Day 36 Farmington to Centerville, MO 6/8 “Chased by Hogs”

Stats Miles: 47.09 Calories: 4,193 Top Speed:  36.03 Average speed: 10.1

We enjoyed Al’s Place hostel very much but we knew we had miles to do today.We got up at 5:30 am and were ready to go at 6:25am. We went over  to the Factory Diner for breakfast. I ordered an amazing omelet filled with feta cheese, spinach, chicken, mushroom with a side of hash browns.  I couldn’t finished it.

We were back on our bikes and riding out of town at 7:30am. As we rode through town I spied a small family cemetery adjacent to a large prominent home. This is very common in all the states we have ridden  through.

On our easy ride out of town Lisa spotted yet another turtle on the road, we stopped. I got off my bike to perform another rescue.  Two cars were approaching. I had to wait for them to pass. The first, a truck, obviously knew we were performing a turtle rescue and purposely avoided the turtle. The second car hit and killed the turtle. From our vantage point it was on purpose!

May the “turtle gods smite you, you horrid person in the white car! Know you have been SMITED and you now have some really bad karma!”

As we rode to Johnson’s Shut-In State Park we got a good giggle over this sign at a bar along the road. Wouldn’t you say that was a bit of a contradiction?

We arrived at Johnson’s Shut-In State Park. A “Shut-in” is a constriction of a gorge or stream. We stopped to have lunch and visited with a nice lad who was monitoring visitors to the cascading stream. I walked down to the “shut-in” and found  many boulder in the river bed which created pools and small cascading water.

In 2005 there was a breach in the reservoir that sent huge boulders crashing through the state park. Fortunately no one was injured or killed. The boulders lay where they landed.

The ride out of the state park to Centerville was again, quite hilly, but we enjoyed one delightful hill that was much like a roller coaster.

A HOG ENCOUNTER
I was about a mile ahead of Lisa finishing a downhill as the road became flat. I was looking for a spot to wait for Lisa. I pulled alongside a mobile home with a long driveway.  There, scarffing down what I can only presume was dog food on the porch were, what looked like, 2 large pot-belly pigs. “Aaahhhh! , how cute” they have pot-bellied pigs”.  I retrieved my camera from my handle bar bag ready to take a picture. The animals turned when they saw me and I quickly realized, “These are not cute pot-bellied pigs, these huge hogs!  The largest was probably 400 lbs and the juvenile 200 lbs.  They ran off the porch and began to chase me.  I threw my camera back in the bag, and screamed at the hogs as they barreling down on me. The adult hog chased me passed the driveway but the juvenile had more chase in him and chased me probably another 50 feet down the road.  I pedaled soooo fast as all I could envision was being knocked off my bike by angry hogs and eaten on the spot!  When I saw the hogs gave up the chase and moved to the opposite side of the road I cautiously waited for Lisa.  I was ready to scream, “Don’t stop! They’re angry hogs!  They’re not cute pot-bellies!

By the time Lisa got to the hogs they had meandered into the vegetation and trees.  I later learned this area of Missouri has feral hogs, seems like I had a close encounter of the feral hog-kind.

Melinda’s Philosophizing”- It doesn’t take long, on a trip such as this, to gain more respect for the wildlife one encounters.  I can’t tell you how many road kill possums, snakes, raccoons, squirrels, armadillos, foxes, deer, and turtles we have encounters.  Yes, sometimes while driving a person inadvertently kills an animal,  but to kill intentionally, for example a turtle, for kicks, to me, is inexcusable.  It was explained to me the feral hogs were brought to this area years ago to hunt for sport they are now feral and are damaging the eco-system (and seems to have it out for cyclists as well.)  On the TransAmerica trail cyclists are known for rescuing turtles on the road. Perhaps it is because the turtle and the cyclist share a connection-the pleasure and danger of the open road.

Relieved I was not devoured by the  feral hogs I refocused on the road ahead. The next 7 miles into Centerville(population 191) included some tough rollers.  Around 3pm we rolled into town and found the local diner, “21 Diner”. We had a soft-serve ice cream which was really ice milk but it didn’t really matter it was cold and sweet.  The next order of business was to find the local park where we could set up camp. After I finished my ice milk I walked across the way to the courthouse/sheriff’s office which was in a park-like area.  Even though today is  Sunday the door to the Sheriff’s office was open and the dispatcher was working. I asked her about camping for cyclists and she said, “Camp right here by the station in front  of the courthouse”.

One of the sheriff’s came over to chat. They serve 5 small town in the county. He was heading over to the diner to get food for the prisoners that will be arraigned in the courthouse we are camped in front .

So here we are, tents up, reliving our tales of the day, laughing about feral hogs, eating dinner, and relaxing  before our tough ride through the Ozarks tomorrow.

… I’ll keep you posted.