When I woke up yesterday, I was still pretty tired, so decided to stick to my original plan and take the day off. The extra rest seemed to do me some good. Today was a very pleasant day of riding through the hills of north central Missouri. There were some rain showers to the north of me. I could see them, but they never came far enough south to affect me. They did, however, keep the temperatures down until mid-afternoon. By then, I was at my goal for the day.

The country is getting more sparsely populated. There are still towns every 10-15 miles, but only the county seats have any services, like grocery or convenience stores. Those are about 30 miles apart.

With more hills, the agriculture has changed from corn and soybeans to more hay and pastureland. Once I got off the main highways and onto county roads, there were more wildflowers too. I’m beginning to see more sunflowers. I have always liked sunflowers. They are not only a pretty and hardy plant, but they are composite flowers. The head of the flower is made up of many flowers, coming together to make one. It is kind of like our nation, many different people coming together to make one country. Sunflowers also tend to grow where the soil has been disturbed. Though that’s probably not a good thing for farmers, it’s a bit like nature saying, “I know it’s going to take a while for the grass and other plants to come back. In the mean time, here’s something nice to look at.”