Blog

Today was finally dry enough to get biking again. Instead of the usual route to Cave-In-Rock, we re-routed to cross the Ohio River by Shawneetown. We were sad to leave Violet, Bob, and Trace, but said our reluctant goodbyes. It felt good to be on the bikes again...afterall, that's what this trip is all about. Sometimes we feel a bit guilty taking a day off, especially when it's due to weather and we just had a day off, but we tried to make the most of it!After about 15 miles, we began to notice a lot of metal debris in one of the many fields along our route. When we got closer, we realized we were seeing damage from one of the previous nights' tornados. We then came upon a house that had been destroyed by some extremely strong winds. It was pretty humbling to realize how close we had been to the wrecked area. Thank goodness we were able to stay indoors at the First Baptist Church in Sebree.

Even though our ride was only 44 miles, it sure was tough. The winds were so strong. Originally the weather forecast said gusts up to 40 mph. I don't think we experienced any quite that strong, but at times it felt like more! At the very end of our ride, we had to cross over the Ohio River (the border between Kentucky and Illinois). The bridge was steep and just two lanes with only a couple inches of a shoulder. Luckily, the traffic was fairly light and the drivers were patient. We slowly climbed up the bridge and were shocked to see the water level. The river was swelling and full of debris as well. On the other side of the bridge, Old Shawneetown, IL was partially underwater. There were a lot of National Guard workers and other volunteers trying to bail this poor town out. The locals say that this flooding was worse than the floods of 1937 that caused Old Shawneetown to re-located to Shawneetown just 2 miles up the road.

Thankfully, we were planning to stay in Shawneetown, not Old Shawneetown. After taking a photo with our 6th state sign, we pedaled into the town. We knew that there was another First Baptist Church, so we decided to head there and see if they'd be able to help us out. When we got to the church, we noticed signs indicating that the church was the designated Red Cross Disaster Shelter. That was promising! 

Inside we were greeted by Cheryl and her mother, Delores, who both work at the church. They asked Brother Jack if we'd be able to pitch our tents for the night and he said it'd be fine. They even unlocked the parsonage next door so we'd have shelter if it started storming during the night. We were pleasantly surprised to be offered warm showers inside the church as well. We were the only ones there; no one had used the Red Cross shelter yet.

We ate a delicious dinner at Gillio's Pizza. We each had our own Caletsa, which was similar to a Calzone. The portions were huge and the price was right! With our bellies full, we headed back to the church and watched a movie on Rebekah's computer and called it a night.