day 51

the sun woke us up this morning at around 8 so i got up and started packing some things up and evan followed suit. we grabbed some pancakes and egg biscuit sandwiches at the 21 diner which was pretty good. while we were there, someone was spraying pesticide all on the outside and even on the inside of the restaurant so we got out of there. we headed down the road making our way to farmington. i got a bit ahead of evan and at a turn i was a little up the hill and he had his headphones in and when he looked over didn't see me so he kept cycling past. i was yelling at him but he couldn't hear me, so i chased down after him. luckily i caught him maybe 5 miles down the road but i made a rookie move. we headed down the right way down highway "n" (kansas and missouri name some of their highways with letters and even with double letters, odd.). we had hills but nothing too terrible, but it was just super hot in the mid 90's then add humidity, we were just dripping sweat. it was nasty. we got to this state park and there was this newly constructed ranger information station where we met 2 other cyclists, one was having dehydration issues, and we swapped stories and they told us of a short cut to get to farmington to avoid some of the intense hills. we enjoyed each other's company and the shade for a bit before parting ways. we then headed down the road and made a turn towards pilot knob where we stopped at a mcdonalds where i needed to refuel (i am a sucker for mcdonalds and evan is definitely not). it was then a pretty short ride into farmington where we've heard about this sweet hostel called al's (not owls) in downtown. we heard about it probably in kansas and have been super excited to get here, we finally found it after following a spray painted arrows and signs on the road. we go up the stairs and call the police station where we got the code to get into the hostel. we open the door and air conditioning immediately hits us and we see leather couches with a flat screen tv, a full kitchen, a fridge full of soda and water, cupboards with some food, bunk beds for maybe 15, 2 bathrooms, and a computer with internet and only for cyclers. we were blown away. second coolest thing in missouri. we marched around just amazed at the place and unpacked our gear and settled in for a bit cleaning ourselves up with a much needed shower and then put our clothes in the wash, it had been a nasty week for us sine we'd last got a shower and washed our clothes. we put pins on the map of where we are from. a female cycler arrived and we chatted for a bit and then eventually went out to dinner at the firehouse grill. some good food and company we shared. we also found $10 on the road on our way back! we came back to the hostel and i updated the blog all night, literally since it'd been so long. another cycler came in and he's been traveling the world for over 2 years now so he had so many great stories to listen to. we all just chilled in the hostel taking advantage of the coolness and comfort. tomorrow we head out of missouri, cross the mississippi river, and into illinois. goodnight.