Whoa- these FUEL prices!

Bananas- $0.69 a pound! Tuna almost $1 per can after tax! And you can scarcely find a six-pack of bagels for under $3.69 these days! Fuel prices are truly getting out of hand. Soon the people will riot.


So I'm new to this blog thing and I forget that some of you don't have access to Facebook to view the pictures I've posted there. The picture at right is of my bike next to the Popeye statue in Chester, IL. My bike is like my best friend on this trip... I really do have all kinds of pictures of my bike in front of various monuments and scenes. Anyways, I am posting this picture so you can see my ride all decked out. Everyone always asks- "What's in them buckets?" To answer: my tent, sleeping bag, clothes, stove, food, tools, and spare parts- basically everything, but nothing more, than what I need to just survive.


And how do I survive? By eating and eating and eating. I have to imagine my daily caloric intake is somewhere in the 8000-10000 range. On average, I consume roughly 3 bananas a day, half a pound of peanuts, one pound of pasta, two cans of tuna, one cup of dry oats, about 6 oatmeal cream pies, and lots of other stuff I find along the way. And I mix it up too... but that might look like a "typical" day. I've learned a few tricks along the way... like mixing in a few marshmallows into my morning oats to substitute for my lack of brown sugar. Also, I've found this to be one of my favorite and most refreshing treats: cracking open a can of tuna and slurping down the protein-laced water. Mmm mmm good. I don't know if any tuna protein is in that water or not, but just the thought of getting every last calorie out of that can of tuna makes it all the more tasty.


I've been running into a lot of flooded roads recently. This area has received well over its average rainfall, and it seems to rain on an almost daily occurrence. Yesterday (Tuesday June 10) was especially frustrating as several times I followed one route for miles and miles over hilly terrain only to find a sign noting "Water over road" one block before the washout. And we're talking about feet and feet of water, not just a puddle or two. By lunchtime, I had traveled nearly 40 miles to end up less than 10 miles from where I camped the previous night.


I'm going to try and stop at libraries more often along the way- every couple days is the goal. The facilities are hit and miss though as I am able to upload pictures at some but not others.