high rivers, haylocopters and bruised bones

I'm deep in the Ozarks, visiting my aunt and uncle. There's about 3 miles of gravel, 3 stream crossings and another 45 minutes of pavement to the nearest approximation of a town.

The good:
I've dodged any bad thunderstorms
The VFR is awesome on the highway
I apparently didn't forget anything crucial
The Ozarks this time of year are amazing, and lots of great riding roads

The bad:
I've had to lay the bike down twice, once at 30mph when a car pulled out of a parking lot in front of me (then fled the scene) and again on a waterlogged gravel road with a 10% grade. Turns out the VFR sucks big leathery rhino balls on gravel. So the plastics are trashed on both sides and I have a bruised hipbone. Otherwise I'm fine, luckily.

Some photos:


At the Mississippi River in Dubuque. Look how organized I am.


Some roads were more passable than others. The river has not been this high in a while according to locals.


Apparently some farmers have free time to burn.


Just a bunch of old tractors rusting away. I like this kind of thing.


One of the streams I had to cross to get to my relatives' place.


Pictures of the right side after laying the bike down the first time. I was too disgusted to take pictures after the second.




A sign at a park we hiked around. The sirens are for a dam upstream that ruptured 4 years ago, flooding the whole park with water and huge boulders. Reassuring.


The Ozarks.


Not wishing to lay the bike down a third time, I am going to truck it out to the highway.

I leave tomorrow for ???