Rest day in Carbondale, Il had to change hotels due sparse availability for holiday. Carbondale is home to Southern Illinois University. Not much going on in downtown Carbondale.
Stopped in Outdoor store for some gas for our stove. Owner is from Chicago suburbs went to school at SIU and came back and opened this store in the early 1970’s. I asked him about all of the empty storefronts in town and he explained the university had about 25,000 students in the early 90’s but only 9,500 now. Students were remote this year making it even tougher on local businesses.
Traveling with Pat & Mark 
I’m having a six day rest period here in London while in isolation. Was just thinking today that it’s actually quite relaxing, to not feel pressure to do something, organise something, check what time it is… enjoy your day!
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Glad that you had a day of rest, Pat and Mark. Sad that SIU has lost so much of its student population. Hopefully, now that the pandemic is under control, enrollment will increase. Smart of you to hang out in Illinois for some much needed R &R.
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Amazing, amazing amazing,
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I didn’t know SIU had lost that many students!! Probably not much happens in Carbondale at any time unless there are students involved – at least that’s the way it was in the olden days. 😃
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Good idea to take a day off. Very interesting about the decline in enrollment at SIU.
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Glad to see your doing well. Love to see pics of any specialized equipment you carry like the gas stove (really!!!)
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Just read through all of your blog posts — I couldn’t stop! Lovely scenery, interesting stories, and amazing perseverance on your part! I can’t begin to tell you how much I admire you for doing this. Keep going, keep safe, and please keep writing and posting!
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Welcome back to Illinois, your home state. Can’t believe that you have been on the road for 36 days and have bicycled over 1000 miles. I really enjoyed reading the pieces of history, culture, plants of the areas/towns that you picked up along the way.
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I didn’t know Missouri had mountains!!!! Beautiful!!!!!!
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