Name That Critter

Name that critter, they've pies in MO too, typical rollers in the Ozarks, this game went on for hours

An hour or so after my last posting I experienced my second mechanical disaster. I managed to suck up a piece of steel belt tire into me rear derailer. Most unfortunately I didn't stop pedaling in time and the rear cog blew up. I ended up turning the bike into a single speed and heading for Hutchinson KS where there was a bike shop. By the time I reached Hutchinson it was getting dark so I pitched my tent on the outskirts of town and went to sleep. Around 3AM I woke up to crackling thunder lighting and buckets of rain. Ended up pretty wet by morning....good times! Managed to get the bike fixed Thursday AM and headed to Eureka KS. Along the way I passed George Washington Carvers initial homestead where he performed much of his early agricultural experiments. The terrain began getting hillier and greener as I moved into the Flint Hills section of eastern KS. Day 31 of my journey was from Eureka KS to Pittsburgh KS. Terrain continued to get hillier and greener with really fun hills where you could carry your speed from one to the next. Temperatures and humidity last few days have been perfect. Early Saturday morning I finally left Kansas after 580 miles and entered into Missouri. Never really thought much about MO but it's a beautiful state full of great hardwood leafy trees, lakes, and rivers. MO also has the northern half of the Ozarks which is the only geological uplift feature between the Rockies and the Appalachians. Needless to say the entire southern half of MO which is where I'm passing through is a roller coaster. They're not too high topping out at around 1,700ft but nothing is flat it's continually going from 200ft to 800ft back to 300ft and up to 1,500ft and so on....it's really fun riding but grueling. All the towns are very small with I'm guessing under 500 people but all seem to have at least 5 churches. I'm currently in Summersville pretty much in the middle of MO. I think I'll be crossing the Mississippi Wednesday afternoon. I'll spend some time this afternoon checking out Alley Springs. I'm told under most of MO there's an enormous aquifer filtering through limestone caves. Well, all this water shoots out at Alley Springs. No idea, more on this later. I'll spend this evening camping along the Current River in Eminence. Two random tid-bits. 1) I used to love q-tips....I've now gone 31 days w/out them and have come to the conclusion that they aren't not necessary, I can still hear just fine. 2) Bike locks....I've now carried a two pound bike lock something like 3,000miles and not used it once, either folks don't like fluorescent green or they're good honest people that don't steel, I believe the latter (I hope I don't get proved wrong). Best for last: something really wonderful happened a few days ago. Many of you reading who know me well know that I've got some issues with my feet. Particularly claw like nails and a few mangled toes. Not quite sure why but guessing as result of the pressure from my cycling shoes over so many days one of my two "claws" loosened and with a few minutes work tinkering with the pliers on my leatherman I was able to pop it off underneath was/is a wonderful see through nail not yellow crumbling or a 1/4 inch thick. I have high hopes that the other claw will pop off too. In closing I am very happy to see that I've at least one road kill fan. I've instituted a new game, "name that critter". Perhaps in the future all this collaboration on this interweb thing will allow one to post smells too...that would really make "name that critter" a world class game.