tip of Illinois. This can be tricky to negotiate. If I steer onto the gravel at the right \u2013 to get out of the way of traffic \u2013 it is loose and unstable enough as to create the risk of overturning my cumbersome vehicle. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>On this occasion, however, I stopped deliberately \u2026 with another aim in mind.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8130-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-765\" title=\"IMG_8130 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8130-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8132 \u2013 <strong>More parched cornstalks,<\/strong> against a cloudless blue October sky. They rustled in the stiff, persistent wind \u2026 as I took my aim at the thirsty roots of one of them.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8132-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-766\" title=\"IMG_8132 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8132-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8136 \u2013 <strong>Another soft, idyllic spot<\/strong> to unroll one\u2019s bedding for a night of peaceful slumber. The white roof of my tent \u2013 the only part that\u2019s not mosquito netting \u2013 is barely visible in the lower right center of the picture. My bicycle is propped to rest for the night, in the shadow of the large tree to the rear and farther to the right. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>Sounds nice. But would you believe \u2026 some <em>idiot<\/em> on a motorcycle, maybe half a mile east of here, has, for at least the past hour, been roaring around in circles \u2013 I presume \u2013 because the loud, insistent, internal combustion farting noises go <em>on, and on, and on. <\/em><strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>Some day I\u2019m going to understand why it\u2019s OK for guys on motorcycles to raise hell like this. Anywhere. Anytime. In this case, way out in the countryside, where I\u2019ve labored hard to arrive in the expectation of better peace and quiet than is normal in the congested region where I live, a dozen miles west of Times Square, New York. Even my wax earplugs don\u2019t help much to subdue this ugly rasping scraping of the atmosphere. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>Oh, well. I\u2019m going to turn in now in spite of it. And I don\u2019t think it\u2019ll stop me from snoozing off. Several layers of clothing on already \u2026. cozy down bag pulled around me \u2026 cap on my head. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>The juice is almost gone on my laptop anyway. That\u2019s about how long it takes to sum up, to reflect on, only two days of riding.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8136-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-767\" title=\"IMG_8136 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8136-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Next morning: Jumbo\u2019s Restaurant, east end of Vienna.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>More on that later \u2026.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>My computer is slowly recharging, from a plug in the wall at my table \u2026 as I look over this posting and put away a hearty county breakfast.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll grab something light and perfunctory across the road at McDonalds, where they\u2019ve got a wifi connection that will finish up my business here in town.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Another lovely fall day. The morning was not as cold as I\u2019d thought it would be.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The sheer <em>freshness<\/em> of a morning in the countryside is one of the more pleasant and invigorating features of a bicycle journey.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Night of October 1, 2011 &nbsp; Propped up in my tent on this thermarest I bought two years ago \u2026 a huge innovation, since it has straps and metal ribbing that allow it to work as a chair with back support. Sipping what\u2019s left of the $5 red wine I opened for lunch on the road. Wearing most of my clothes. It\u2019s supposed to get down into the thirties tonight. I feel the chill already. &nbsp; I\u2019m on the north side of Hwy 146, about a third of the way across the southern tip of Illinois. I stopped an hour before I needed to because I was tired of dodging heavy traffic on a highway with no shoulders \u2026 looking into my mirror to see what\u2019s coming up from behind, looking ahead, balancing the two. When there\u2019s no oncoming traffic, the traffic from behind passes around, leaving me plenty of leeway. But I keep a good eye out. Sometimes when there\u2019s traffic in both directions, I have no choice but to pull off the road onto the gravel and grass. &nbsp; I was getting worn down by this rather nerve-wracking exercise. So when I saw a likely spot, I took it. Also, I didn\u2019t want to camp close to the next major intersection, not too far ahead, with north-south highways \u2013 37, 45 and then the Interstate 24. It would be too noisy and too built up. The town of Vienna (pronounced VAI \u2013 yenna) sits on the intersection <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/13-vienna-thats-vai-yenna\/\">Continue Reading &#8594;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-745","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/745\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}